| The information age has landed with a head bursting | | | | on my doorstep that really caught my attention. |
| thump. In fact it has not only landed; it has planted | | | | My local African potatoes are only a reflection of a |
| roots and made a firm home for itself within our | | | | much wider problem. "Approximately 20-30 percent |
| society. On a daily basis we have the opportunity | | | | of plant and animal species assessed so far are likely |
| engorge ourselves with new information - magazine | | | | to be at greater risk of extinction if increases in |
| articles, blogs, pod casts and e-books. And yet as we | | | | global average temperature exceed 1.5 to 2.5 Celsius" |
| revel in this golden age of information, we manage to | | | | . Water supply and drought are not the only |
| casually face our biggest ever challenge as a species, | | | | problems, some species of plants and animals are |
| and note it down on a virtual to do list for the future | | | | temperature sensitive for reproduction. With the |
| - "global warming, fix next week". | | | | onset of global temperatures; botanical gardens |
| Just this evening while discussing the topic, my six | | | | around the world have noted that plants around the |
| year old daughter dropped her shoulders rolled her | | | | world are booming ahead of their normal schedule . |
| eyes and moaned "not that again!" Too much | | | | We are reminded that global warming was created |
| information can be as bad as too little, as we run the | | | | by factors such as industry, traffic and agricultural |
| risk of desensitization setting it. What's more, | | | | practices to name a few, however when we follow |
| information without experience to help us internalize it | | | | the road to the source, these contributors come |
| does little good. Experience enables us to assign an | | | | down to one place -the place you call home. The |
| emotion to the new information; this is what makes | | | | quandary with global warming is the name itself. It |
| it meaningful. | | | | evokes a sense of "globalness" or if you prefer, a |
| This being the case, I am not here to overload you | | | | sense of bigness that is hard to equate with the day |
| with facts about global warming, there are multitudes | | | | to day hustle and bustle of the family home, its hard |
| of pages about it on the net and the "almost" US | | | | to absorb it, and say, "It's my problem". You may |
| president Al Gore has adequately illustrated the | | | | wish to test this yourself; what is the first image |
| threat of global warming in his award winning film, | | | | that enters your head when you hear the term |
| The Inconvenient Truth. My interests are more to do | | | | "global warming"? |
| with the effects of global warming on plants and | | | | With the home in mind let's avoid the multitude of |
| more specifically the plants that live within my direct | | | | tips available to reduce global warming and consider |
| human experience. | | | | what experiences we can have that will help us to |
| How will the increase in average global temperature | | | | internalize this mass of information and make it real. |
| affect the plants live around you? The question was | | | | Experiencing means processing our world though our |
| sparked by the unprecedented dry summer we have | | | | five senses, perhaps it's the time you take to brush |
| just experienced in Johannesburg. After a season of | | | | your teeth while leaving the tap running and saying a |
| unrelenting heat, punctuated only by two meager | | | | sad farewell to those water drops that not even |
| rainfalls, Johannesburg's surrounding grasslands turned | | | | your grandchildren will gain any benefit from. Perhaps |
| from green to brown and then shortly after to black | | | | its taking a walk through your local botanical garden |
| as the inevitable veld fires started. These savannah | | | | as if it was the last time you could do it, or perhaps |
| areas are rich in medicinal plants including the hardy | | | | it's as simple as taking the time to notice what it |
| African Potato, Artemisia and a host of golden | | | | feels like for your body to experience thirst. The fact |
| savanna land grasses. While these areas often burn in | | | | remains that until information about global warming |
| winter, the unseasonable fires arrived at the wrong | | | | becomes real and experiential to each and every |
| time during the plants' growth cycle. Consequently | | | | person, we can expect a good few very dry |
| some plants were badly damaged, while many did not | | | | summers to come. |
| survive at all. It was this experience that happened | | | | |