Anyone remember it was World Environment Day on June 5?
The actual day set aside by the United Nations in 1973 certainly slipped past me this year but the environmental catastrophe stories on the news have had my attention. Major floods,a massive landslide in Papua New Guinea, tornadoes and twisters sweeping across parts of the U.S. and venturing into Canada, wildfires burning in B.C., Alberta and the Northwest Territories, record temperature highs in India, Pakistan, South America. But most alarming of all was hearing the report that the current ocean temperature off the B.C. coast is what would normally be recorded in the month of August 鈥� three to four months ahead of schedule.
Did you know our oceans are our greatest ally against climate change? This is because they generate 50 per cent of our oxygen, absorb 25 per cent of all carbon dioxide emissions, as well as capturing 90 per cent of the excess heat generated by those emissions. Oceans are Earth鈥檚 largest carbon sink making them an invaluable buffer against the impacts of climate change. Or they used to be.
As greenhouse gas emissions have increased over the years, our oceans have not been able to keep up, causing water temperatures to rise and acidifying the seawater, having a horrible effect on coral reefs and other oceanic species.
Back on land, and the impact higher than normal temperatures are playing across the globe, I came across a disturbing forecast. It is projected there will be an average of two months of drought at an increased temperature of 1.5 C. At a 2 C increase of temperature the drought will lengthen to four months. At a 3 C increase, the world could be looking at droughts lasting a whopping 10 months.
And we think we have food security problems now! Good thing we are gardeners because we should have garnered some grasp of what is happening to our planet globally just through witnessing what goes on in our gardens.
Lack of adequate rainfall has hit all of our gardens hard. But it is not good stewardship to just turn on a tap and water the garden. Think of the impact that has on our watersheds. Their levels are way down as well. Definitely, the health of your food crops is important and must be sustained. But have you investigated any other irrigation options that could lessen the impact on the watershed?
Granted, our watering regimen of reclaiming greywater from the kitchen sink and washing machine is way too onerous and grossly inadequate for any vegetable production bigger than our small veggie patch.
Kudos to those who have invested in irrigation drip systems. Delivering measured amounts of water directly to a plant guarantees maximum good with minimum waste and works really well when your garden is laid out in rows, or if you have raised beds or small-sized garden beds. But not so much when you have sweeping large beds and a husband who is forever moving his plant specimens around. Numerous irrigation lines met their demise in his garden with a single downward thrust of a shovel. So many, that irrigation lines have become obsolete in our garden due to replacement and labour cost overruns.
Because of our water situation, we now pay closer attention to how our plants are performing throughout the summer 鈥� evaluating their tolerance to heat and drought. Those that show stress are moved to shadier locations. Those that have croaked are replaced with more drought-tolerant species.
But the best surprises are the number of plants in our garden proving to be resilient through the heat of the day on minimum water. Even shade-loving ones like Brunnera (bugloss) and maidenhair fern. Stay tuned鈥�
Leslie Cox co-owns Growing Concern Cottage Garden in Black Creek. Her website is https://duchessofdirt.ca/
