“Dogs weren’t bred to lie on the sofa all day and then walk in perfect step with their human for 30 minutes a day,” said trainer Eric Goebelbecker, CPDT-KA, owner of Dog Spelled Forward. “They get bored just like we do and need to exercise their brains.”

Providing the right stimulation can be a critical step in eliminating problem behaviors. As Goebelbecker points out, bored behavior is often mislabeled as separation anxiety. A dog who is bored will spend his day searching for activities, like disemboweling your television remote or barking incessantly. Providing adequate mental stimulation is easier – and more fun – thank you might think.

When you’re hanging around the house, play with your dog. Consider a game like tug or fetch. Hide in your house, and let your dog find you. You can repeat that exercise with treats and toys, too.

When you leave for the day, give your dog food puzzles he can solve on his own. To up the ante, Goebelbecker suggests hiding the toys. This gives your dog two separate activities – first, finding the toy, and second, solving the food puzzle.

Nina Ottosson makes a range of eco-friendly and pet-safe toys that will definitely keep your dog busy. Warning: These toys, which come in a variety of skill levels, will probably require your participation at first. (Check out her YouTube video demonstrations!) Another great option, though less eco-conscious, is the Kong. You can stuff a Kong to keep your dog occupied. “Kongs are great. You can put treats in them or even actual meals,” said Goebelbecker. “If your dog gets good at un-stuffing them, freeze them.”

Keeping your dog’s mind active will help eliminate problem behaviors like destructive chewing or excessive barking. According to Goebelbecker, “Mental stimulation can result in more relaxed and satisfied dog.”

Your dog will be happier and healthier for it, too!

Image: OakleyOriginals on Flickr, licensed for commercial use under Creative Commons.

A 2002 application of soil fumigant metam-sodium sickened over 260 residents in Arvin, California. Initial reports by country officials indicated that only one person was affected, but door-to-door community surveys found that residents had suffered a variety of symptoms including eye irritation, nausea, vomiting, and breathing difficulties. Metam-sodium is an acutely toxic chemical linked to cancer and reproductive disorders.

These are just two of the many incidents of pesticide exposure endured by workers and residents in the Central Valley.

When most of us think about pesticides, it’s often in the context of buying organic food to avoid ingesting chemicals or exposing our children.

If we’re a little further along in our awareness of the dangers of pesticides, we might go so far as to think about how pesticides harm the ecosystem, and pollute air and water.

But because agricultural workers live in areas invisible to most of us, we may not be aware that the people who harvest our food live and work immersed in a toxic stew of chemicals like methyl iodide (a pesticide linked to cancer and miscarriages), chlorpyrifos (an insecticide linked to endocrine disruption, asthmas, and nervous system disorders), and atrazine (an herbicide associated with hormone disruptions that is banned in Europe).

California, being the produce basket of the country, accounts for 20-25% of all pesticide use in the country. About one-third of total pesticide use in the state is known to be toxic to humans. Children are particularly vulnerable because their smaller, developing bodies can’t take the toxic load. Add to that the fact that many are exposed in the womb and you can see why shorter, unhealthier lives are not unusual in farmworker communities.

This injustice is directly linked to race, class, and poverty. According to a 2003 paper, Farmworker Women and Pesticides in California’s Central Valley, published by The Pesticide Action Network, farm workers in California who harvest our food number over 700,000 and are mainly people of color. Not only do they work in pesticide-soaked fields but they also live adjacent to these fields and are exposed to contaminated dust, air, and water 24-7. Their children go to schools that are located near farms where chemicals are used regularly. Farm workers rarely have health insurance and access to medical care is limited due to language and transportation barriers.

Though California worker safety laws require training on handling pesticides, the farm workers interviewed for the paper reported rarely receiving any training or safety gear. Most workers don’t report exposure incidents to their employers or officials out of fear they will lose their jobs. Compensation for medical bills is practically unheard of. The four California counties with the highest pesticide use are also the four poorest counties in California. Fresno, Kern, Kings, and Tulare counties have an average per capita income of $19,733 as compared to $29,856 for the state. This is not surprising as the people with the least economic power have historically been the people most exposed to contaminated workplaces and neighborhoods.

But the people most affected by pesticides are fighting for environmental justice in farm worker communities, and women are leading the charge. Through community organizing, female leaders and residents of these communities are fighting for cleaner air and water, medical care and reimbursement for victims, and regulatory phase out of some of the most dangerous chemicals.

A slide show, 25 Stories from the Central Valley, by UC Santa Cruz graduate student Tracy Perkins, is part of a larger public art project that documents the daily lives of the people who live in the Central Valley, and shows first-hand what they are up against. It features women like Irma Medellin and Teresa DeAnda, who are working to make the Central Valley safer for residents and workers.

Irma Medellin has also been instrumental in working for stronger regulations regarding buffer zones around areas where pesticides are applied.

In addition to her own non-profit organization, El Quinto Sol, dedicated to ensuring the community has a voice in matters of health and environmental justice, Medellin was an organizer with the BioDrift Project— a joint effort by El Quinto Sol, Californians for Pesticide Reform, Commonweal, and Pesticide Action Network.

The project trains local residents to use a device called a Drift Catcher to monitor the pesticides in the air around their homes and workplaces and use the data to push for stronger regulation.

Over three years, residents of the Central Valley town of Lindsay collected data on airborne pesticides. Combined with urine tests of residents, the project determined that at least one of the pesticides drifting over their neighborhood was also in their bodies. More than 91% of those tested had above-average levels of breakdown products of the pesticide chlorpyrifos in their urine. The proof resulted in the creation of buffer zones around schools and residential areas.

Teresa DeAnda has lived across from heavily sprayed fields of grapes and then almonds in Earlimart, CA all of her life. “I’ve always been here. Taking it my whole life,” she said. Finally, she wasn’t going to take it anymore. Her work was instrumental in the passage of SB 391, the Pesticide Drift Exposure Response Act that was passed in 2004.

A pesticide cloud over Earlimart in 1999 inspired Teresa to began attending county meetings to learn more about pesticides and their health risks. But it was a series of pesticide accidents in 2002 in Arvin, and again October 3, 2003 in Weedpatch, and the following night in Lamont, that made Teresa an activist.

In the last two incidents, opposite sides of the same field were sprayed on consecutive nights with chloropicrin, a teargas-like chemical used during World War I. Residents living nearby had immediate reactions ranging from vomiting, to difficulty breathing. In the first incident, 24 residents were affected. Firefighters responding to 911 calls gave a cursory sniff of gas stoves and water heaters, saying they detected nothing. Residents were ignored when they told firefighters that the problem was pesticides from an adjacent field.

The next night, October 4, an apartment complex on the other side of the field in Lamont, housing over 100 residents, was enveloped in the same chemical. Terrified parents called 911 asking for help for sick children. They were told to stay in their homes and apartments and calm down. No help was sent. Finally a small caravan of residents left the complex, only to encounter a roadblock preventing them from leaving. One man, desperate with worry for his three sick daughters, simply drove around the roadblock to a nearby parking lot. Others followed and gathered in the parking lot to wait for medical help.

When emergency crews arrived, the people were quarantined on tarps on the ground for several hours with no food and little water. They were given one chance to go to the hospital, but those that weren’t in acute breathing distress declined, as most had no money or medical insurance. No other medical care was offered that night, though later, due to public pressure, local clinics offered help whether or not residents could pay.

Through her community work over the years, Teresa had developed a relationship with Senator Dean Florez. After she heard about the last two incidents, she called him to set up a hearing. She then organized the victims of the incidents to attend and testify.

Describing the day of the hearing as “the best day of my life,” she recounted how victims described their experiences in honest detail, many breaking down in tears.

The hearing led directly to the passage of the Pesticide Drift Exposure Response Act, SB 391, barely a year later, and the bill was signed into law by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The Act ensures that people who are exposed to pesticide drift receive immediate and proper treatment. It stipulates that people will be reimbursed for medical bills incurred from the exposure. It also requires the California Environmental Protection Agency to establish minimum standard protocols for pesticide application and to incorporate a pesticide drift component in their area plans.

“There has to be an awakening for everybody who buys fresh fruits and vegetables. When they are enjoying those grapes, or that apple, they have to think, ‘at whose expense was this grown? Who was made sick by the pesticides used to grow this crop?’,” said Teresa.

Learn more about pesticides and the specific pesticides found on your everyday produce. Check out Pesticide Action Network’s searchable database and mobile ap, What’s on my food? to find out what’s on your food.

HT: Erik Vance, Tracy Perkins

This is the latest installment in Vanessa Barrington’s weekly column, The Green Plate, on the environmental, social, and political issues related to what and how we eat.

Image: de Harris via Flickr

Since we’ve been on a bit of sun kick lately (hey, it’s August), here’s a solar-powered gadget that’s going to multi-task today. First, it’s going to thrill you with its ingenuity and get you thinking about how quickly personal solar-powered charging is coming along. It’s going make you think about all the times you looked down at your laptop, saw the “7 percent charged” note blinking on menu bar and thought, “Wouldn’t be nice if I could just plug this thing into something and keeping working?”

Yes, the Voltaic Generator Solar Laptop Charger is a solar-powered carrying case powerful enough to charge a laptop. We first showed it to you a few month’s ago in a solar-powered gadget round-up, but here are some details on what’s in the bag:

The case does its thing with high-efficiency monocrystalline cells and a battery pack that stores and converts electricity generated by a 15-watt, 20-volt panel. It’s being billed as more of a “mobile office” deal, as the case will also charge cell phones and most other handheld electronics.

The Lilon (lithium ion) battery has a capacity similar to a typical small laptop battery and is stored inside the bag, so it’s good to go whenever you need it (as in, “Hello! Hello! Still there?! Damn!”). When the bags not in the sun (with direct sun, a full charge takes five hours), the battery can be juiced using an AC travel charger. An Indicator light inside the handle shows it working.

The bag itself (shell, webbing, mesh and lining) is comprised of fabrics made from recycled PET (soda bottles). It’s strong. It’s water-resistant. It has an aluminum frame and a silicon handle, and weighs in at 4.5 pounds, including the solar panel and battery. It’ll hold something as large as a 17-inch MacBook Pro and comes in four colors.

Cost for packing sunshine: about 500 bucks.

And now, this case is going to serve its second solar-related purpose of the day. Writing about the Voltaic Generator Solar Laptop Charger requires no more from me. Nope, no 1,000-word tome today on Darwin, global warming or the evils of The Man. I’m outta here. It’s gonna be a scorcher and I’m hitting the chaise lounge that’s screaming at me from my balcony. Lates.

Each week here at EcoSalon, I beg my favorite bloggers and designers to hand select a beloved green product, whether it’s a finish, furnishing, or accessory. The end result? An endless anthology of aesthetically perfect products for your perusal.

This week we are graced with the presence of Alissa Swedlow, founder of The Goods Design and Swedlow Design. Alissa is just as genuinely sweet as she is wildly talented. Her blog is full of unimagined glamour mixed with practical interiors. I have a soft spot for Ms. Swedlow – I started blogging immediately upon reading her encouraging words in a national design publication; she is just that inspiring. I will forever owe her endless gratitude, as you will for the generous ideas she shares on The Goods Design.

Alissa’s favorite sustainable furniture line is (drum roll, please) Cisco Brothers. She is lucky enough to live in the Los Angeles area where they have two showrooms (go ahead, be envious). Her flawless taste has pointed toward one of my current obsessions – the pouf. This Moroccan inspired tufted dream comes in various sizes and always provides visual pleasure. Ms. Swedlow reiterates her adoration of Cisco Brothers, “What I especially love about this company (they make gorgeous furnishings, accessories, lighting, etc.) is that their furniture is beautiful. Not ‘beautiful for an eco-conscious line,’ but just straight beautiful. It goes to show that you don’t have to sacrifice style to go green.” I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Alissa is one to watch – be sure to visit The Goods Design for gorgeous musings and Swedlow Design for heaps of stunning interiors. And if you need a few more sprinkles of Cisco Brothers delights, try this or this.

Life is good for green beauty. We have boutiques for easy shopping and sites for learning more about eco products. But sometimes, it is nice to settle in with a good book to educate ourselves. (Especially with ones printed on recycled paper!) Luckily, there are a lot of fantastic books that give us a comprehensive look of what it means to be a green beauty. And we’ve been lucky enough to read more than a few.

Check out our favorite picks for green beauty tomes. And after we have our green faces on, check out Amy DuFault’s recent article on top 15 eco fashion books.

1. Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry by Stacy Malkan

Want to know everything you can about the fight for safe cosmetics? Stacy Malkan, co-founder of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, published this informative tome in 2007. Malkan takes us through her personal journey towards green beauty, starting as a teenager “desperate to fit in” finding solace in the drug store cosmetics aisle. She describes the ‘pink-washing’ of the cosmetics industry – aka “we raise money for breast cancer studies while putting chemicals that cause breast cancer in our products.” Malkan lays out the stark, dark truth of the cosmetics industry while giving us hope for a healthier – and yes, prettier – future. Considered a seminal text for the green beauty movement, this is a must-read.

2. No More Dirty Looks: The Truth about Your Beauty Products and the Ultimate Guide to Safe and Clean Cosmetics by Siobhan O’Connor and Alexandra Spunt

This recently published book comes from journalists O’Connor and Spunt, who offer up fun, anecdotal stories about their experiences with all the wackiness that is the beauty industry. It’s a great resource to help anyone understand the practices of the beauty industry. At the same time, O’Connor and Spunt offer up fun, hopeful suggestions for a healthier present and future.

3. Return to Beauty: Old World Recipes for Great Radiant Skin by Narine Nikogosian

Okay, so now you know your drug store moisturizer may have more petroleum by-products than a plume of oil. Sometimes, the safest products are those we make ourselves. Nikogosian was inspired by her Russian grandmother who took her daily ration of government butter and turned it into a moisturizer. Nikogosian serves up homemade skincare recipes for all skin types and even categorizes them according to sun signs. If you are ready to be your own beauty chemist, this is the book for you.

4. The Green Beauty Guide by Julie Gabriel

Gabriel provides a great comprehensive resource for all that is eco beauty. You get lessons on the science of natural beauty, ingredients list tips, do-it-yourself recipes, product suggestions and even green beauty detox suggestions. Better yet? Gabriel presents a great list of the 100 ingredients you want to avoid in your products. She continues the discussion online at her blog, The Green Beauty Guide.

5. Eco-Beautiful: The Ultimate Guide to Natural Beauty and Wellness by Lina Hanson

Hanson is a makeup artist who was inspired to go green after a move to Los Angeles opened her eyes to a healthier way of living. She includes tips on how to treat different skin types as well as recipes for healthy nutrition and more. But her experience as a makeup artist is the biggest selling point for this tome, which includes detailed tips on application. You’ve got your eco-friendly products – this is the book that tells you how to apply it all.

Ready to shop? Check out 10 Great Eco Boutiques Online

Photo credit: Main picture from tibchris on Flickr. Licensed for commercial use under Creative Commons.

And you might be right, but…

All style-loving gals love fashion magazines. Love them. We love the latest collections, the immaculate vision of Grace Coddington and the beauty tips. We just do! We even love the spoilt socialites, the devil dressed in Prada and the genetically freakish models. We can’t help it.

Rather than simply glossing over one of life’s harmless guilty pleasures and, with the extra day-off over the Labor Day long weekend providing the perfect opportunity to sit down and indulge, we set about finding a redeeming amount of eco love in each. Enjoy.

Vogue

P. 352. Engulfed. Julia Reed reports from the Gulf on a sense of devastation as far-reaching as the oil spill itself.

P.508. Try It! Hessnatur’s slouchy hat, designed by guest green designer, Eviana Hartman.

P.528. Style Ethics – a regular section – features Lily Cole’s eco-ethical knitwear collective the North Circular.

P.666. Royal Green. A longtime environmentalist, HRH the Prince of Wales asks fashion lovers to look to their wardrobes to save the planet.

P.668. Riding High. Monaco blue blood Charlotte Casiraghi is a rising star of show jumping and a champion of sustainable fashion.

Elle

P.94. Elle Extra. Watch ELLE.com/Premium Vintage a web series that explores how vintage influences today’s hottest trends.

P.240. Easy Risers. Self-proclaimed tomboy, model, and eco-activist Angela Lindvall gives us a few pointers on fall’s biggest trend: pants.

Harpers Bazaar

P.390. Hits Of The Season. Lisa Armstrong’s article explores fall’s move back to “real clothes you’ve been waiting for,” highlighting the current focus on timeless and functional clothing. Yes, I agree, its scraping the bottom of the barrel somewhat… So come on, HB, if you’re going to announce that “Shopping is officially back” and that you have, “something for every taste, price and age, ” next time please include some eco-love.

Now I see them every day. In fact, as I type these words, there is one drinking sugar water from my feeder hanging on my balcony right outside the dining room. It’s perched on the rim rather than hovering but I can see its little head going back and forth as it drinks. The rational explanation for why I’m working at the dining table instead of in my home office is the ceiling fan above me. I suspect the real reason is that I get a better view of the birds from here. With the balcony doors open for the breeze, I can also hear them when they sing.

Oh look, now it seems to be preening its wings! So cute!

While we all know that you shouldn’t feed wild animals, for fear of upsetting the eco-system and encouraging dependency, this is one of the exceptions. Scientists say that hummingbirds need all the help they can get on their long migratory journeys. Urban areas have replaced much of their natural feeding grounds so having a feeder, or planting hummingbird-friendly flowers, help even that out. On a selfish level I’ll also admit that I get a lot of joy out of looking at them!

I bought the feeder at the local hardware store last summer. My environmental principles meant that I forked out extra cash for a feeder made of metal and glass rather than plastic. Besides, I wanted only the best for my hummingbirds!

I also bought a bottle of formula to feed the hummingbirds. The idea was I’d mix one part of the red syrup with three parts of water. The information on the bottle indicated that this was the very best food for hummingbirds:

“Scientific studies have repeatedly shown that hummingbirds prefer sucrose to the monosacharides glucose or fructose. Knowing this, First Nature Nectar uses the finest food-grade sucrose and not less effective invert sugars found in other products. Not only is First Nature Nectar the easiest hummingbird food to use, it’s also the most healthy choice for these colorful visitors.”

Now I don’t doubt the quality of First Nature Nectar’s product and it definitely sounds superior to formulas that use glucose or fructose, which are less nutritious for the hummingbirds. But I now prefer to make my own, and here’s why.

My friend Kimberly saw my photos and alerted me to the fact that red dye may not be safe for hummingbirds. I did some research and it seems that while the issue is not fully resolved, there is enough convincing evidence that it should be avoided. Testing of the red dye (FDA #40) has shown no conclusive detrimental effect on human health, although it is banned in several European countries anyway. But hummingbirds are tiny creatures and they consume vast quantities of nectar, so the concentrations of red dye in the amounts they consume is quite large. I figure why give it to them if they don’t need it.

Ooh, a second hummingbird just flew in and was chased away by the first! … Sorry, I’m easily distracted …

My friend suggested that I make my own syrup by mixing one part white table sugar to four parts water. She suggested using boiling water to dissolve the sugar and cautioned against using hot tap water because of the possible bacterial content. Well, that seems awfully simple, right? Honestly, part me felt that I should trust the experts who made the syrup and I worried that white table sugar might be the wrong sort of sugar to mimic flower nectar. I told her that I’d heard sucrose was the best food for hummingbirds.

Silly me. Turns out, sucrose is the scientific term for white table sugar. So essentially I have been paying to buy a syrup made of table sugar but with the additives of potassium sorbate as a preservative and red food dye. If you Google this topic, you’ll find hundreds of helpful links – and not one suggests formula is really better.

The red dye is there to attract the hummingbirds, but my friend pointed out that the red flowers on the feeder attract them anyway. The fact that I bought a metal feeder also means that the lid and base are a nice reddish copper colour.

Since I switched to home-made syrup a week ago, the hummingbirds have been coming just as often, if not more often than before. I’m glad that I’m now feeding exactly them what they need – simple-carbohydrates to fuel their bug-hunting expeditions – without preservatives or dyes. And since one cup of sugar makes enough syrup to fill the feeder several times (I’m storing the excess in a closed container in the fridge), it’s likely that I’ll be saving money!

For all the talk of monosaccharides or sucrose, glucose and fructose on the label of the shop-bought syrup, the formula really is just sugar and water. Hold the dye.

Photo credits: Images are by the author Caitlin Fitzsimmons and used here with permission. All rights reserved.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right? So that means beauty treatments are also in the eyes of the participant. But sometimes, these eyes are smeared with snail ooze. Or maybe they’re splashed by a ramen noodle spa or slithered across by snakes during a massage. Some beauty treatments around the world seem the stuff of Willy Wonka’s factory, without the ensuing sugar coma.

But hey, we don’t judge. After all, we live in a world where people make a practice of injecting botulism into their foreheads and silicone into their lips. If someone wants to put bull semen in our hair, we say “how much?” and “just keep it away from my ears”. And while we figure out a way to comfortably staple our ears closed, check out some of the stranger beauty treatments making their way around the planet.

1. Snail Ooze Facial

Would you ever consider smearing your face with snail ooze? If so, pick up De Tuinen Snail Gel, sourced from the snails of Chile. (And sold in Holland, nice carbon footprint!) The secret is in the snail’s secretion, which is used to smooth the snail’s shell. It is supposed to support the skin’s elasticity and more.

2. Snake Massage

Some people think that letting snakes slither across their bodies would be the stuff of nightmares. Not so, for the patrons of Ada Barak’s spa in Israel. The $80 treatment gets you several non-venomous snakes slithering around your body, apparently producing a therapeutic kneading sensation. Barak’s clients claim the treatments ease migraines and soothe sore muscles.

3. Ramen Noodle Spa Bath

Hakone Kowakien Yunessun of Japan offers up a treatment suitable for both lunch and spa. Sitting in a tub shaped like a ramen noodle bowl, the water contains pepper-flavored water colored a light, milky brown. Just what does the Ramen noodle spa bath do for you? The water contains collagen and garlic extracts, and officials claim it can help produce beautiful skin and aid moisture retention. And it probably makes you feel like a giant’s lunch in some fairy tale.

4. Bull Semen Hair Treatment

Think that organic chamomile conditioner you just shelled out 40 clams for is great? Consider lathering up with bull semen instead. Hari’s, a salon in London, uses the semen of Aberdeen Angus bulls to treat their customers’ locks.  As the salon’s owner Hari Salem told reporters, “The semen is refrigerated before use and doesn’t smell. It leaves your hair looking wonderfully soft and thick.” We’ll take your word for it, Hari!

5. Fish Pedicure

You know what is my worst nightmare? Hands down scariest thing I can imagine is falling into a tank of dead fish. (And here’s to exposing our darkest fears on the internet!) Ask my young nieces, they can vouch that I’ve run screaming from the room at the sight of a possible floater in their little fish bowls. I can’t tell you why. I just skeeve dead fish.

So this latest spa treatment to sweep the world is not for me. But for the braver (read: less neurotic) sorts, you can dip your toots into a fish bowl filled with tiny carp that will nibble away your dead skin. And sure, these fish are alive. But can we really take that chance? Can we?

6. Sheep Embryo Injections

Want to look young forever? Who knew that all it took were sheep sacrifices! But before we all reach for our sacrificial robes (made of organic cottons, of course) keep in mind that you can merely inject sheep embryos into your face. Rocker Debbie Harry did 30 years ago and credits her youthful appearance to the procedures. As the musician told reporters in 2008, “I had these cells injected into me in my early 30s and it turned out that I was the youngest person to have the treatment. They would take (cells) from the liver, glands, bone and whatever. Whether that treatment lasted this long, I don’t know, but I feel great.”

7. 24 Carat Gold Face Mask

The secret to glowing skin? According to the good people at UMO, its slathering gold all over your pores. Using an “ultrasonic nano mist,” gold penetrates your skin to lift, firm, and reduce the signs of aging. No word on whether King Midas had anything to do with the development of this treatment.

Photo credits: Face; Snail; Snakes; Ramen; Bull; Fish pedicure; Sheep; Gold. All photos from Flickr, licensed for commercial use under Creative Commons.

The weather this summer in the Bay Area has been nothing short of awful. And with me being what my friend calls a “High Priest of Ra,” it’s been posited that my missing a sacrifice or committing some other ungodly affront has resulted in this madness. We’re talking stretches of frigid weeks in July, a sunless, cold anti-summer, followed by sudden August temperature spikes reaching 104 degrees and literally melting the candles in my apartment. 104? I mean, this is San Francisco. Are you kidding me? Dear Lord, could it really be my fault? Do the weather gods care about us humans and what we do here on earth?

Evidently they do care. A lot. Human-induced global warming and our fossil fuel mission/vision of burn ‘em if we got ‘em has someone or something pissed off. Big.

We’ve all had the conversations that start with “How many hurricanes was it this year?” or “The summers have never been like this before!” or “When I was a kid we’d have snow days where we couldn’t even leave the house! What happened to those?”

Invariably, these openers are followed by, “Yeah, right, and there’s no global warming.” Indeed, for general weather phenomena like these, science has been emerging that shows connections between human activity and broad brush climatic change.

But take the conversation a step further to speak about a certain climatic event – the Russian heat wave, say, or Pakistan flooding – and it becomes more challenging to point to a particular culprit. While we all seem to instinctively know there’s a connection between specific weather events and what we’re up to on the ground, the science hasn’t been there to make absolute links, as in “that flood came from that weather pattern which came from those countries burning this much fossil fuel back in these years.” Capiche?

Scientists are beginning to capiche.

Earlier this month, white coats from all over the world gathered in Broomfield, Colorado, at a National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and International Group on Attribution of Climate-Related Events (ACE) workshop series on the “science, application, and communication of climate attribution information.” As defined by the NOAA, climate attribution is “a scientific process for establishing the principal causes or physical explanation for observed climate conditions and phenomena.” This includes attribution for variations “for which great public interest exists because they produce profound societal impacts.”

In other words, what’s behind the mega-weather headlines.

Not too long ago, our ability to address such questions would have been dismissed, says an article in New Scientist. “Many scientists at the time [a decade ago] said that you can never blame an individual weather event on climate change,” says Myles Allen of the University of Oxford.

But attempts to assign blame for such events goes back to 2004, when Allen and others “showed to a high level of confidence that human greenhouse gas emissions had at least doubled the risk of the European heatwave of 2003.” Their research approach required them to “run thousands of simulations of the climate as it is and as it would have been without human influences, then compare the number of times a given event occurs in each scenario.” Today, technological adavances will enable to such analyses to be much more accurate.

One of the worlshop’s attendees, Dr. Claudia Tebaldi, of Stanford’s Carnegie Institution, says that research already has been able to attribute causes of  trends in continental scale temperatures, large area-averaged precipitation trends, ocean temperature trends, long-term changes in atmospheric humidity and more to, well, us.

“Using sophisticated computer modeling and high quality observations,” she writes, “we are able to say with great confidence that in these changing aspects of our climate system, the fingerprint of human causes is already evident.”

Now the the goal is use new methods to get even more specific regarding particular events and their causes. And while forecasting is of primary importance, right now there’s a lot of buzz around the legal implications of pointing accurate fingers. For example, can one country sue another for activity that can be proven to be responsible for something as devastating as a flood, heat wave or famine?

In 2005, Katrina victims filed a lawsuit against some oil companies, saying their activity in the Gulf contributed to the power of the hurricane. The case was recently dismissed due to a legal glitch, but you get the idea. Big implications here.

Connecting weather events with their causes is going to be a huge undertaking in upcoming years. As climate changes have increasingly profound effects on the lives of millions, people are going to want to know the whys and whos and hows and, hopefully, how to predict and prevent catastrophes going forward. And leaving it up to the gods just ain’t going to cut it. (Sorry, oh dear and powerful Ra. Can I have some more summer please? Just a little? What do you want? A dead goat?)

Image: crowt59

I wish I could tie August around my wrists, carrying the satisfaction of whimsical sunsets and anticipation of impending fall with me year round. There is something about natural rope that insinuates the nautical splash of coastal bliss that only summer can nurture. Go ahead, get tied up and roped into these gorgeous commodities.

Clockwise from top left: Haus Interior Rope & Nickel Accessories, SHINE Rope Artwork, Tanya Aguiniga Unraveled Cotton Rope Necklace, Simplemente Blanco Sisal Knitted Pillow, Anthropologie Coiled Rope Knob, and Tanya Aguiniga Jersey Knot Bracelet.

(Top images from Marie Sturges and Mel Yates.)