Welcome to my Environmental A-Z…today it’s the letters X, Y and Z…I have been heartened to hear how many of you feel like I do that we need to take our own steps to avoid pollution and waste wherever we can…especially at this time of the year when waste is at its highest …I hope you all aimed for a sustainable Christmas or as near as damn it as possible even one change is a result multiplied…

Abraham Lincoln is correct we need to act now to create the future for our families that we want…but at the moment we can only dream of…

The best way to predict your future is to create it...Abraham Lincoln.

The A-Z of the environment and Climate Change… letters X, Y and Z…

I have reached the end of this series but I will be back in the New Year with another A-Z an A-Z of which will be revealed in the New Year…

X, Y, Z as with most A-Z’s the alphabet ran true to form with few examples and unfortunately, I could find nothing beginning with Y… except for economic yield and that was too in-depth for me…

Xerach…

Having its origin in a dry habitat…it includes the different stages in a xerarch succession that is limited by water availability… A xerarch succession of ecological communities originated in an extremely dry situation such as sand deserts, sand dunes, salt deserts, rock deserts etc.. .the correct order of succession levels in xerarch ARE bare rocks, crustose lichen stage, foliose lichen stage, moss stage, annual herb stage, perennial herb stage, shrub stage, tree forest and finally climax stage.

Xylophagous…

Xylophagous insects play a multifunctional and very important role in forest ecosystems. Some xylophagous insects develop either in dead trees and shrubs or in dead parts of still living woody plants. These are called saproxylic. A couple of decades ago they were not considered to play a significant functional role in the functioning of forest ecosystems. Now it is a well-known fact that this earlier opinion was fundamentally wrong and that undervaluation of their importance came simply from lack of knowledge of their importance. The saproxylic species play an important and irreplaceable role in the decomposition of dead woody plants.

After these insects have taken the first steps in the decomposition of wood, the chewed-up wood and their frass become available for other macros, and microscopic organisms. The saproxylic insects take part not only in the first part of the decomposition process but also in all successive stages. There are some species (flower beetles belonging to the dung beetle family for example) that feed in very decomposed wood. These species help to mix the wood compost into the soil. Further decomposition from this point becomes the duty of small arthropods such as springtails and mites, and even smaller microscopic organisms.

This is really interesting as most living things play an important role in our future and the existence of trees and forests…

Zero Waste…

Wouldn’t it be lovely to live in a world where there was a completely circular economy and zero waste…

It sounds like my dream is doable…I do hope I am around to see a completely circular economy because it CAN be done! Check this out and see how…I think it’s brilliant…

What do you think?

The Zero Waste Market opened near downtown Kyoto on July 31. As well as a wide range of fresh vegetables, it sells dry goods such as beans, nuts, flour, pasta and noodles, seasonings such as oil, vinegar and soy sauce, cleaning products like laundry detergent and powdered bleach and soap, personal care products like lip cream and shampoo, and natural wine. The range of products is part of the reason it calls itself Japan’s first zero-waste supermarket.

Its success and interest from customers and other retailers are pushing the company’s expansion plans along faster than it had expected, in a sign that Japan may be ready to relinquish its status as the second-highest per capita generator of plastic packaging waste…Wow, that is amazing…

Zero Emissions...

Zero-emission refers to an engine, motor, process, or other energy sources, that emit no waste products that pollute the environment or disrupt the climate.

I’ve seen the headlines and heard the promises by 2030 by 2050…Do I think that Greta Thunberg will get her demands met?… This objective has been ratified by Switzerland, the EU and many other countries, under the Paris Agreement…I wait and I won’t hold my breath but I also hope that it will happen it could but will it?

Net zero-emission means that all man-made greenhouse gas emissions must be removed from the atmosphere through reduction measures, thus reducing the Earth’s net climate balance, after removal via natural and artificial sink, to zero. This way humankind would be carbon neutral and global temperature would stabilise…

Zooplankton…

The zooplankton community is an important element of the aquatic food chain. These organisms serve as an intermediary species in the food chain, transferring energy from planktonic algae (primary producers) to the larger invertebrate predators and fish who in turn feed on them.

Zooplankton and other small marine creatures eat phytoplankton and then become food for fish, crustaceans, and other larger species. … Phytoplankton accounts for about half of the photosynthesis on the planet, making them one of the world’s most important producers of oxygen.

Temperature is considered the major factor shaping marine zooplankton dynamics, including distribution, abundance and phenology…thus increased temperatures mean that the plankton increases thus too much plankton due to excess nutrients in the water (known as eutrophication), which means that harmful algal blooms can result. These can decrease the sunlight and oxygen in the water, which can disrupt the natural ecosystem.

The End!

I hope you have enjoyed this environmental A-Z as much as I have…as always thank you for dropping by and reading this post I look forward to your comments…Carol xx