חוקרים בכירים ארה”ב: הקרח באזורים הארקטיים של קנדה החל להפשיר שבעים שנה לפני התחזיות
משלחת מאוניברסיטת אלסקה (בפיירבנקס) מצאה שינויים ניכרים בתוואי הקרקע הקפואה באזורים הארטקטיים של קנדה, במהלך שלוש עשרה שנים: בין אלפים ושלוש לאלפיים ושש עשרה. לפי הממצאים בנוסף לנסיגת שכבת הקרח נוצרו גם גבעות נמוכות, שחסמו את הרוח ואפשרו לצמחייה להכות שורש
שכבת האדמה הקפואה באזורים הארקטיים בקנדה החלה להפשיר שבעים שנה שנה לפני הזמן הצפוי. על כך מצביעים הממצאים של משלחת חוקרים בכירה שהגיע לאזור. לדבריהם התופעה מעידה על כך שכדור הארץ מתחמם בקצב הרבה יותר מהיר מכפי שצפו בתחזיות השונות. חברי המשלחת מאוניברסיטת אלסקה שבארצות הברית, אמרו כי הופתעו מאוד מהמהירות שבה גרמו עונות הקיץ החמות במיוחד לערעור השכבות העליונות של גושי הקרח התת־קרקעיים.
זה היה מדהים אמר לסוכנות החדשות הבינלאומית רויטרס, ולדימיר רומנובסקי, גיאו־פיזיקאי חבר במשלחת של האוניברסיטה. זה סימן לכך שהאקלים כיום חם הרבה יותר מאשר היה אי פעם – במהלך חמשת אלפים השנים האחרונות. החוקרים פרסמו את ממצאיהם המעניינים והיוצאי דופן בכתב העת המדעי גיאופיזיקל רייסרץ’ לטרס.
לפני מספר שבועות פורסמו הממצאים האלה ברבים- לקראת פסגת משבר האקלים שהתקיימה בבון שבגרמניה. האירוע הבינלאומי אורגן על ידי האו”ם וגורמים נוספים. זאת במטרה להגביר את המאמצים המשותפים למצוא פתרונות בנושא הכל כך מסובך. כידוע כל מדינות המערב תומכות ברעיון כי כדור הארץ מתחמם לפי ממצאים של המדענים השונים. ורק נשיא ארה”ב הנוכחי, דונלד טראמפ, מתכחש לממצאים אלה.
המאמר התבסס על ניתוח נתונים שהחוקרים אספו בביקורם האחרון באזור לפני כשלוש שנים. ובמקביל הוא מתבסס גם על סקירות אקלימיות מאז שנת אלפיים ושלוש ועוד היום. הצוות השתמש במטוס ששודרג במיוחד כדי לבקר בנקודות מרוחקות ביותר, בהן תחנת מכ”ם מתקופת המלחמה הקרה, שנמצאת במרחק של יותר משלוש מאות ק”מ מכל יישוב אנושי. כצפוי החוקרים לקחו על עצמם סיכונים גבוהים בביקור באזורים מרוחקים אלה. לדברי החוקרים ממש בנחיתה לקרקע נגלה לעיניהם נוף שונה לחלוטין על פני הקרקע הארקטית, שאותה ראו בביקורים קודמים לפני כעשור שנים.
הנוף הפך לים גלי של גבעות, שקעים צרים ובריכות. הצמחייה שבעבר היתה מעטה החלה לצמוח בכמות גדולה בחסות המקלט שסיפק הנוף מהרוחות הבלתי פוסקות. החוקרים הרגישו מצד אחד סיפוק מקצועי על כל מה מצאו, ומצד שני הרגישו תחושה שהאסון ממשמש ובא. הם ציינו כי המראה הזכיר להם אדמה חרוכה אחרי הפצצה.
זו תופעה המזכירה לי מכרה הפחם, אמרה אחת החוקרות הבכירות במשלחת. סביר למדי שתופעה זו משפיעה על אזורים נרחבים יותר ממה שאנו מעריכים. ואת זאת החוקרים יבדקו בהמשך. החוקרים חוששים ליציבות שכבת האדמה הקפואה בשל הסכנה שהפשרה מהירה תשחרר כמות נרחבת של גזים, שיביאו להאצה משמעותית של ההתחממות הגלובלית
לפי הערכות של האו”ם גם אם המחויבויות הקיימות בהסכם פריז משנת אלפיים וחמש עשרה, להפחתת פליטות גזי החממה, ייושמו במלואן העולם עדיין רחוק מאוד ממניעת הסכנה – שתהליכים דומים של היזון חוזר יביאו להאצת ההתחממות של כדור הארץ.
נוכח אזהרות המדענים כי טמפרטורות גבוהות יותר יגרמו להרס רב בחצי הכדור הדרומי, ויהוו איום על יכולת הקיום של העולם המתועש בחצי הכדור הצפוני, ארגוני סביבה נתלים במאמר שפרסמו החוקרים כהמחשת הצורך בהפחתת פליטות גזי החממה. הפשרת האדמה הקפואה היא אחת מהנקודות המצביעות על משבר האקלים, אמרה ג’ניפר מורגן מארגון גרינפיס אינטרנשיונל.
Jeff Golfman’s Raw Office helps “businesses save money and be more eco-friendly in their supplies.” (photo from Raw Office)
Jeff Golfman has been working on ways to preserve nature since he was a boy. “I can trace it back to my time going to camps in the summertime and just really connecting with nature and with the human impact we have on the planet,” said Golfman, who went to B’nai Brith Camp in Kenora, Ont., and also spent one summer at Camp BB in Pine Lake, Alta., in addition to spending time at family cottages.
“Initially, it was just seeing people leaving garbage at campsites and leaving garbage in the wilderness. That really bothered me as a kid. It really stuck with me. That’s where it started, really. For me, wanting to be concerned about the legacy and what we leave behind, in terms of … how we show up on the planet and what we leave when we’re gone.”
Born in Vancouver, Golfman grew up in Winnipeg and is now living in Toronto. He started Winnipeg’s blue box recycling program in 1990 and then began researching how to make paper without trees, eventually getting patents to make tree-free paper, which is now available in big box stores like Staples, Office Depot and Office Max. About five years ago, he turned his attention to developing and sourcing product for his recently launched online office supply store, the Raw Office (rawoffice.ca).
“We help businesses save money and be more eco-friendly in their supplies,” he told the Independent. “It just made sense to do business with purpose…. It wasn’t so much that my passion was to save the world. It was more like I asked myself, ‘What is logical?’ And, to me, it’s logical that we’d want to do good while making commerce at the same time.”
While Raw Office’s current client base is 80% American, the company does business all across Canada, including in Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto and Montreal.
“We’re using artificial intelligence and data to come into businesses and make recommendations for them on how they can make better informed decisions,” said Golfman. “Most people, when they go shopping, basically just browse and shop, and add to their cart and check out. It’s a lot of manual work to do that. What we do is put together a custom-made, curated program for each and every business that we come into. So, we’re really a one-of-a-kind program for each and every client we work with.”
Golfman’s company helps clients increase their use of recycled material for starters. Leading by example, Raw Office is currently the only office supply company that is 100% carbon neutral.
“What we practise and help businesses to do is to make an improvement from where they are today,” said Golfman. “It’s not about 100% or nothing. It’s about making an improvement. On average, the companies that have chosen to work with us are saving 30% financially and are getting 200% eco-improvement.
“I can’t speak to the tax benefit just yet, because everything is so new and is a moving target. We’re doing this outside of the political system, to help business be carbon neutral at no extra cost, which I think is the ideal scenario.”
While many companies are working toward going carbon neutral, no other large international player has cracked the office supply sphere. “There are other companies doing eco-friendly office supplies, but the ones we’ve found are not national and international in scope like we are,” said Golfman. “They are usually regional players and niche players.”
Raw Office has teamed up with the Bonneville Environmental Foundation and are buying carbon offsets to support landfill-to-gas projects, with 83,000 products on their website that show their individual environmental footprint.
“They are basically going into the landfill and pulling methane out of the landfill, and repurposing that for power and energy, and helping us reduce our emissions,” explained Golfman. “So, in a nutshell, we’re buying offsets and not charging our customers … banking that into the cost of working with us.”
By eliminating the bricks-and-mortar storefront of a conventional business, Raw Office is able to pass on the savings and offer carbon-offset products that cost 20-30% less.
“We are a technology-based company,” said Golfman. “We don’t hold inventory. We do drop shipping. It’s very similar to other tech companies that have been able to disrupt industries and reduce costs.”
Anyone can buy from Raw Office, but the bigger the company, the bigger the savings and planet impact. “We add a whole bunch of value to larger businesses that have multiple locations,” said Golfman. “A lot of the companies we work with are larger, with dozens or hundreds of locations. Most of our customers are like that, but we add value to all companies.
“One thing we do that is really uniquely for larger companies is the curated program and, also, we have these really great approval processes that allow managers and owners to approve of items and orders. And, we have these really cool features that allow the bookkeepers to integrate into their accounting software more easily.”
Meanwhile, Golfman is also working to create enhanced environmental and financial reports for his customers.
With products made all over the world, Raw Office offers complete transparency, with each product showing the country of manufacture and an eco-score.
“The eco-scoring system we created takes into account the country of manufacturing, eco-certifications and things like that,” said Golfman. “So, you’ll know, with transparency, if you’re buying something that’s made in Canada or overseas…. We make that really clear. If you had a preference for local manufacturing, you can do that on our website using filters … or, if you had a preference for some other country, we can do that, too. It’s all part of the search functionality.”
In his free time, Golfman volunteers with the nonprofit Green Kids, which he founded and of which he is board president.
“It’s an environmental theatre,” he said. “We do live theatre for children. We tour schools across Canada, all the way from Victoria, B.C., throughout Vancouver, Manitoba and Ontario. To date, 1,400,000 Canadian children have seen the Green Kids show.”
Golfman also runs a health blog, called, “The Cool Vegetarian,” where he interviews people about healthy eating and lifestyles.
Sidi Schaffer’s current exhibit, In Partnership with Nature, is at the Zack Gallery until March 3. (photo by Olga Livshin)
Sidi Schaffer’s art has gone through several different incarnations. At the beginning of her career, in postwar Romania, she adhered to a realistic approach. “For several years, the central images of my work were people,” she said in an interview with the Independent.
After her family immigrated to Israel, she continued her studies and received her art education degree. “At that time, I fell in love with the Impressionists, especially Cezanne, and started painting more landscape and still life,” she said. “I tried to catch the essence, the light and beauty of my surroundings. Even my palette changed.”
The next stage in her artistic development came after she immigrated to Canada in 1975. It was as if every country triggered a twist in her artistic road. “I needed to establish new roots and master new challenges,” she recalled. “In 1980, I went back to school to study printmaking at the University of Alberta. They told me: ‘Paint abstract, throw away realism.’ I followed my teachers’ good advice … and totally immersed myself in abstraction. I simplified my work; my focus became my inner world, my feelings and my emotions. The art-making process became a sacred ritual.”
But pure abstraction didn’t hold her interest for long. Her abstract compositions acquired random elements of realism. “I tried to make my works integrated, bring together abstract and figurative,” she said. “I tried to express the concept of unity between the internal and the external, between the spiritual and the physical.”
Her current show, In Partnership with Nature, which opened at the Zack Gallery on Jan. 31, combines her inclination towards abstraction, her love of nature and her ability to bridge the realistic and the spiritual in her paintings. It also highlights her innate optimism. The show is airy, uplifting and charming, the works prompting a quiet gladness in viewers.
It’s about flowers, but in an oblique, complex way. “I love flowers,” said Schaffer. “Nature is my biggest inspiration. When it surrounds me, I feel alive, free, and in awe of all its beauty and miracles.”
For years, she has been drying flowers between pages of books. “I have piles of those books in my house,” she said. “I always wanted to preserve the flowers’ beauty, even after the original bloom. I have been doing it since I was a young girl…. In autumn, I also dry leaves with their amazing colours and abstract designs. Nothing is more beautiful. Sometimes, I pick a flower just to remind me of a place and time.”
A few years ago, Schaffer decided to try and incorporate those dried flowers and leaves into her art. “I wanted to make them the subject matter,” she said. “Every picture in this show, except one, has one or more dry flowers or leaves in them.”
“Grace into Focus 1” by Sidi Schaffer is part 1 of a triptych. (photo from Sidi Schaffer)
All of the images in the exhibit are mixed media. She experimented with acrylic and oil paint, with old prints and new drawings, with collage. The dried leaves or flowers form the heart of the compositions.
“I wanted to give them importance,” she explained. “Some of the landscapes in this show look fantastic, because dry leaves play the part of trees. Some abstract collages were like memory boxes for me, with layers. There are dry petals there, and lettering and musical notes.”
Schaffer’s collaboration with the elements of nature tends towards whimsical. Flower petals float on the visual breeze. Mundane dandelions turn into exotic palm trees. Waves of musical notation sparkle with rainbow colours.
“I played with the images,” said the artist. “I didn’t take myself seriously when I prepared this show.”
Schaffer said every image in the exhibit started with an idea. “But I never knew how it would come out,” she said. “It’s a process, a discussion between me and the flowers. Sometimes, it is a struggle. I look at the flowers and they supply more ideas. This one flower I had, I put it on the painting and the petals came off. I left them off, incorporated into the image.… From a flash of excitement to the end result, each image reflects my emotional journey. By the time I finish a painting, it seldom resembles my original starting point. What is important for me is the visual poetry, the relationship of form, space, colour and light.”
Schaffer’s exploration into creative possibilities is nourished by her rich inner life. Before her retirement, she taught art and painted commissions, but never, for example, something made specifically to harmonize with anyone’s living room décor.
“I paint what is inside of me,” she said. “I don’t paint for anyone’s sofa. I enjoy the hours I spend in front of my canvas. It is an intense emotional outlet and, when I’m finished, I feel happy, but, at the same time, drained and vulnerable.”
In Partnership with Nature is at the Zack until March 3.
Olga Livshinis a Vancouver freelance writer. She can be reached at [email protected].
Teen activists talk with Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart at a climate-strike action on Dec. 7. (photo from Rebecca Hamilton)
“It’s going to be our future, so it’s up to us to take it into our own hands and show that, even if we can’t vote, we can still make a difference in our communities and the world,” Malka Martz-Oberlander told the Jewish Independent when she and fellow activist and friend Rebecca Hamilton met with the paper to discuss recent – and future – efforts to draw awareness to the climate crisis.
The two high school students are part of the group Sustainabiliteens, which was inspired by Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg. Last year, Thunberg started monthly school strikes, stating that preparing for a future that won’t have a livable climate was pointless. The strikes, called “Fridays for Future,” have spread to at least 270 countries, including Canada.
Inspired by Thunberg, strike action took place at Vancouver City Hall on Jan. 16, the day that Vancouver city council unanimously passed a motion put forward by Councilor Christine Boyle (OneCity) to declare a climate emergency. Similar motions have been adopted in other cities, including London, Los Angeles and Oakland, but Vancouver is the first in Canada to do so.
“Climate change is already impacting the people of Vancouver and will continue to. We need to respond to this crisis urgently and compassionately with a path towards a more equitable society,” said Boyle in a release. “Adequately addressing the climate emergency won’t be easy, but we are a smart city, capable of doing difficult things.”
Hamilton was an organizer of the strike at City Hall, and the groups Force of Nature and Extinction Rebellion Vancouver also supported the action. There was a previous school walkout and strike for the climate on Dec. 7, said Martz-Oberlander. She and Hamilton are among a growing number of Metro Vancouver teens coming together in what Martz-Oberlander describes as a “shared passion for climate justice.”
“With some of my friends, it’s just doom and gloom,” said Martz-Oberlander. “There’s this sense of this is all going to happen and no one can do anything, so why do anything? It’s out of our hands, we’re just kids…. But there’s also a lot of people that I know who are hopeful and see the bigger picture.”
“When I ask kids about the climate crisis,” said Hamilton, “they say that they think it’s a real problem and they’re scared. But the world around us doesn’t recognize what’s happening with the same sense of urgency that we feel. We are living in a confusing and weird time. On the one hand, we understand the science, we’re being told the scientific facts that we’re in a crisis. We’re being told these very conflicting messages, and there’s this dissonance. So what am I supposed to believe? The world is just going as normal, but why are you telling me then that we’re in this crisis and everything needs to change? I think that’s really frustrating. Me, personally, every day I’m frustrated by that.”
Both Martz-Oberlander and Hamilton grew up in the Vancouver Jewish community and say their Jewish values inform their activism. Martz-Oberlander’s family has been involved with Congregation Or Shalom since before she was born, and Hamilton grew up going to Temple Sholom.
“In the Torah, it talks about needing to pass down this world better than we got it,” said Martz-Oberlander. “That’s the concept of l’dor v’dor, ‘from generation to generation.’ The Jewish teaching that really influenced me is the sense of responsibility towards future generations.”
“Camp Miriam was most important to me in cultivating my Jewish identity,” said Hamilton. “I think it played a huge role in what I’m doing and why I care about it. The focus on youth agency, being told we could create change. It’s tikkun olam – environmentalism and climate justice is the most important way to try and help other people and create a more just world.”
On Jan. 16, students walked out of school to be at Vancouver City Hall to raise awareness of the climate crisis and support Councillor Christine Boyle’s motion to declare a climate emergency. (photo from Rebecca Hamilton)
Both teens avoid the word “climate change,” preferring instead to talk of the “climate crisis” or “climate emergency” and the need for “climate justice.”
“Climate change doesn’t sound urgent enough,” said Martz-Oberlander. “It’s an emergency.”
“I prefer climate emergency or climate crisis,” said Hamilton, who cites Jewish writer and activist Naomi Klein as an important influence on her thinking. “It’s not about preventing this catastrophe but about healing the foundation of our world. The climate crisis is a manifestation of these unjust worldly systems which exploit nature, animals and people, so fixing that manifestation will also mean fixing those systems.”
Hamilton and Martz-Oberlander were inspired to join the climate-strike movement after it came to Canada with a strike in Sudbury, Ont., led by 11-year-old Sofia Mather.
“I feel like I have been concerned about climate change my whole life,” said Hamilton, “but I began to want to do something when I realized that nothing else really matters if we live on a dead planet.”
Hamilton and Martz-Oberlander are currently preparing for a Canada-wide school strike on May 3, and have a local action planned for Feb. 15.
Matthew Gindin is a freelance journalist, writer and lecturer. He is Pacific correspondent for the CJN, writes regularly for the Forward, Tricycle and the Wisdom Daily, and has been published in Sojourners, Religion Dispatches and elsewhere. He can be found on Medium and Twitter.
The World in a Grain: The Story of Sand and How It Transformed Civilization by Vince Beiser is a finalist for the 2019 PEN/E.O. Wilson Prize for Literary Science Writing. The award is given to a “book that exemplifies literary excellence on the subject of the physical or biological sciences and communicates complex scientific concepts to a lay audience.”
At the core of PEN America is the ideal of freedom of speech, “recognizing the power of the word to transform the world.” For his entire career, Beiser has been trying to change the world with his writing and, with The World in a Grain, he educates readers about the phenomenal importance of sand in making thousands of things, from concrete to glass to fibre-optic cables, and how dependent on it we are. So valuable is sand that people steal it and even kill for it, and our unbridled use of it, in concrete in particular, might just kill the planet.
To bring these harsh realities to light, Beiser adeptly and engagingly – sometimes with humour – mixes empirical evidence, scientific explanations, interviews with people directly connected to or affected by sand mining, profiles of relevant historical figures and his own commentary, as well as some factoids, which he calls “Interludes.” He comes to the not-surprising-but-disheartening conclusion that there’s only one solution: “human beings have to start using less sand. For that matter, we have to start using less of everything.”
Beiser dedicates the book to his wife, Kaile, and their children, Adara and Isaiah. While they live in Los Angeles, he grew up here. The Jewish Independent interviewed him about his upbringing, his career and, of course, his book.
JI: Could you tell me where you were born, how you ended up in Vancouver, and how your parents’ involvement in social causes influenced your choice of profession?
VB: I’m from a venerable Vancouver family, though I wasn’t born there. My grandfather’s family – the Landos – came over from England around the turn of the 20th century, first to Prince Rupert and then to Vancouver, where they worked in the fur business, of all things. My mother [Roberta] and her siblings were all born and raised in Vancouver – mostly in the same house where she still lives! My brothers and I were all born in the U.S. (myself in New York City), where my father [Morton] was working. We moved to Vancouver when I was 10, and I grew up there until I took off to college in California. I come back just about every summer.
My parents were always very engaged with the world, and the idea of trying to make it a better place – my father as a mental health researcher, and my mother mainly through her work with all kinds of arts and cultural organizations. We did a lot of traveling as well, which really opened my eyes to just how lucky we were and how much less so are so many other people. Meanwhile, I also had an uncle, Vancouver native Barry Lando, who was a highly decorated producer at 60 Minutes, so I grew up watching his shows and hearing about his adventures all over the world. I never consciously thought that I wanted to have a job like that, but it certainly made an impression.
JI: What role does Jewish culture and/or Judaism play in your life and work?
VB: I’m proud to be a Jew, and that heritage has definitely had an impact on my professional life. Knowing our long and brutal history of oppression helped sharpen my desire to work for social justice, to do what I can to help right, or at least bring attention to, wrongs wherever I find them. I started my career in Jerusalem, covering the First Intifada as a freelancer for both Israeli and Palestinian publications. Later, I wound up working for an Israeli magazine, TheJerusalem Report, first in Eastern Europe covering the wars in the former Yugoslavia, and later as their New York correspondent. I’ve probably written more about Jews and Jewish issues than anything else except sand!
JI: What took you from Vancouver and how did you establish yourself in Los Angeles?
VB: I went to college at the University of California at Berkeley – I really wanted to get to the States, which I thought was a much more exciting place than then-sleepy little Vancouver. From there, I spent years traveling and working all over the world, first as a hitchhiking backpacker, and later as a freelance journalist (there’s often not a lot of difference between the two lifestyles). I spent several years in the Middle East and then Eastern Europe, then came back to the U.S., where I bounced around from New York to San Francisco to Las Vegas (that’s right, I lived in Las Vegas). I was living in San Francisco when I met a delightful young woman living in L.A. I was doing a lot of work in L.A. at the time, writing for the L.A. Times Magazine and other places, so had an excuse to visit her often and, well, 17 years later we’re married, with two kids and a mortgage and the whole package.
JI: In an interview you did with David Simon, you talk about journalism, fiction and film, and Simon comments that no one reads anymore. What are your thoughts on that, on the state of journalism and your decision to write a book?
VB: These are dark days for the business of journalism, of course, with local newspapers dying off en masse and money drying up for those that are left, thanks to the internet. Most of my career has been spent writing for magazines, and a terrifying number of the ones that I’ve written for over the years have disappeared or been reduced to emaciated shadows of their former selves – The Village Voice, Spin, Rolling Stone, US News & World Report, and on and depressingly on.
The World in a Grain can be purchased on Amazon and at other bookstores.
But, contrary to what everyone expected with the advent of the internet and the Twitterization of discourse, people do still read, at length and in numbers. There are plenty of long, deep articles published online that attract hordes of eyeballs – the trick no one has cracked yet is figuring out how to make money off of them. Oddly, the book industry is still doing relatively well; most people still seem to prefer physical, paper books to reading something of that length on a screen. So, moving from magazines into book writing is not only something I’ve always wanted to do – it’s also a tactical move aimed at keeping me solvent. I’m branching into movies and TV for the same reason. If you’re going to survive as a freelance journalist in the 21st century, you’ve got to tell your stories and get paid every which way you can.
JI: Can you describe how the topic of sand first came to you, why it piqued your interest and about the path to the book’s publication?
VB: I’m a full-time freelancer, so I’m always hustling for stories, which involves trawling through a lot of obscure publications. One day in early 2015, I stumbled across a story on a little environmental website from which I learned two things. One, sand is the most-consumed natural resource on earth after air and water; that alone made me sit up and take notice. Two, that there is so much demand for the stuff that we are inflicting tremendous environmental damage all over the world to get it, stripping bare riverbeds and beaches and, in some places, people are even being murdered over sand. Like most people, I had never even thought about sand as a commodity, let alone one so important people might be killed over it.
I thought this all sounded crazy but, with a little research, I found it was true. The violence, I discovered, is by far the worst in India. So, I convinced Wired magazine to send me to India, where I reported a feature on the murderous ‘sand mafias’ that bedevil that country. The piece came out in spring of 2015 and got a great response from readers. I knew by then there was much, much more to the story – a book’s worth, I figured. That summer, I spent a few days alone on a tiny property we own on Gabriola Island pounding out a book proposal. My agent in New York sold it almost right away to the folks at Penguin Random House, and I was off to the races.
JI: How would you describe your level of optimism about the future?
VB: Really depends on the day, or hour. But I’ve got kids growing up in this world, so I don’t have much choice but to hope for the best!
An experimental date palm orchard in the southern Arava Valley, where water consumption and response to salinity is monitored. Based on data measured in these lysimeters, local farmers are advised on recommended quantities of irrigation water daily. (photo from Zehava Yehuda)
“Growing up in Israel, I have been aware of the
water problem [since] quite early in my childhood,” said Dr. Zehava Yehuda.
“When I graduated, however, the country was still relying mostly on rain. We
could still expect rain-blessed years, and the Sea of Galilee to overflow
occasionally.”
Over the last two decades, however, only once
has there been a year with enough rain to allow for the opening of the Degania
Dam, which regulates water levels in the Sea of Galilee (the Kinneret) and the
lower Jordan River.
Yehuda spoke on Nov. 27 at a Winnipeg Friends
of Israel event at the city’s Temple Shalom. She recently moved to Winnipeg
with her family and is currently working at the local Jewish National Fund
office as program and communications coordinator, while searching for a
research position.
“I graduated from the Hebrew University,
faculty of agriculture, department of soil and water, worked on iron uptake in
plants, and did post-doctoral studies on phytoremediation of soils contaminated
with heavy metals,” said Yehuda. “Phytoremediation is the use of hyper-accumulator
plants that tolerate and are able to absorb high concentrations of specific
metals.
“I worked as a lab manager and associate
researcher at the HU, and as a soil and water researcher at the Centre for
Agricultural Water Use Efficiency Research, Southern Arava Research and
Development Experimental Station, Yotveta.”
According to Yehuda, soil and water are
fundamental resources affecting all forms of life, food security and ecosystem
sustainability.
Israeli water authorities have been streamlined
to funnel through one office to simplify management and five large-scale
desalination plants have been built, she said. Desalinated water now accounts
for about 85% of domestic urban water. However, the plants were built late in
the crisis.
“Israel is facing a five-year drought that is
depleting the country’s most important bodies of water and deteriorating their
quality,” said Yehuda. “Israel had not foreseen a sequence of arid years like
this.
“The cumulative deficit in Israel’s renewable
water resources before the current rain season amounts to approximately two
billion cubic metres – an amount equal to the annual consumption of the entire
state.
“There are many reasons for the current water
situation,” she said. “First, Israel is situated in an arid region, where 60%
of the county is desert. Meanwhile, population growth and standard of living
have grown significantly.
“This not only has dramatically increased water
consumption, but it has also aggravated the load on the coastal aquifer, one of
the three major water resources in the country. Israel has also committed by
peace treaties to transfer about 85 MCM [million cubic metres] to Jordan and
the Palestinians … and, in fact, it transfers much more.
“Most of the water consumption in the world is
used for irrigation. Israel has been recycling water for agriculture for
decades. About 90% of fresh water is reused.
Water scientist Dr. Zehava Yehuda speaks at a Winnipeg Friends of Israel event Nov. 27. (photo from Zehava Yehuda)
“Since the invention of drip irrigation in
Israel, efforts have been directed to improving drippers, irrigation regimes
and understanding plants’ actual water consumption to efficiently use water in
agriculture.”
Further to this, Israel focused on innovative
technologies to turn an older, expensive desalination solution into a more
practical one, by improving the membranes that remove the salt and reducing the
energy needed to run the plants.
“As of today, about 40% of drinking water in
Israel is supplied as desalinated seawater, and this percentage is expected to
grow even more,” said Yehuda.
Because the membranes also strip the water of
other essential nutrients, she said Israel’s water authorities have been
supplementing the desalinated water with, for example, “magnesium, a mineral
critical for proper heart functioning, among other functions,” but it is
expensive to do so and “[a]dding it to all desalinated water would
significantly raise its cost.”
Another concern with desalination is that the
brine (removed salt) is being returned to the sea, and the ecological
implications for the sea are not fully known.
“With all this desalinated water available,
both the population and the Israeli authorities wrongly assumed that Israel had
solved her water problems, and that saving water was no longer a necessity,”
said Yehuda. “The authorities have since changed their position back to the
need to save water.”
Plans have recently been approved to build more
desalination plants to better meet the growing need for water during the dry
months and to redirect unused desalinated water during the winter months to the
Sea of Galilee; in a sense, using the lake as a reservoir.
“The current crisis has led to the realization
that a comprehensive master plan for policy and for institutional and
operational changes is required to stabilize the situation, and to improve
Israel’s water balance with a long-term perspective,” said Yehuda.
“Despite the fact that water pumping from the
Kinneret was massively reduced, I do not expect water levels to return to what
they were 15 years ago when Lake Kinneret – Israel’s biggest fresh water source
– and underground aquifers were full. Hopefully, resources will not continue to
deteriorate.”
Yehuda provided a rundown of the different
water-related experiments with which she has been involved, including an
experimental date palm orchard in the southern Arava Valley, where water
consumption and response to salinity is monitored. Based on the data collected,
local farmers are advised on recommended quantities of irrigation water daily.
Event attendee Carina Blumgrund said, “We all
know that Israel is at the forefront of developing smart resources to irrigate,
and that they had done drip systems and are always trying to research how to be
proactive, like taking advantage of the heat to have off-season production and
export to Europe … but we don’t really know about the details…. It was
really interesting hearing about current issues. I had no idea about water
levels…. And I didn’t know about the treaties, about sharing with neighbours.”
According to talmudic sages, “It is
forbidden to live in a town which has no garden or greenery.” (Kiddushin 4:12;
66d) (photo by A. Christen)
Many contemporary Jews look upon Tu b’Shevat as
a Jewish Earth Day, a day for contemplating our ecological heritage – and the
multitude of threats our planet currently faces.
An ancient midrash has become all too relevant.
“In the hour when the Holy One, blessed be He, created the first person, He
showed him the trees in the Garden of Eden, and said to him: ‘See My works, how
fine they are. Now all that I have created, I created for your benefit. Think
upon this and do not corrupt and destroy My world, for if you destroy it, there
is no one to restore it after you.’” (Ecclesiastes Rabbah 7:28)
Today’s environmental threats can be compared
in many ways to the biblical 10 plagues, which appear in the Torah portions
read on the Shabbats immediately preceding Tu b’Shevat. When we consider the
threats to our land, water and air – pesticides and other chemical pollutants,
resource scarcities, threats to our climate, etc. – we can easily enumerate 10
modern “plagues.” Unfortunately, like the ancient Pharaoh, our hearts have been
hardened by the greed, materialism and wastefulness that are at the root of
these threats. And, in contrast to the biblical plagues, modern plagues are all
occurring simultaneously, and there is no modern Goshen as a refuge, where most
of these plagues do not occur.
The talmudic sages express a sense of sanctity
toward the environment: “The atmosphere [air] of the land of Israel makes one
wise.” (Baba Batra 158b) They assert that people’s role is to enhance the world
as “partners of God in the work of creation.” (Shabbat 10a)
The rabbis indicate great concern for
preserving the environment and preventing pollution: “It is forbidden to live
in a town which has no garden or greenery.” (Kiddushin 4:12; 66d) Threshing
floors are to be placed far enough from a town so that the town is not dirtied
by chaff carried by winds. (Baba Batra 2:8) Tanneries are to be kept at least
50 cubits from a town and placed only on its eastern side, so that odours are
not carried by the prevailing winds from the west. (Baba Batra 2:8,9)
“The earth is the Lord’s.” (Psalms 24:1) And we
are the stewards of God’s earth, responsible to see that its produce is
available for all God’s children. Property is a sacred trust given by God; it
must be used to fulfil God’s purposes.
The story is told of two men who were fighting
over a piece of land. Each claimed ownership and bolstered his claim with
apparent proof. To resolve their differences, they agreed to put the case
before the rabbi. The rabbi listened but could come to no decision because both
seemed to be right. Finally, he said, “Since I cannot decide to whom this land
belongs, let us ask the land.” He put his ear to the ground and, after a moment,
straightened up. “Gentlemen, the land says it belongs to neither of you but
that you belong to it.”
The prohibition not to waste or destroy
unnecessarily anything of value (bal tashchit, “thou shalt not destroy”)
is based on concern for fruit-bearing trees, as indicated in the following
Torah statement:
“When in your war against a city you have to
besiege it a long time in order to capture it, you must not destroy its trees,
wielding the ax against them. You may eat of them, but you must not cut them
down. Are trees of the field human to withdraw before you under siege? Only
trees that you know to not yield food may be destroyed; you may cut them down
for constructing siege works against the city that is waging war on you, until
it has been destroyed.” (Deuteronomy 20:19-20)
This prohibition against destroying
fruit-bearing trees in time of warfare was extended by the Jewish sages. It is
forbidden to cut down even a barren tree or to waste anything if no useful
purpose is accomplished. (Sefer HaChinuch 530)
The sages of the Talmud made a general
prohibition against waste: “Whoever breaks vessels or tears garments, or
destroys a building, or clogs up a fountain, or destroys food violates the
prohibition of bal tashchit.”
(Kiddushin 32a)
Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, a 19th-century
philosopher and author, states that bal tashchit is the first and most general
call of God. We are to “regard things as God’s property and use them with a
sense of responsibility for wise human purposes. Destroy nothing! Waste
nothing!” He indicates further that destruction includes using more things (or
things of greater value) than are necessary to obtain one’s aim. (Horeb,
Chapter 56)
It has become customary to recite psalms on Tu
b’Shevat, among them Psalm 104. This psalm speaks of God’s concern and care
extended to all creatures, and illustrates that God created the entire earth as
a unity, in ecological balance:
“You make springs gush forth in torrents; they
make their way between the hills, giving drink to all the wild beasts; the wild
asses slake their thirst. The birds of the sky dwell beside them and sing among
the foliage. You water the mountains from Your lofts; the earth is sated from
the fruit of Your work. You make the grass grow for the cattle and herbage for
man’s labour, that he may get food out of the earth, wine that cheers the
hearts of men, oil that makes the face shine and bread that sustains man’s
life.” (Psalm 104:10-15)
Tu b’Shevat is indeed an appropriate time to
apply Judaism’s powerful ethic of reverence for God’s creation, conservation
and sustainability, to help move our precious, but imperiled, planet onto a
sustainable path.
Richard H. Schwartz, PhD, is
professor emeritus, College of Staten Island, president emeritus of Jewish Veg
and president of Society of Ethical and Religious Vegetarians. He is the author
of several books, including Judaism and Vegetarianism and Who Stole
My Religion? Revitalizing Judaism and Applying Jewish Values to Help Heal Our
Imperiled Planet, and more than 250 articles at jewishveg.org/schwartz. He
was associate producer of the documentary A Sacred Duty: Applying Jewish
Values to Help Heal the World.
In Israel, Tu b’Shevat is a day for planting saplings. (photo from JNF via israel21c.org)
“Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps
the singing bird will come.” This lovely quotation is not from our sages, but
is an old Chinese proverb. Nevertheless, it seems appropriate for Tu b’Shevat,
the New Year of the Trees, which falls this year on Jan. 21.
Of course, we have our own Jewish sources. For
example, “When you see handsome people or fine trees, pronounce the
benediction, ‘Praised be He who created beautiful things.’” (Tosefta: Berakot
7:4) Trees have a great significance in Judaism and, long before “ecology”
became a popular word, Jews were commanded, even in times of war, when
besieging a city, to not destroy its trees. (Deuteronomy 20:19)
Trees were sacred to many people. Pagans
believed that gods inhabited them and took their forms. They were druidic,
rising out of the earth and tossing their hair. They cooled, sheltered and
calmed. It is easy to understand reverence for the splendor and dignity of
trees, but only Judaism has a new year for them, which falls on 15th day of the
Hebrew month of Shevat (Tu b’Shevat).
In Israel, this date once marked the time from
which to count the age of the tree for reasons of tithe or taxes, and also to
indicate the maturation of the fruit of the tree. Even today, fruit cannot be
eaten until the fourth year, so Tu b’Shevat standardizes the birthday of trees.
The holiday doesn’t commemorate any great
historical event, and there are no special prayers in the synagogue. It is a
lovely time, ushered in by blossoming white almond trees with their promise of
warm summer weather.
Tu b’Shevat is traditionally a time for
planting every variety of tree. The Talmud mentions “the joyous planting” on
happy occasions. There was a delightful custom of planting a cedar when a boy
was born and a cypress sapling at the birth of a girl. When a couple married,
the wood of the trees would be used as poles to support the wedding canopy.
In Israel, it is a day for children and teens
to go with their teachers into the hills and valleys and plant tens of
thousands of saplings. There is also a custom to eat all the fruits of Israel –
olives, dates, grapes, figs, citrus, apples, bananas, nuts and pears, which
grow in great abundance.
Many scholars stay up late on the eve of Tu
b’Shevat, reciting biblical passages dealing with the earth’s fertility. They
read from Genesis how trees were created along with all the plants; from
Leviticus how the Divine promised abundance as a reward for keeping the
commandments; and from Ezekiel 17, the parable of the spreading vine, symbolizing
the people of Israel.
Many people hold a special seder to celebrate
the holiday, the New Year of the Tree of Life. They drink four cups of wine,
beginning with white wine and ending with red, with the second cup a mixture
more of white and the third more of red wine. It is rather like the landscape,
as it changes from white (pale narcissus and crocus) to red (anemones and
tulips) as Tu b’Shevat approaches.
As well as being a birthday, Tu b’Shevat is
also a day of judgment for the trees, which ones will thrive and be healthy,
which ones will wither and die. Chassidim pray for the etrogim, that they may
grow in beauty and perfection for Sukkot.
Planting trees is very significant for Jews,
the indestructible people for whom faith in the future is almost an emblem. We
plant trees whose fruit we will not eat and in whose shade we will not sit. The
one who fears that the world will end tomorrow or next year does not plant
trees.
As well, Tu b’Shevat affirms that the soil of Israel is holy. The people and the land have a mystic affinity in Judaism, and the New Year of the Trees reminds us every year of the wonder of God’s creation.
Dvora Waysmanis a Jerusalem-based author. She has written 14 books, including The Pomegranate Pendant, which was made into a movie, and her latest novella, Searching for Sarah. She can be contacted at [email protected] or through her blog dvorawaysman.com.
The displays at the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History educate visitors on natural history, as well as current-day environmental issues. (photos by Ashernet)
Just over a year ago, the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History opened the doors of its purpose-built structure on the campus of Tel Aviv University. The 100,000-square-foot building contains more than five-and-a-half million specimens from every corner of the world, educating visitors in every aspect of natural history.
At the same time as the museum serves to educate visitors about specific specimens, the various exhibits and presentations are a reminder of the frailty of the planet and the responsibilities of all humankind to act responsibly to preserve all the species above and below the waves. It also calls on us to try and decrease the pollution that is degrading natural life and depleting the world’s oceans and natural habitats, such as its rain forests and rivers. Israel is not free from such degradation.
It is not just the quantity of exhibits and specimens at the museum that makes it special, it is also the presentation of the material. (photo by Ashernet)
It is not just the quantity of exhibits and specimens at the museum that makes it special, it is also the presentation of the material. As well, there are dozens of friendly, informed museum staff who are only too happy to talk with visitors.
In one sense, the museum has depressing overtones. Many of the species of wildlife that once were found in the region can no longer be seen in their natural surroundings. Visitors are also reminded that fish stocks in the Mediterranean have been depleted over the past 20 years by some 50% due to pollution. In addition, the opening of the Suez Canal has meant that many species of marine life from the Red Sea have ventured into the Mediterranean, via the canal, and wreaked havoc on the Mediterranean’s natural balance.
The museum also shows the harm being caused to the environment by other human actions. For example, it highlights in various ways, including specially prepared film presentations, the danger posed by plastic waste.
The museum presents the history of a world that is unquestionably millions of years old. There are no huge prehistoric animal models exhibited, but there are clear references to the age of dinosaurs. Also, life-size models show the development of humans through the ages. Presumably not wanting to offend anyone’s religious sensibilities, the museum would nevertheless be remiss not to give some scientific explanation for the skeletal remains of both the people and animals that lived on these shores many millennia ago. It is also a sad fact that many animal species of more recent times have been eliminated – because of over-hunting or, in some cases, like the Golan vultures, being almost completely eliminated by farmers poisoning them to protect their flocks.
Throughout the museum there are many opportunities to interact with exhibits that demonstrate or define a particular aspect of nature; for example, comparing a monkey’s hand and its mobility with that of a human. All of the exhibits are clearly explained in Hebrew, Arabic and English.
the museum has a definitive collection of live insects, which are featured in 17 terrariums, as well as almost three million insect samples. (photo by Ashernet)
In addition to the models of creatures and the animals that have been prepared by taxidermists, the museum has a definitive collection of live insects, which are featured in 17 terrariums, as well as almost three million insect samples. This is the largest collection in the museum and includes several types of insects new to science. This provides an interesting opportunity to learn about worlds to which most of us don’t have access.
Among the myriad items in the museum’s collection are those of a 19th-century German zoologist and Catholic priest, Ernst Johann Schmitz, who lived in what is now Israel. Included in the Schmitz collection is the last known bear in the region, from 1916; an Asiatic cheetah from 1911; and the last crocodile from the Taninim River in central Israel. All the species have become extinct in the country.
Nowadays, there is no active hunting of local mammals or birds – the local animals on display are animals that died in nature and have been collected by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority.
Dioramas and interactive displays are located across five floors that are connected by sloped ramps. The curators hope that the museum will increase understanding and knowledge of the natural world. Just as Israel displays its unique archeological treasures, the curators in this museum want to draw attention to Israel’s unique natural history. Despite its small area, Israel has both forests and deserts. The Dead Sea – the lowest point on earth – is within an hour-and-a-half’s drive from the Hula Valley and its collection of migrating birds.
The building of the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, the National Centre for Biodiversity Studies at Tel Aviv University – to use its full name – was possible mainly because of a donation of some $40 million by American philanthropists Judy and Michael Steinhardt.
Some Jewish communities see making eco-friendly choices as the Jewish and socially conscious thing to do. I’ve also participated in Jewish meals and events in which environmental choices were the farthest thing from anyone’s mind. In fact, as they cheerfully dump hundreds of disposable paper products and plastic tablecloths into the garbage, I’ve heard people say that this “social action nonsense” is all some liberal craziness that doesn’t have much to do with Jewish practice.
Sometimes, as families grow more comfortable financially, the notions of reuse and salvage seem less attractive. However, for many of us, junk yards and scrap peddling are an important part of our immigrant past. All this came up in conversation recently with my husband.
As we walked past a neighbour’s renovation, there was a 100-year-old wooden door in a rain-sodden trash heap. We’ve been to architectural salvage places in the past, looking for these doors because they match everything else in our old house. They’re well-made and last a long time. Even second-hand, they aren’t cheap. My husband commented that too many folks feel that, “if I can’t use it, it isn’t useful.”
We contrasted this with a famous family story. As a kid, my husband’s family travelled to Toronto to see their Lubavitcher relatives. On the way home to upstate New York, they carried an unusual gift across the border. They strapped a steel security door on top of their car – a gift from a cousin’s scrap yard. In our families, old-school values still ring true. If you need a door and you can get a perfectly good used one, why not?
While Jewish families often cross borders and levels of Jewish practice and observance, how often do we think about the cause and effect of our actions when it comes to the environment?
I began thinking about this more particularly when my kids learned brachot (blessings) at preschool. Each time we thanked G-d for something that grew from a tree, a vine or the ground, we were acknowledging the power and importance of the earth for our well-being.
When attending services, we pray all winter, from Shemini Atzeret through to Passover, for wind to blow and rain to fall. But what if the rain is polluted? What if our lakes, rivers and oceans are filled with microplastics waste?
We need to focus on how we can reduce our consumption and increase our reuse of what we’ve got. If we thank the Almighty and appreciate the earth’s healthy produce, how do we reconcile that, for instance, with the mounds of plastic we create with packaging, disposable cups and bottles, and more? Most of our recycling products travel to China to be processed. Lately, China has gotten stricter in what it will accept. This means that more of our low-quality waste ends up in a landfill here at home. Current research shows it ends up in our water and bodies, too.
The next logical step of our concern is how we vote. If we vote for candidates who support environmental initiatives (the use, for instance, of compostable bags or a plastic bag ban), we vote our values at the polls. Of course, most of us don’t make voting decisions merely on one issue, but what’s the point of voting for someone whose views contradict what we pray about?
These are big issues, and not easily covered in one column. Still, I see reasons to be optimistic. I’ve noticed that some congregations have shifted their usage of plastic. Maybe Kiddush is being served in glass shot glasses instead of plastic cups, or folks are offered ceramic coffee mugs rather than Styrofoam at events. Some Jewish groups do tikkun olam (fixing the world) activities, cleaning up parks or waterfront areas. Others offer digital bulletins or newsletters rather than printing hardcopies and mailing them.
Some say that individuals can’t make any difference; it’s big polluters that we need to stop. Yes, we need to address big pollution as well as practising small-scale change. When you make an effort to reuse, recycle and responsibly discard your waste, it matters. It’s obvious when walking up a back lane that much of this happens one water bottle or overflowing trash can at a time.
We certainly have a lot of business opportunity in Canada, too. We’ve got lots of Hydro “clean” electricity for processing. I wonder what the next stage of the long Jewish tradition of reuse (scrap yards and junk peddling) might be. In the meantime, start with your next big holiday meal. Could you skip the paper plates or Styrofoam coffee cups and wash some dishes instead?
There is no sense in teaching our kids to say thank you for what they eat and how it grows, or how to be grateful for rain, if we don’t make an effort to keep the world alive and healthy for future generations. Is this a Jewish value or a human one? If we are truly “a light unto the nations” as Jews, we must do this work, and show others how to do it. We can innovate on these earth-saving issues here, educate others elsewhere and pass this knowledge on. We may find ourselves buried under a mountain of plastics and garbage if we don’t.
Joanne Seiff writes regularly for CBC Manitoba and various Jewish publications. She is the author of three books, including From the Outside In: Jewish Post Columns 2015-2016, a collection of essays available for digital download or as a paperback from Amazon. See more about her at joanneseiff.blogspot.com.
