We all have different ways of recharging our batteries, healing our bodies and revitalising our souls. Some of us play games at a casino online or exercise regularly and eat a healthy diet, while others immerse ourselves in a book. Of all the divergent methods we use to get adequate rest and relaxation and associated good health, none is more effective or efficient than Mother Nature herself.
The Great Outdoors: An Increasingly Rare Commodity
In our modern tech-driven world nature is becoming an increasingly rare commodity. Urban sprawl is encroaching on available green spaces. City dwellers are spending less and less time outdoors. Younger people in particular are becoming disconnected from our natural environment… and are paying the price in terms of physical, emotional and mental health and well-being.
Disease, Chemical Dependency and Teen Suicide on the Rise
Teen suicides are at an all-time high and the incidence of certain cancers, strokes and cardiovascular disease is increasing at an alarming rate. More and more people are turning to recreational drugs and anti-depressants to get through the day. Sadly, they are ending up dull, lifeless and the de facto poster boys and girls of substance abuse instead.
Positive Healing Forces Built-In
Instinctively, we know there’s an easier and better way of achieving optimum health and wellbeing. To get there, we first have to acknowledge that the positive forces we need to heal reside in nature itself… and not necessarily in the surgeon’s knife, on the psychologist’s couch or via the doctor’s prescription pad.
Humans are Hot-Wired to Seek Solace in Nature
Once we’ve recognised the power of nature, the realisation we are one with the cosmos is the second important step to a healthier, happier and more contented human race. We are after all hot-wired to seek out the serenity, beauty and harmony of wilderness areas especially when we’re sick, stressed or experiencing some sort of crisis.
Tracking Healing Measurables in Nature
Is it the tranquillity and age-old rhythm of nature that gives us the time and space to heal? Or, are there more measurable reasons why we feel so much better when we’re exploring the myriad delights of the great outdoors?
The Sun
The first hint of nature’s efficacy in healing can be found in the sun. It’s a natural source of vitamin D; an essential little worker that boosts our energy levels, supports our immune and nervous systems and protects our cells against cancer, type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis and heart disease.
The Fragrant Forest
A second major elixir is found in phytoncides. These are effectively the compounds responsible for the wonderful heady aroma exuded by our trees. Studies have revealed that folk who frequent forest settings have slower and more regular heart rates, lower blood pressure and lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol in their brains.
In the same study, it was found that spending only a short time in a therapeutic forest environment each day can lower blood sugar, enhance concentration, alleviate pain and optimise the body’s immune system. Now isn’t that a great way to maximise health and wellbeing?
Sensory Healing
What is fascinating is we need not take long solitary walks on the beach or venture deep into the wilderness to benefit from the healing power of nature. Simply feasting the eyes on a harmonious natural setting like trees swaying in the breeze, flowers in full blown or a stream tinkling over rocks can have an overwhelmingly positive impact on the human body’s capacity to strengthen and heal.
In fact, hospital patients who had a view of a garden containing trees, shrubs, flowers and a water feature needed less pain medication, exhibited fewer post-surgical complications and healed noticeably faster than patients who had the same surgical procedure but had no view at all or looked directly at a brick wall!
Harnessing Earth’s Antioxidant-Rich Electron Charge
Walking barefoot is also tipped as an easy way to shore up your body against inflammation and disease. According to researchers, the earth has a negative electrical charge rich in electrons. By tramping across the grass, beach or forest floor without your shoes on, the soles of your feet automatically absorb these electrons, which are packed with antioxidants.
As we all know antioxidants gobble free radicals in the body and free radicals are those nasty little compounds that trigger inflammation and support disease. In essence we can protect and heal ourselves as we walk… thanks to the extraordinary health benefits of earth’s electrical charge!
When in Crisis Head for the Hills
Although many of us are disconnected from the wild beauty and inherent healing properties of wilderness areas, when tragedy strikes we ‘head for the hills’. This instinctive migration is illustrated by the fact that parks and botanical gardens in New York City recorded their highest-ever visitor rates in the hours directly following the 9/11 attacks.
How Effective is Nature’s Healing Capacity?
I can hear you asking how effective nature’s capacity is to heal us. Well, in one recent study soldiers who were either injured in the line of duty or diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder reacted more favourably to the healing power of nature than they did to drugs or counselling.
This surely proves our point that nature is indeed imbued with super powers capable of restoring health and preventing disease. Nature is and always will be the cosmic healer with clout!
Will it be a Mini or a Maxi Ice Age?
After all the talk that’s gone on in the last twenty years about the impending doom of global warming, we find that there has been a reversal and a lot of people are talking about a mini ice age to hit the Earth, especially in the Northern Hemisphere. Aside from giving us more time to play games at our favourite online casino, what effect will a spat of global cooling have on the Greater Manchester area?
Global Warming
Before we dive into the icy waters of a cooling spell, let’s review quickly the global warming scare. At first al was the utmost in doom and gloom. We would melt away. Tropical diseases would take root in northern England. The crops that grow well in the “normal” climate would fail and people would be threatened with starvation.
Then people realized that the predicted global warming was happening a lot slower than predicted and was a lot less severe than expected so the fear turned to climate change. A blog entry in this site actually extols the benefits of warming climate change. It states that warmer temperatures will make presently non-arable land arable. After all, wine grapes were grown in England before temperatures cooled some hundreds of years ago.
In the 150 years from 1850 to 2000, the average global temperature rose by 0.8⁰ Celsius. Aside from this being far less than the rise predicted by the models, it is nowhere near enough to bring about the many catastrophes global warming was expected to bring about. By changing the danger from the narrow parameter of global warming to the much broader parameter of climate change, the advocates of huge reductions in fossil fuel emissions have changed the conversation but have retained the upper hand.
Everyone is afraid of drastic climate change.
Cooling
However, the climate always changes for relatively short periods of time. In the 20th century there were repeated reversals between fears of a hotter planet to fears of a colder planet.
The hype around global cooling has to do with cycles of warmer and then cooler global temperatures. The sun’s output of energy ebbs and flows and does so in a cyclical pattern. The cooling theory is that we are entering period of less solar activity. There was some speculation that underwater vents might have been heating the oceans thus heating the planet. The latest speculation is that global warming is melting ice in the Arctic and in Greenland sending vast amounts of fresh water into the North Atlantic and disrupting the Gulf Stream.
This last theory places the blame for global cooling directly on global warming.
Unfortunately, as with all doom and gloom predictions, this one has been raised to the level of impending doom. There will be ice in summer. Our land will not be able to grow any crops and may be too frozen to sustain animal husbandry.
The time frame is anywhere from 2020 s the onset of the arctic plunge to 2030. Winters will be even fiercer than our recent winters have been. Summers will be cut short by early frosts.
Steady Temperatures
Ivar Giaever, Nobel Prize winner in physics, stated in a lecture that the 0.8⁰ rise over 150 years shows that the Earth’s temperature has been remarkably stable and that the Earth self-regulates its temperature. If Dr. Giaever is correct, that the Earth can regulate its own temperature to a remarkable degree, what are the implications for a period of global cooling?
Will the change in average temperatures signify an ice age?
Mini Ice Age is not an Ice Age
The term mini ice age is used to conjure up images of glaciers where today there are populations. The last real ice age lasted for millennia. The so-called mini ice age is expected to last a few decades.
Manchester and Northern England
There is no doubt that the winters in Great Britain and northern Europe are tempered by the Gulf Stream. If the temperatures cool a bit, the melting of Artic ice will have no effect on the Gulf Stream. If the temperatures cool, we may see early frosts in French wine grapes growing areas. That would certainly cause a rise in the price and possibly in the quality of wine.
We might see heavy snow during football matches. If the matches go on as scheduled, the heavy snow may keep the fans away. Football without loud, enthusiastic fans is less the beautiful game and more the proverbial tree in the forest.
Earlier and later frosts will probably reduce the number of tourists who come to Manchester each year. Many foreigners rent a car and take a road trip through England and Wales. If the winters are so cold that there is the strong possibility of ice on roads, people will either postpone or cancel their British road trip vacations.
In this scenario, Greece and Southern Italy will benefit greatly from increased tourism.
The biggest problem a mini ice age might cause is that colder winters will raise the cost of heating homes. This is far more serious than possible empty football stadiums, pricey wines, or fewer tourists. The price per barrel of petrol is once again nearing $100. If that price stays steady, it will cost far more to heat homes in a cold winter. People may choose to heat for fewer hours per day or to keep the temperature somewhat lower than they would like. This could have the ripple effect of more winter disease, more days lost at work, and a heavier burden on the already strapped NIH.
No Ice Age
A real ice age lasts for centuries. The upcoming cyclical cooling will not displace anyone who lives in the northern hemisphere. It will be a boon to makers and sellers of warm weather clothing. The producers of mountain climbers’ socks might have a great few decades.