Tag: agriculture
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Saving The Planet With A Fork
All indications are that Green House Gas (GHG) emissions are causing higher global temperatures and climate change. Records show that 2024 was the warmest year on record. Climate change is increasing natural hazards, from hurricanes to wildfires. The Arctic permafrost is melting, emitting methane, a Greenhouse Gas (GHG) that is even more effective at trapping…
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Restoring North America With A Fork: The role of Agriculture in the destruction of biodiversity
Author’s note. I wrote this piece several decades ago, but never published. Although some of the references may be outdated, the general theme of the article is still valid today. The main conclusion is that Agriculture is the biggest source of biological impoverishment and your food choices can do more for the environment than just…
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Time to Reevaluate Notion That Oregon’s Rivers Are A Faucet For Agriculture
In Bend in the fall, irrigators draw down of the Deschutes River to the point where fish and other wildlife die or are threatened GEORGE WUERTHNER JANUARY 27, 2023 5:50 AM The Deschutes River narrows after irrigators draw off water in Bend. (Courtesy of George Wuerthner) Many of Oregon’s rivers are drained every summer to…
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Rewilding on a Global Scale: Addressing the Biodiversity Crisis
Chapter 3: Rewilding on a Global Scale: a Crucial Element in Addressing the Biodiversity Crisis George Wuerthner 30 Rewilding on a Global Scale According to the report, the average abundance of native species has declined by 20% since 1900. Other groups have suffered significant declines, including more than 40% of amphibian species. At least 680…
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Ag is the Biggest Threat to Biodiversity and Ecosystems
Most land trusts and many conservation groups frequently ignore the impacts of Agriculture and focus on urbanization and sprawl as the main threat to biodiversity and ecosystems. A good example is the Teton Land Trust, Idaho. A recent story about their board president, John Nedrow, a farmer, talks about how he put a conservation easement…
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How Livestock Impacts Ecosystems
Cattle grazing Grand Staircase Escalante NM, Utah. Photo by George Wuerthner Livestock production is one of the most ubiquitous human activities around the globe. It is particularly detrimental to arid lands, and much of the western public lands are arid. Typically most livestock advocates, which also includes far too many conservation organizations, focus on one…
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Low Flows Due to Irrigation Destroying Deschutes River
The recent article “Low Flows On Deschutes” highlights why irrigation is a significant threat to our river’s ecological integrity. https://www.bendbulletin.com/localstate/environment/sudden-drops-in-deschutes-river-worries-biologists/article_c0f8df66-e3df-11ea-8d00-53d8f511683c.html The majority of water removed from the Deschutes is used to grow irrigated pasture and hay for livestock not crops consumed directly by humans. Photo by George Wuerthner According to the report, flows on…
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Landscape Amnesia And The Deschutes River
Endangered Oregon spotted frog habitat dried up by changes in river flow to accommodate the irrigation district. Photo George Wuerthner I took a run along the Deschutes River in Bend’s Riverbend Park the other day. The one thing I noticed is that the river is nearly opaque. You can see down maybe 2 feet,…