Connecting the river dots in Fish Story

Today at 2:PM CT from the Memphis College of Art, we will do a public webcast to compare river issues in Memphis, TN from Fish Story, to river issues in Greece with Yvonne Senouf of MELD and Amy Lipton from ecoartspace and relate those problems to the emerging impacts of radioactivity with Eve Andre Laramme and radon from fracking with Ruth Hardinger.

Installation detail from the Hyde Gallery, Memphis College of Art, Memphis, TN

On a pedestal outside the installation room a hand-out says:

"Scientists have confirmed that carbon dioxide levels in the air have reached 400 parts per million.

(see article) Off-setting that rise would require people to green the earth by an additional 36% by 2030.  Without such drastic measures, most species, including humans will not survive. The easiest way to change that is to restore degraded ecosystems. Everyone on this earth can participate in that work. Memphis may be a critical place to begin.

    We emit globally about 10 BMT/yr of  carbon (billion metric tons per year) in Fossil Fuel burning       and deforestation. In 20 years, that would mean about 200 BMTs.There are about 550 BMT of carbon in all plants above ground, and 1,500 BMT below ground (in soil carbon), so you need to add   about 2% to the living global biosphere every year to offset the above. In 20 years that would mean you need to add 36% to the living biosphere to offset Fossil Fuels and deforestation, or you'd need 1/3rd more biosphere in 2030 to do the offset. Its less if you can figure out a way to speed up the transfer of carbon form the living bits to the soil carbon pool. 

–Dr. James White, member of the Fish Story team

Fish Story Memphis is about how the causes and effects of global warming are affecting fish as indicator species for habitat and water quality. Memphis is a critical ecoregion: in the third largest watershed in the world, along the sixth largest river, South of factory farms and North of dead zones in the Gulf of Mexico. The Wolf River may be a bioregional opportunity to effect large landscape restoration. Reconnecting the Wolf River to the Mississippi may be the first step.