Tag Archives: #worldorganicnews

Episode 304. Varroa, FNM, Reduced Methane & Duckweed

This is The ChangeUnderground for the 29th of July 2022.

I’m your host, Jon Moore

Decarbonise the Air, Recarbonise the Soil!

Hi all, it’s been a while, I know. As many of you know I work in a disability service and we’ve been smashed this month with the Omicron variants. I’m up to date with boosters so I’ve been pulling so many shifts, I’ve almost forgotten “normal” life. Staff and clients have been out of action but no one has been hospitalised, so that’s a good thing. 

Anyway, I’ve continued to monitor and collect stories so this episode will attempt to squeeze a month’s worth into one. Buckle up, it’s been a hell of a month!

Varroa

Continue reading →

Episode 303. Burps, Methane & A Plan

This is The ChangeUnderground for the 27th of June 2022.

I’m your host, Jon Moore

Decarbonise the Air, Recarbonise the Soil!

I’ve listened to the horrified reactions of farmer’s around the world when it comes to the methane produced by ruminants. The usual suspects deny it’s a problem, the other usual suspects advocate for animal free agriculture. Somewhere in between lies the solution. 

I’ve discussed some of these issues in Episode 272: Methane? Briefly, are there more ruminants in the world than there was before the start of the Industrial Revolution? Maybe, maybe not. If the numbers are roughly equivalent then the methane exuded is part of the usual background makeup of the atmosphere. That idea though hasn’t stopped methane from ruminants being a target in the emission reduction. Continue reading →

Episode 302. Monbiot, Mansplaining & Urban Arrogance

This is The ChangeUnderground for the 20th of June 2022.

I’m your host, Jon Moore

Decarbonise the Air, Recarbonise the Soil!

Well folks we’ve been through one of those “First World Problems” situations in the last week. A large and very slow moving high pressure system sat off the west coast of Tasmania, funnelling antarctic air onto the state. A little bit of snow on the higher peaks 10 days ago or so. Cooler temperatures and a little breeze reminded us winter was here.

Last weekend, 11th and 12th of June, the weather system unloaded. 45mm of rain in half a day accompanied with increasing winds. They eventually topped out around 140 kph (about 85 mph). Mrs ChangeUngerground was staying in Launceston with her sister and brother in law who had an early flight on the 12th. The night of the 11th was a true test of the structures at home. The power dropped out early but was back up Saturday night until it wasn’t, again. Sunday about 0100 some power came back. Enough for lights, TV and internet but not enough for the fridge, the freezer nor the water pump.  Continue reading →

Episode 301. Starvation and Conflict Averted?

This is The ChangeUnderground for the 6th of June 2022.

I’m your host, Jon Moore

Decarbonise the Air, Recarbonise the Soil!

Winter has arrived here in Tasmania. We were out for brunch with some in-laws, the wind howling outside and I checked the weather app. 10.3 but feels like -3.3. A very chilly -13 degree wind chill factor. 

But the rain has started. We are considered to have a Mediterranean climate here in Tassie. Autumn took a while to wide up. Warm, above averagely warm with more forecast. La Nina is still pumping moisture onto the mainland which meant we were a little on the short side at some times last year. The predictability of weather is not what it once was. Climate change is affecting us all, to greater and lesser degrees. The early heat waves in India this year are far more serious than a latish start to the winter rains in Tasmania. The former has killed people, the later has not.  Continue reading →

Episode 300: Looking Back, Moving Forward

This is The ChangeUnderground for the 30th of May 2022.

I’m your host, Jon Moore

Decarbonise the Air, Recarbonise the Soil!

Not much original content this week. I looked back over episodes 1, 100 and 200 to tease out the themes of these 300 episodes. 

Not surprisingly they involved soil, glyphosate and climate change. Have listen and I’ll be back to the usual format and transcript next week.

Thanks to everyone who has listened.

Decarbonise the air, recarbonise the soil!

Thank you all for listening and I’ll be back next week

~~~~

LINKS

No Dig Quick Start Course

https://worldorganicnews.com/courses/no-dig-gardening/

buymeacoffee.com/changeug

email: jon@worldorganicnews.com

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1546564598887681

Episode 299. Too Small To Matter?

This is The ChangeUnderground for the 23rd of May 2022.

I’m your host, Jon Moore

Decarbonise the Air, Recarbonise the Soil!

We hear the argument here in Australia and I’m sure it pops up elsewhere that we’re only x% of global emissions. What happens if we spend the money and change but the US, China and India don’t? 

The fact that the x% quoted and it varies from 1 to about 2.5% doesn’t take into account our coal and liquified natural gas exports because they’re being burnt somewhere else by someone else really destroys the argument. 

But let’s look at the question. What if we transition to 100% renewables and zero emissions? Continue reading →

Episode 298. Slow Moving Tsunami

This is The ChangeUnderground for the 9th of May 2022.

I’m your host, Jon Moore

Decarbonise the Air, Recarbonise the Soil!

As I’ve discussed in episodes 294, 289, 282 & 281, things are heading for a crunch in world food supply and costs. This all started with the supply chain disruptions of the pandemic but the war in Ukraine has triggered what could reasonably be seen as the cause of every major recession since WW2: fuel inflation. Because of the ubiquity of oil in every aspect of our lives and hence our dependence upon it, a modest rise in the price of a barrel has dramatic effects. A major spike, the 70s oil crisis, the recession of the 1990s, the disasters of the first decade of the 2000s and the spikes in the last 8 years are all, if not linked, at least correlated to periods of inflation and then recession.

Clearly, harder times are coming. Harder for some than for others, hard times nonetheless. Continue reading →

Episode 297. Living Mulches

This is The ChangeUnderground for the 2nd of May 2022.

I’m your host, Jon Moore

Decarbonise the Air, Recarbonise the Soil!

This week I dive more deely into a living food production approach.

Living mulches have been a thing for a long time. Using them requires a slight shift in emphasis and approach. It is not always worth the effort.

In an article from the University of Wisconsin-Madison entitled: Living Mulch Suppresses Weeds and Yields in Organic Vegetable Plots Continue reading →

Episode 296. The Great Dying

This is The ChangeUnderground for the 25th of April 2022.

I’m your host, Jon Moore

Decarbonise the Air, Recarbonise the Soil!

It turns out an article I stumbled upon this last week is based on a three year old paper from the 2019 March edition of Quaternary Science Reviews entitled: Earth system impacts of the European arrival and Great Dying in the Americas after 1492. There’s a link in the show notes to the original paper. Continue reading →

Episode 295. Changing Systems Takes Time

This is The ChangeUnderground for the 18th of April 2022.

I’m your host, Jon Moore

Decarbonise the Air, Recarbonise the Soil!

There’s going to be a tsunami of “I told you so”s. 

Quote:

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa promised in his 2019 election campaign to transition the country’s farmers to organic agriculture over a period of 10 years. Last April, Rajapaksa’s government made good on that promise, imposing a nationwide ban on the importation and use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides and ordering the country’s 2 million farmers to go organic.

End Quote Continue reading →