Friday, March 28, 2014

Saving Puget Sound

I'm vacationing in my home state of Washington.  Walking along the waterfront in Point Defiance Park, I was reminded again of our personal impact on the climate.
A major climate change impact here is the sustainability of the Puget Sound eco system.  The fish and other sea life are dying because of pollution and raising sea temperature is a concern.  At view points information signs talk about work to revive the system's ecology and they make the same point as in the sign below- it's not the factories that are causing the problem (they've cleaned up their act)- it's us.  There are just too many people impacting this eco system and to save it, each individual- whether they are on the water or near the water- needs to change his or her practices to keep the water clean and healthy.

How are people doing? I don't really know. I expect like everywhere the message just hasn't hit home yet. For example, I noticed walking in a beautiful neighborhood on a hill with a staggering view of the water, beautiful green, weed free lawns and a lawn service truck spraying its chemicals onto one of them. I'm sure the owners of those weed free lawns didn't think for a moment about the impact of those chemicals on the fragile waters below. I doubt it even occurred to them.  That is the issue we face- getting us all to think about it all of the time until it becomes a way of life.

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