Adapting to Climate Change

Adapting to Climate Change
There was a great story on NPR this morning about a woman farming in the Amazon Delta. Ketzal Levines words as they tramped through the rain forest were, “We aren’t making a path to her farm we are in it.” This Brazilian woman has planted things within the forest that she can harvest to support her family and make a living. She did not cut the forest down to do it. She adapted her plants to the forest.
There is a theory that the entire eastern part North America was one big farm in the time of the Native Americans. This theory says that they were not just hunter-gatherers but managers of the land. I don’t know how true this is. It does make a model for a more sustainable agriculture. Would that kind of agriculture sustain our way of life? Probably not. Going back to the stone age is most likely not the only solution to climate change. The Dutch are saying they may have to “let some water in”. The Venetians are looking at building better flood gates. One way accomodates nature, the other fights it. Perhaps we can just live in a world of concrete and tempered glass with hydroponic plants and cloned livestock that doesn’t eat much. Is that really so different from managing a forest to provide sustenance?
David Segrest is a REALTOR in Charlotte NC. His website is http://www.segrestrealty.com His email is david@segrestrealty.com