A recent video presentation at TEDx Somerville Massachusetts by Seth Itzkan, with slides from his trip to Dibangombe, Zimbabwe.
Ocean currents
Submitted by Peter Donovan on Sat, 05/05/2012 - 17:17NASA recently put out a lovely video showing ocean currents over time. While human decisions may not affect ocean currents very much, human decisions certainly affect carbon and water cycling. While carbon and water cycling are difficult to see, as complete cycles, the ocean current video may serve as a kind of visual representation, with a similar kind of turbulence or fractal geography, if you will. Click the picture below for one version of the video.
Two stories
Submitted by Peter Donovan on Thu, 04/12/2012 - 10:55In my engagements with people and groups of people around the carbon cycle, I encounter beliefs that appear to be stages along a continuum. The following diagram and table is not intended to be a simple judgment of good/bad, but is an attempt to give context to ongoing shifts in beliefs by describing or signposting the endpoints of the shifts. This description is always rough and premature.
On earth, we have solar energy coming in and longwave radiation or heat going out.
| Life is a passenger on a basically dead planet, with humans an aberration or disturbance. | The biosphere does work, a lot of it. Life is the most potent geologic force. | |
| Input-output system. Greed and scarcity rule. | Carbon and water cycling are emergent: the result of the decisions, choices, and metabolisms of trillions of self-motivated, autonomous organisms, most of them microbes. | |
| Creation was a long time ago, and the earth has been degraded since then. | Creation is now. | |
| You can't unscramble an egg. | A hen can unscramble an egg. | |
| The world, and life, consists of things, which we can divide into good and bad, and act accordingly. | The world is primarily processes and relationships. How are they functioning? | |
| Structure of knowledge gives leadership to expert, concentrated power, often based on rules. | Knowledge can be localized, flexible, adaptable. | |
| Manage against problems. | Manage toward desired results. | |
| Try to achieve change by threats and predictions, and make people do the right thing. | Change by creating new models that make the old ones obsolete. Let people do the right thing. | |
| Let's wreck the world slower (or faster). Time is a cost. | Time is an opportunity to maintain and restore function. |
Lots of research in earth systems and biology tends to shift us toward the right but in many cases we continue to interpret things from the left side. The insights on the right are in many cases quite old, but these shifts are often slow to occur, and we can straddle the gaps for centuries.
It's not about right or wrong here, or blame. Where does the greatest opportunity lie?
Next Blog Post from Seth Itzkan in Zimbabwe
Submitted by Christina on Mon, 10/03/2011 - 19:22Hut With a View - 9/27/11
Blog entries from my visit to the Africa Center for Holistic Management, Zimbabwe.
see also http://hutwithaview.wordpress.com/
Sable
Laura Jackson: The Farm as Natural Habitat
Submitted by Peter Donovan on Fri, 09/30/2011 - 06:09In 2005 Laura Jackson of University of Northern Iowa gave an outstanding and insightful presentation to the Leopold Center on the ecological ramifications of Iowa agriculture. It is no less timely today. Highly recommended. Download the pdf here.
Videos from Seth Itzkan
Submitted by Christina on Thu, 09/29/2011 - 15:41Seth Itzkan continues his posts from Africa with two videos.
First,his introduction to Dimbangombe and first impressions:
http://youtu.be/MpvONKd6fm4
and, second,debunking a common misconception that cattle numbers are the problem:
http://youtu.be/8FG50RqA_lE
Post #2 by Seth Itzkan from Dimbangombe, Zimbabwe
Submitted by Christina on Thu, 09/22/2011 - 15:39Part 2: Hut With A View - Community Visits - 9/13/11
I don't even know how to start. The words that come to mind are hot, dust, sand, water, bare ground, struggle, promise, thirst, water (again), team work, manure, lions, fire, driving, children, bye bye, hello, and "What is the weather like in America"?.
Seth Itzkan posts from Dimbangombe, Zimbabwe
Submitted by Peter Donovan on Sun, 09/18/2011 - 08:21Seth Itzkan of Somerville, Massachusetts is visiting the Africa Center for Holistic Management in Dimbangombe, Zimbabwe this month and posts a fascinating account of his experiences and learning here.
Don Huber interview
Submitted by Peter Donovan on Wed, 05/04/2011 - 21:56Don Huber, a retired plant pathologist from Purdue University, was interviewed recently on the subject of glyphosate (active ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup), manganese deficiency, and reproductive rates in livestock. According to Dr. Huber, the recent approval of Roundup Ready alfalfa by the USDA could jeopardize our most important forage crop.
Modern science causes desertification
Submitted by Peter Donovan on Sun, 04/03/2011 - 17:13by Jeff Goebel
Note: Jeff Goebel has been facilitating and teaching Holistic Management for many years. His website is http://aboutlistening.com
