According to the Regional District of the North Okanagan, only seven per cent of the land in B.C. is suitable for agriculture and 39 per cent of that land is located in the North Okanagan. Some day that land will become extremely valuable.
Many places on this planet will no longer be producers of crops due to global warming. Tens of thousands of people have died recently in Africa because of a drought caused by climate change.
One easy and effective way to slow down global warming is for everyone to eat less meat. Livestock is the number one cause of global warming according to the International Panel on Climate Change.
Livestock animals produce methane gas which is 24 times more potent than CO2 as a GHG (greenhouse gas) and they also produce nitrous oxide, which is 296 times more potent than CO2 as a GHG. There are 20 billion livestock animals on this planet.
Dr. Aryan Tavakkoli, a respiratory specialist in a hospital in New Zealand says, “the biggest thing we can do with the most powerful impact to protect our children’s future and ensure a bright future for the planet and to improve our own health is to change our diet dramatically.
Individuals have tremendous power through our lifestyle choices.”
Paul McCartney is promoting this solution by having people support his Meat Free Monday cause. The website is www.supportMFM.org. Buying local produce also helps to eliminate GHG.
The second largest cause of GHG is transportation. The solution is to walk and cycle more, drive less and to replace gas engines with electric motors.
The North Okanagan is a great place to grow fruit and vegetables and has talented people who can convert cars from gas to electric.
Terry Dyck, Vernon
