Among Jane Goodall's Many Lasting Legacies Is Advocacy For A Sustainable Earth, Climate Change Solutions

Practicing what she preached: During Jane
Goodall's September visit to New York City
for Climate Week, she got around town
on an environmentally friendly 
Pedicab.  Goodall passed away
Wednesday at age 91. 

As you've almost surely heard already, the world lost a Great One Wednesday. Jane Goodall, the famous  primatologist, anthropologist, conservationist, media figure and one of the best women to ever grace this Earth, passed away at the age of 91.  

A big part of Goodall's advocacy was creating and keeping a sustainable planet for all creatures. Climate change might have seemed tangental to Goodall's mission, but it was a critical part of it.   

For Goodall, it wasn't just about keep the world safe and clean and stable for chimpanzees. She had all animals - including us humans - in her heart. 

In a 2019 ABC interview, she said climate change has left the planet imperiled. "We are definitely at a point where we need to make something happen... We are imperiled. We have a window of time. I'm fairly sure we do. But, we've got to take action," she said. 

Her advocacy lasted until the very end. Goodall was on a speaking tour in California this week and died of natural causes. Retirement had never really crossed her mind. 

Just recently, on September 21-28, she attended New York Climate Week  during which she gave interviews to publications like Forbes, the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg regarding the natural world and our need to preserve it. 

She has acknowledged that people have come to her "depressed" 'about climate change and other environmental dangers. But she responded with a message of courage.

On her Facebook page from Climate Week, Goodall said the climate crisis is the greatest challenge of our time, but change is still possible if we act with courage and hope.  

Alway finding ways to be a good example, Goodall got around New York City when visiting there by hiring Pedicabs, which are carriages powered by drivers propelling the vehicles via bicycle. 

Vox highlighted recent interviews in which Goodall gave a plug for literally saving Earth from excessive technology, the worst excesses of business interests and - of course - climate change. 

According to Vox:  

"'It seems these days everybody is so involved with technology that we forgot that we're not only part of the natural world, we're an animal like all the others,' Goodall, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute, a conservation group, said last week during the Forbes Sustainability Leaders Summit in NYC. 'We're an animal like all the others. But we depend on it for clean air, water, food, clothing -everything.'

And yet - 'We're destroying the planet,' she said.

Vox noted that as recently as last week, she said we know what's killing the planet: Industrial agriculture, including livestock and burning fossil fuels. 

People magazine noted that Goodall acknowledged that caring for humans and the environment is "a tough problem" as she put it. But she believed solutions were out there.

"We've got to get together," she said. "And scientists are beginning now to really work out the technology that can help us live in greater harmony with the natural world....But it's a problem that should be at the heart of everything. It should be at the heart of politics, and it should be at the heart of business."

At her core, Goodall was an optimist, a rarity in our fraught world nowadays. I suspect she saw how animals often ingeniously figure things out. She had confidence that the creatures known as humans could do the same if we could just learn to understand that advancement isn't necessarily just bulldozing through everything. 

Goodall taught me and I'm sure countless others to look at all animals with awe and wonder, and, ultimately, understanding. In large part because of Goodell, I frequently stop and watch the animals and birds I encounter as they live their lives.   

I observe how nothing goes to waste in the animal world, that everything has its purpose, there are important symbiotic relationships between species, and that we also need to take a moment to play, and find joy. (If you've ever seen a bear cub in action, you know what I'm talking about).  

Goodall was a joyful warrior on a quest to teach us (sometimes dumb) humans that we can find ways to live in a world that sustains us all. To the end, she had faith that we would somehow find a way to make it happen. Wrestling climate change to submission is a big part of that. 

Her thinking on this might seem naive and pollyann-ish. But Goodall was far, far too smart to indulge in optimistic fantasies. 

She spend a lifetime watching and researching and loving the animal kingdom and all the wonderful things they do.

If chimpanzees can do it, so can us humans.  Where others saw defeatism, Goodall saw possibility. Of all the incredible things Goodall did in her 91 years, her sense of hope is her greatest legacy.   

Tonks, Our Gracious, Zen-Like Loyal Companion And Weather Watching Dog, Dies At 16

The late, great Tonks in her St. Albans, Vermont yard on
a breezy winter day in 2017, enjoying the scents in the air.

Tonks Modereger Sutkoski, our gorgeous furry sweetheart, crossed the Rainbow Bridge today, May 31, 2023. She was 16.   

Tonks was a gracious, zen-like presence who taught us all to savor the simple things in life, like a comfortable bed and the smells and sounds of nature outdoors. And meal time. Don't forget that. 

She was the beneficiary of great genes, making her a stunningly beautiful pup.  She was a Golden Retriever and Cocker Spaniel mix.  That gave her luscious blonde hair, soulful eyes, fun floppy ears and a cute button nose. 

Tonks came into our lives when she was seven years old. In the first chapter of her life, she lived with a Vermont couple, who eventually formed a family that included two very active, very young children. The couple knew the kids were probably too much for Tonk's gentle, calm nature. 

The family generously and selflessly let us adopt Tonks, who quickly settled into a new life with goofy brother Jackson and her new parents Jeff and Matt. 

Tonks in the foreground enjoys a laugh while her 
brother Jackson in the background not getting the
joke on a sunny autumn day in 2015. 

Tonk's new household had gardens, lawns and decks where she was free to roam. She quickly got in the habit of sitting down, facing the wind, closing her eyes and enjoying all the aromas that passed her way. Sometimes Jeff or Matt would join her in this activity.  

 She also enjoyed laying down on the deck and watching the cars on the road zip by, and the birds flutter around overhead. 

Tonks was no loner, though. She loved visiting people when they stopped by, accepting with pleasure a little neck scratch and just the companionship she enjoyed when human friends were around. 

 Every day, breakfast and dinner were cause for big celebration. After these daily feasts, she'd settle down in the soft bed she loved for comfortable naps. 

Another particular joy for Tonks came in the summer, when it was time for dad Matt to thin the carrot crop in the raised beds. She and brother Jackson would safely dispose of the delicious mini-carrots Matt would dig up by immediately chowing them down. The carrots were her favorite food.

Tonks enjoying a rest on her comfortable bed, 2019.

She, accompanied by her brother, would also always help Matt measure whichever weather event came our way, so that Matt could do a more accurate write-up in this blog. 

She especially loved weather watching with Matt on sunny, windy days.  However, Tonks was not a particular fan of snow, especially if it was deep.  

Tonks, always the helpful pup, was our early warning system for any truck deliveries that appeared in our driveway. She'd hear the beep-beep-beep of the truck backing up, and start barking loudly to announce the delivery arrival.  

She was also a  bit of a prankster. As her dad Jeff settled into his easy chair to watch TV in the evenings, Tonks would quietly slip into the hallway behind him. After awhile, she'd let out a single loud bark, propelling Jeff to the ceiling.

In Tonks' later years, her hearing diminished and her hind legs grew weak and unstable. But she never gave up her curiosity, and that zen-like life of smelling the aromas in the air continued until the end. 

Tonks, left, and her brother Jackson, help dad Matt
with his weather blog by sniffing the air for clues as to
when the snow would stop during a
large 2018 winter storm

Tonks is survived her her brother Jackson, dads Jeff Modereger and Matt Sutkoski of St. Albans, and many aunts, uncles and cousins. 

She was predeceased by her loving grandparents Don and Lois Modereger of Yankton, South Dakota and Henry and Pauline Sutkoski of West Rutland, Vermont. 

In lieu of flowers, Tonks asked that you make a contribution or volunteer at your local Humane Society. She also said that if you want to add another doggo to your family, please consider adoption. 

Tonks passed away in late spring, probably the most fragrant time of year for many of us. She asks that you go outside, sit down facing the wind, close your eyes and breathe in the wonderful aromas of nature.

 It was Tonks' way of doing things and being happy, and this works for humans, too. 

Loving And Fearing Early Springs: Season Comes Sooner, But Cold Snaps Loom

Although it doesn't look like much yet, one of my
perennial gardens in St. Albans, Vermont is way ahead of
schedule this warm spring. However, these early
bouts of warmth increase the risk of freeze damage later.

So far at least, it's yet another early spring here in northern Vermont. 

Like many recent springs,  things are way ahead of schedule, or at least the schedule as it used to be.  

This week here in northwest Vermont feels and looks like what the third week in April used to look like when I was a kid in the Green Mountain State.

On Wednesday, trees were budding in the sunny, warm breezes. The grass was starting to turn green, perennials in the gardens were up and growing rapidly.  Crocuses bloomed everywhere and some of the early daffodils showed flower buds already. 

The only negative thing was that black flies were starting to bother me a little, weeks ahead of schedule.

Actually that's not the only thing that bothered me about this early spring. The trend, anecdotally around here in Vermont and observed in much of the Northern Hemisphere is this: Climate change is creating early springs. Plants are greening up and blooming earlier than ever, at least in general.

However, brief but intense cold snaps are causing lots of crop and garden damage. And that's not to mention how dispiriting it is to watch your early gardens freeze to death.

Here in Vermont, there's no immediate sign of any looming cold snaps sharp enough to wreck spring, but that doesn't mean it won't happen.

These frigid spells have damaged gardens and such in the two previous premature springs, so chances are it will happen this year, too.

This kind of pattern has already happened elsewhere this spring, and in recent years.    

It had been a warm winter and spring across much of Europe, so plants, crops and fruit trees began blooming prematurely.

Then a blast of winter chill blew in this past weekend. 

They're still assessing the damage, but farmers and agricultural experts know it's extensive. Plum, apricot and cherry orchards in France have been damaged, as has many of its famed vineyards.  

France had its coldest April morning since 1947 with a low of 29.3 degrees. Record lows were also reported in Germany, Spain and Austria.

This is the second year in a row Europe suffered a harsh spring cold wave after a warm winter. 

As the Washington Post notes, last year's cold snap caused $2.4 billion in damage to French wine growers. Some vineyards lost 80 percent of their grapes.

The damage might not be as bad this year, because the cold hit earlier than in April, 2021. Buds and blooms were not as far along as they were during last year's freeze, so that could minimize the destruction. 

Sharp, destructive cold waves during otherwise warm springs seem to be becoming a thing. Says the Washington Post:

"Climate scientists are concerned that warming late winter and early spring temperatures are increasing the frequency of 'false springs' which spur earlier vegetation green-up before the threat has passed of frigid temperatures that can wipe out young, vulnerable plants."

In the Northeast, a cold shot in the final days of March trashed magnolia blooms, wilted some other early flowers and many have caused some orchard damage in parts of the Mid-Atlantic States

The Washington Post has other examples:

"A false spring in March, 2012 was followed by an April freeze that resulted in a half billion dollars in damage in Michigan. A false spring in 2017 and ensuing early April frost resulted in $2 billion in economic damage in the Southeast."

A 2019 study concluded that despite overall warming temperatures, some plant and crop species will paradoxically suffer a trend of increased frost damage due to more premature springs punctuated by quick freezes. 

The problem extends way past plants. Audubon.org notes that earlier, warmer springs prompt birds to migrate northward earlier than they once did. Some species of birds directly freeze to death if they go north, then encounter a sharp freeze.

Or, insects go dormant during the cold snap, so birds that feed on insects suffer or even die. Or, plants that are a food source for our avian friends die in a freeze after a false spring, so that causes issues. 

Audubon.org suggests adding bird feeders and water sources to your property to help the birds through our newly whacky springs.  By the way, animals might come out of hibernation of the late winter is like spring. Then they find out the plants they feed on were wiped out by an April freeze.

Or, blooms on plants like wild apple and various nut species freeze after a premature spell of warm weather, so animals are not able to find enough food during the subsequent autumn.

Then there are us humans.  There's the obvious toll if somebody's vineyard or apple orchard gets trashed by a spring frost after an early bout of record high temperatures. 

At least for me, this pattern of premature springs followed by damaging freezes is dispiriting.  I'm an avid gardener, and the familiar patterns of seasonal changes are important to me. Always have been. I'm a close observer of day to day changes in the natural world around me, and I can spend hours outdoors just marveling at how seasons unfold, especially spring. 

I'm rather neurodiverse, so forgive me for my indulgence there. As my husband always says, I love going outside and playing in the dirt. 

It actually feels soul crushing to watch some perennials die, say in a Mother's Day weekend freeze two years ago.  Last year, a very early spring led to an April 21-22 sharp freeze and snowstorm that destroyed wild apple blossoms near my house, smushed some of my daffodils, and worst of all, largely prevented my lilac bushes from blooming due to frost damage.

Even the joy of this year's early spring is tempered by the inevitable hard freeze I fear will come sometimes within the next month or so.

I realize those freezes were not exactly the end of the world for me, as I suffered no real monetary loss and my gardens ended up looking fine during the summer. But to have the exuberance of an early spring trashed by two days of winter cold is just one more small, but real example how climate change can mess with your mind.  

Volunteers Rescue Thousands Of Sea Turtles From Fatal Texas Cold

Some of the thousands of sea turtles rescued from the 
record cold weather in coastal Texas rest in a warm
hastily arranged emergency shelter for them. Photo by
Sanjuana C. Zavala/Sea Turtle Inc. 

 You have to find the bright spots where you can find them.   

Especially in the tragedy that icy, dark disaster that befell Texas and surrounding areas this week. 

Sea turtles can't handle the subfreezing cold that hit coastal Texas this week. The cold stuns the turtles into motionless, and from there, they drown, starve or get attacked by predators. 

Since this cold snap is so long lasting, the sea turtles' only real hope is from humans.  

Though there has been a shameful failure of leadership among some humans in this disaster, people also redeemed themselves here. Despite having enough on their plate with power outages, ice, burst pipes, limited water and food shortages, a bunch of people have come together to save the turtles.

As NPR reports:

"Volunteers in coastal Texas have rescued thousands of sea turtles from frigid waters and shores during the historic winter storm and are working creatively to house the as much of the region remains without power.

Sea Turtle, Inc., a nonprofit, education, rehabilitation and conservation organization in South Padre Island, Texas, has taken in nearly 4,500 sea turtles since Sunday, according to Executive Director Wendy Knight. She told NPR that local volunteers have been retrieving the turtles by boat and on foot and that the organization has been able to accommodate them with assistance from the community, including from the local government and SpaceX, which has a launch site nearby."

The South Padre Island Convention and Visitors Bureau opened up the South Padre Island Convention Centre as an emergency shelter for the turtles. Which helped a lot, considering Sea Turtle Inc. only has space for about 500 rescued turtles. 

The space now kind of looks like one of emergency shelters for people, where storm refugees take shelter amid rows of cots in large rooms, like gymnasiums. 

Only this emergency evacuation center is for turtles, of course. The sea turtles are resting in tarps, kiddie pools and boxes all packed into the convention center until it warms up outside. 

Turtles can live a long time. One rescued sea turtle is about 100 years old an weighs roughly 350 pounds. 

Many people who live near the Texas Coast have participated in the rescue, said Sea Turtle Inc. Executive Director Wendy Knight. 

As NPR reports:

"Knight estimates that some 2,200 turtles were brought in during the first two days of the storm, mostly by alert community members who went out in boats - from recreational boats to fishing vessels to dinner cruise boats - to help pull the island's famous creatures from the water. The tide has increasingly pushed the turtles ashore, and volunteers are continuing to pick them up and drive them to the facility in trucks and trailers, she said."

SpaceX chipped in by providing space for some of the turtles, and more importantly, also providing specialized, massive commercial generator to make sure the electricity kept flowing at the turtle rehab center.

MUCH SADDER TEXAS ANIMAL NEWS

Another animal rehabilitation center has much sadder news to report. 

According to NBC News:

"At least a dozen animals, including monkeys, lemurs and one chimpanzee, died after record-setting cold and snow left a Texas animal sanctuary without power, officials said. "

The sanctuary staff was able to grab more than 30 chimpanzees, baboons, monkeys and lemurs and place them in heated bedrooms for the duration of the power outage. 

Area residents responded to calls for flashlights, propane tanks, generators, heaters and animal carriers, which helped. Some of the animals were evacuated to the San Antonio Zoo or other warm places.

Some of the animal deaths were caused by how the cold wave confused them.  Some of the animals in the park refused to go into warm spaces. 

Now that it's starting to warm up in Texas, this crisis will ease, but tragically too late to save some of these animals.