Traditional Tropical Trees: In Traditional Trees of Pacific Islands: Their Culture and Usage, Craig Elevitch of Kona has collected essays from experts across an entire ocean that describe the many trees that over centuries have become an integral part of the legend and lore – to say nothing of the diet – of Pacific islanders. Hawaiian ethnobotanist Isabella Aiona Abbott has contributed a preface to the massive book (816 pages), stating that, “For me, 30 years ago, [the book] would have made it so easy to teach ethnobotany,” since it furnishes “a great deal of the information necessary to teach a good course in that subject.”
The 7-pound volume features more than 800 photographs (nearly all in color) and contains chapters on nearly 50 different types of trees. Its publication was supported in part by the state Department of Land and Natural Resources and the US. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service and Natural Resources Conservation Service. For information or to order: www.traditionaltree.org.
Buy Low, Sell High? When it comes to coastal real estate in an era of rising seas, the old saw about clever investing may be turned on its ear. Buy high, sell low might be sage advice if, as seems increasingly likely, positive feedback mechanisms brought on by a warming climate nudge upward the rate at which continental ice fields melt.
While glacial melt in the past has been regarded as a tiny contributor to sea-level rise (most of which is a result of oceans displacing more volume as they warm), now experts in climate change are beginning to worry about accelerated loss of ice in Greenland and western Antarctica. A recent article in Science magazine, based on highly precise satellite observations, suggests that lower elevations of Greenland may be losing ice at a rate many times greater than what was seen as recently as a decade ago (“Recent Greenland Ice Mass Loss by Drainage System from Satellite Gravity Observations,” S.B. Luthcke et al., Science, November 24, 2006).
“Our new results suggest that the processes of significant ice depletion at the margins, through both melting and glacier acceleration, are beginning to dominate the interior growth as climate warming has continued.”
If Greenland’s ice pack melts, sea levels will rise about 20 feet. If Antarctica loses its ice sheets, seas will rise about 200 feet. Bathers on the new beaches on the slopes of Punchbowl crater would see only the topmost floors of Waikiki skyscrapers jutting out from the ocean. Hawai`i’s capitol, whose ground level floor is level with the sea for the moment, would have been sunk long ago.
Many Thanks: Environment Hawai`i is pleased to acknowledge receipt of a grant from the Change Happens Foundation. The award will be used for general support.
Volume 17, Number 8 February 2007
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