Midwest Floods: A Prayer for the Farmers and Everyone in Iowa
by greenz.jp, Tokyo, Japan on 06.18.08
Our prayers are with everyone in Iowa and elsewhere in the US Midwest, as we read in the NYT: Towns on Mississippi Shore Up Levees.
The human and economic costs of the flooding in Iowa alone have already been devastating. Five people have died, nearly 40,000 people have been evacuated or displaced, and more than $1 billion worth of crops have been destroyed.
We all know that especially the farmers in the area are hoping to get back to work as soon as possible. Your crops feed the world (and corn and soy prices are already record high, with surpluses at a record low) so this couldn't have happened at a worse time. Iowa governor Chet Culver said, "...the state will face a prolonged recovery and rebuilding period with 83 counties facing significant damage, thousands of affected crop acres and devastation to homes, infrastructure and other property."
Brought to you with a prayer from Martin Frid at greenz.jp
It has been a particularly wet spring in the Midwest, with the weather delaying crop plantings, overflowing rivers, and ruining vast acres of corn and soybean plantings. The Iowa Farm Bureau Federation said on Monday that flood waters have claimed about 20 percent of grain acres in Iowa, or about 1.3 million of corn and up to 2 million acres of soy. Iowa and Illinois produce about one third of US corn and soybeans, and Iowa is a major producer of hogs and cattle. It also serves as a critical link in the country's road and rail network, with several Interstate highways crisscrossing the state. Reuters notes that the damage in Iowa is worse than in 1993.
Why is this happening? We don't know, of course. Climate change is a reality but we can't say how our lives will be influenced by it. What we know is that we are just beginning to see how human activities influence the environment. Climate change critics want proof, hey, if only it was that easy. Heavy rains and floods like this shouldn't happen every 15 years. At the same time, we are facing tough choices and need a sober discussion about how each of us are going to find solutions so things don't get much, much worse before they start to get better.
According to the 2006 United Nations Livestock's Long Shadow report (picked up by Treehugger and not to be forgotten or ignored), livestock is responsible for some 18% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions as measured in CO2 equivalents. Feed production is also discussed in the report, as well as land degradation, freshwater shortages and biodiversity loss.
Will we see calls for real policy change as work is beginning on a "Rebuild Iowa" plan in the wake of the state's worst natural disaster?
From the report:
Damaging subsidies should be removed, and economic and environmental externalities should be built into prices by selective taxing of and/or fees for resource use, inputs and wastes. In some cases direct incentives may be needed.Payment for environmental services is an important framework, especially in relation to extensive grazing systems: herders, producers and landowners can be paid for specific environmental services such as regulation of water flows, soil conservation, conservation of natural landscape and wildlife habitats, or carbon sequestration. Provision of environmental services may emerge as a major purpose of extensive grassland-based production systems.
An important general lesson is that the livestock sector has such deep and wide-ranging environmental impacts that it should rank as one of the leading focuses for environmental policy: efforts here can produce large and multiple payoffs. Indeed, as societies develop, it is likely that environmental considerations, along with human health issues, will become the dominant policy considerations for the sector.
Here in Japan, a report from a study group on international food issues under the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries points out how frequent occurrence of abnormal weather conditions throughout the world because of the global warming that has affected the agricultural production. The soaring grain prices are attributable to abnormal weather conditions that include serious drought in Australia, dry conditions in Ukraine and Canada, and localized flood and drought in the US. In addition, a surge in oil prices and "money game" are said to have an influence on them, notes Nihon Nogyo Shimbun: Soaring World Grain Price Demanding Policy to Increase Domestic Production
Flooded cornfields in Oaksville, Iowa on June 16, 2008.
Consumers in Asia eat less meat, but it is clear that we as consumers must change our lifestyles. Just as we are debating what kind of car or bicycle we will be driving or how what kind of house we want to have in the future, we need to take a long, hard look at our daily bread and where it comes from.
Nobody likes to be told what they can or cannot have for supper. But at least we should start thinking about the devastating effects of our increasingly unsustainable global food consumption. And - time to remember to say our prayers.
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
- US Farmer’s Incomes Now Tied More to Ethanol Than Food, Economist Says
- From Community Supported Agriculture to a Community Supported Kitchen
- Will the Next New Deal be Transit-Based? Three Plans to Rescue the Economy and the Earth with Public Transportation
- Focus Earth: November 29, 2008: Growing Up With Global Warming
Pop Quiz: Veggies vs Meat, How Much Carbon
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Monstrous Harvest: "The World According to Monsanto" Movie Review
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Whoops. Did you forget that man caused this disaster?
Not nature?
We build cities by rivers, dam the river, levee the river to change the course, dredge the river for navigation, and then when it rains and the river floods, we look around for somebody else to blame.
This is very tough news for all of us, I hope the farmers there have a much better rest of the year. This is also a reason to reconcider our almost total dependance on non local food in this country.
Pray all you want, the water will only flow downstream so fast.
And to the previous commenter: 10 inches of rain week after week will make any river flood.
well, do something substantial if you feel you must do something since praying is completely worthless to the victims. Prayer is just a way to make the person praying feel like they are doing something and ease their conscience since they're doing nothing else - sorry it just doesn't work.
(I know people are deluded in thinking it works so go ahead and give your testimonies in support of prayer, but meanwhile the subject of your prayers could still use some real help).
Not everyone believes prayer is going to solve all their problems (although I will admit with some recent news it seems some americans really do think all they need to do is pray and it will cure their sick child).
However most of the helpful people know that a wing and a prayer doesn't just cut it. They go out and make it happen with the members of their faith together. Say what you want about churchgoers but they certainly tend to know more people than the average Joe who doesn't go. And more people means more help. The ones who dedicate themselves to actions and not just words are out there, and you don't have to look very hard to find them.
So if you're going to do something, ask a neighbor how you can help and try not to belittle the very people probably doing the most good by getting the word out.
Churchgoers or not, I can attest that Iowans are not ones to just sit home and pray for help, for themselves or others. They may be praying while they do it, but they get out there and do what needs to be done, as evidenced by the thousands of volunteer sandbaggers and, now that the waters are going down, volunteers helping with cleaning up, providing food and shelter and water to evacuees, and donating money and clothing and household goods and whatever else is needed. I'm not a native Iowan, but I am very proud of my neighbors and how they have handled themselves during this crisis.
Florida building codes require several things to minimize damage to buildings in a hurricane, it's long overdue that building codes in flood zones include some requirements to prevent the inevitable.
I would bet it's far cheaper to build a flood proof house than it is to build a tornado or hurricane proof house (assuming starting from scratch)
Man has yet to learn how to live with Mother Nature.
Here we have two extremes; Drought in the West and South and flooding in the Mid-West. Each year (Some years worst than others) we watch the flooding. Then with horror we watch the rebuilding....supposedly a sign of American strength.
Those of us who live in the West watch as thousands of gallons of water is lost. Man does not have a water capturing system that could send flood waters to other parts of the country that is expriencing a drought. It's interesting, however, that we have a capturing system that sends oil from Alaska to the lower 48.states through a pipeline.
Does anyone think outside the box. It was a little over 140 years ago when a man named Ellet told those in charge that levees would not alleviate the problem. The Army Corp of Engineers won out over Ellet, as they did in New Orleans. What a waste!
We must take charge. If we continue to want to live in areas that the mighty Mississippi and its tributaries over take, than we must come up with viable plans to address the problem of what can be done with the water before it becomes flood water.
How nice it would be to capture that water in a system that could send it West, East, or South. Open the flood gates let the water flow to those areas that need it. Why just sit and wait for cities and its inhabatians to drowned.
Man has yet to learn how to live with Mother Nature.
Here we have two extremes; Drought in the West and South and flooding in the Mid-West. Each year (Some years worst than others) we watch the flooding. Then with horror we watch the rebuilding....supposedly a sign of American strength.
Those of us who live in the West watch as thousands of gallons of water is lost. Man does not have a water capturing system that could send flood waters to other parts of the country that is expriencing a drought. It's interesting, however, that we have a capturing system that sends oil from Alaska to the lower 48.states through a pipeline.
Does anyone think outside the box. It was a little over 140 years ago when a man named Ellet told those in charge that levees would not alleviate the problem. The Army Corp of Engineers won out over Ellet, as they did in New Orleans. What a waste!
We must take charge. If we continue to want to live in areas that the mighty Mississippi and its tributaries over take, than we must come up with viable plans to address the problem of what can be done with the water before it becomes flood water.
How nice it would be to capture that water in a system that could send it West, East, or South. Open the flood gates let the water flow to those areas that need it. Why just sit and wait for cities and its inhabatians to drowned.
Man has yet to learn how to live with Mother Nature.
Here we have two extremes; Drought in the West and South and flooding in the Mid-West. Each year (Some years worst than others) we watch the flooding. Then with horror we watch the rebuilding....supposedly a sign of American strength.
Those of us who live in the West watch as thousands of gallons of water is lost. Man does not have a water capturing system that could send flood waters to other parts of the country that is expriencing a drought. It's interesting, however, that we have a capturing system that sends oil from Alaska to the lower 48.states through a pipeline.
Does anyone think outside the box. It was a little over 140 years ago when a man named Ellet told those in charge that levees would not alleviate the problem. The Army Corp of Engineers won out over Ellet, as they did in New Orleans. What a waste!
We must take charge. If we continue to want to live in areas that the mighty Mississippi and its tributaries over take, than we must come up with viable plans to address the problem of what can be done with the water before it becomes flood water.
How nice it would be to capture that water in a system that could send it West, East, or South. Open the flood gates let the water flow to those areas that need it. Why just sit and wait for cities and its inhabatians to drowned.