Mountain Views News          Saturday, August 1, 2015

THE WORLD AROUND US Mountain Views-News Saturday, August 1, 2015 13 THE WORLD AROUND US Mountain Views-News Saturday, August 1, 2015 13 
KEPLER SPACE TELESCOPE FINDS EARTH-SIZED WORLD ORBITING A COUSIN OF THE SUN 
Scientists analyzing four years of data from NASA’sKepler mission have released a new catalog ofexoplanet candidates. The catalog adds more than500 new possible planets to the 4,175 already foundby the famed space-based telescope.

“This catalog contains our first analysis of allKepler data, as well as an automated assessment ofthese results,” says SETI Institute scientist JeffreyCoughlin who led the catalog effort. “Improvedanalysis will allow astronomers to better determinethe number of small, cool planets that are the bestcandidates for hosting life.”

The Kepler space telescope identifies possibleplanets by observing periodic dips in the 
brightness of stars. However, confirmation oftheir true planetary status requires observationsby other instruments, typically looking for slightshifts in the motion of the host suns. Historically,
the overwhelming majority of Kepler’s discoverieshave turned out to be actual planets.

The new catalog includes 12 candidates that areless than twice Earth’s diameter, orbiting in the so-
called habitable zone of their star. This zone is the 
range of distances at which the energy flux fromthe star would permit liquid water to exist on theplanet’s surface. Of these candidates, Kepler 452bis the first to be confirmed as a planet. At a distanceof 1,400 light-years, Kepler 452b accompanies astar whose characteristics are very similar to theSun: it is 4 percent more massive and 10 percentbrighter. Kepler 452b orbits its star at the samedistance as Earth orbits the Sun. 

“Kepler 452b takes us one step closer to 
understanding how many habitable planets are 
out there,” notes Joseph Twicken, also of the SETIInstitute and the lead scientific programmer forthe Kepler mission. “Continued investigation ofthe other candidates in this catalog and one finalrun of the Kepler science pipeline will help us findthe smallest and coolest planets. Doing so willallow us to better gauge the prevalence of habitableworlds.” 

Kepler 452b has a better than even chance ofbeing a rocky world on the basis of its size andthe type of star that it orbits. It falls into a classof planets that are between the size of Earth andNeptune. While these are the most abundant typeof world found by Kepler, our own solar systemdoes not boast such a planet.

Intriguingly, while similar in size and brightnessto the Sun, Kepler 452b’s host star is 1.5 billionyears older. It therefore can give us a peek into acrystal ball showing a possible future for Earth. 


“If Kepler 452b is indeed a rocky planet, its“The increasing energy from its aging sun mightnow what the Earth will undergo more than alocation vis-a-vis its star could mean that it is be heating the surface and evaporating any oceans.billion years from now, as the Sun ages and growsjust entering a runaway greenhouse phase ofThe water vapor would be lost from the planetbrighter,” Caldwell adds.
its climate history,” says Doug Caldwell, a SETIforever.” You can contact Bob Eklund at: b.eklund@ 
Institute scientist working on the Kepler mission. “Kepler 452b could be experiencing MtnViewsNews.com. 

PROTESTORS OBJECT TO THE REMOVAL OF EUCALYPTUS 
TREES -Are Eucalyptus a desirable species in the California landscape? 



By Christopher Nyerges

[Nyerges is the author of “Guide to WildFoods,” “Foraging California,” “How toSurvive Anywhere,” and other books. 
He can be reached at Box 41834, EagleRock, CA 90041, or www.SchoolofSelfReliance.
com.] 

Eucalyptus has been in the newsthe last few weeks because naked 

protesters are unhappy with U.C. Berkely’s plan to removethousands of these Australian natives.

 Eucalyptus is a tree with a mixed reputation. This stately 
tree is renown for the “forest effect” due to the hightranspiration rate of its leaves. According to one report, “InSydney, a large gum tree [eucalyptus] transpires up to 200litres of water a day. A well-maintained garden in Sydneywill transpire nearly twice the volume of water as the totalrainfall.” 
The tree was included in my Guide to Wild Foods book sinceit was so useful in its native Australia by the Aboriginees:
the leaves for various medicines (mostly upper bronchialissues), the bark for infections and many other uses, andeven the little psyllid bugs can be harvested and eaten like abackwoods sugar. And the honey produced from eucalyptusflowers is a dark almost-medicinal honey.

 But is it good for the California environment to remove theeucalyptus trees and replace them with natives? In fact, isbeing non-native the only reason that UC Berkeley wants toremove the trees?

 In order to fully grasp the effects of eucalypti on theenvironment, let’s look at its effect in other parts of theworld.

 Eucalyptus is a fast-growing tree. When you cut themdown, they will sprout right back up again. Because of 
this, there have been major plantations in various countriesthroughout the world from Europe to China to Africain order to supply the wood for lumber, paper products,
and firewood. If the eucalyptus trees are planted in nonagricultural 
areas where nothing else will grow, they survivequite well. A eucalyptus tree in a plantation can be cut aslittle as every four years. 
Around the time that the U.S. was experiences long gas linesduring the 1970s ”energy crisis,” many countries around 
the world discovered that the eucalyptus tree seemed 
like a miracle tree. It grew easily anywhere, and could be 
regularly harvested for fuel wood, building materials, andpulp for paper. It was also a financial boom to the publicand private businesses in various countries who grew theseplantations. Today, eucalyptus is the number one treeplanted in plantations around the world. With so manyundeniable benefits, what could go wrong? 
Over the last 30 to 40 years, countless business, governmental,
and academic studies have been done to weight the prosand cons of the largescale use of the eucalyptus tree. I’ve 
spent time over the last year compiling hard data on theeucalyptus tree.

 There were very real worries about deforestation anddesertification that began in the 1980s. Eucalyptus, withits obvious economic benefits, were planted in ever-greaternumbers. Today we can analyze the ecological effects ofover 30 years of eucalyptus plantations.

 For starters, there have actually been riots in protest ofnew eucalyptus plantings. Really, riots? In Northeast 
Thailand, most of the native forests had been completelylogged by private companies, which affected the water,
and forced local people to relocate. The Thai government,
along with the World Bank, planted eucalyptus trees as acash crop. However, it was noted that some results of thethousands of eucalyptus trees planted included lowering thewater table for villages, drying up local wells, and makingthe farmable land less valuable due to the allelopathic effectsof the eucalyptus leaves. When the Thai government beganto grow even more eucalyptus plantations, villagers in theTung Kula Ronghai section of Thailand, held meetings, 

marches, rallies, and they also blocked roads, burnedeucalyptus nurseries, ripped out eucalyptus seedlings, andchopped down eucalyptus trees, and planted fruit trees.

 Because the eucalyptus tree is such a great transpirer, itfollows that it generally consumes far more water thanother native or non-native trees. In fact, one of the stated 
reasons that eucalyptus is planted in certain countries isto dry up swamps and wet areas, either for development orbecause the wet area was believed to be a source of malaria. 
The deep roots of eucalyptus, and their extensive networkof small surface roots, has been noted to extend deep to thewater table.

 Although a eucalyptus plantation does very well in dryareas where nothing else is growing, in areas as diverseas China, Ethiopia, Vietnam, etc, local villagers of thesediverse places have noted that their water wells run dry.
In fact, this seems to be one of the main objections toeucalyptus plantations: it dries up the local sources since itgenerally consumes more water than is received by rain inany given area, which then means there is far less water foragricultural crops and orchards.

 In studies done to determine if the leaf drop fromeucalyptus is "allelopathic" (exuding soil toxins), variousplants grown in a mixture of eucalyptus mulch and soilhave exhibited a germination rate as low as 3%, comparedto normal rates of germination with an oak mulch.

 Another argument against the eucalyptus plantations isthat there is a great depletion of soil nutrients. In general,
eucapytus take up more nutrients (and water) from the soilthan other native or non-native trees because they are fast-
growing. And, in theory, if all the leafy matter was left onthe ground (as opposed to cleaning it up), those nutrientswould degrade and enrich the soil. But unfortunately,
eucalyptus mulch takes a very long time to be degraded bybacteria and fungus due to its oils, and so in actual practice,
the soils around eucalyptus tend to be very desert-likedue to the unavailability of nutrients. [Source: The Effectof Eucalyptus and Oak Leaf Extract on California NativePlants, Kam Watson, UC Berkley]

 This effect results in the lack of biodiversity and understorythat is commonly observed under and around eucalyptustrees, in stark contrast to native forests. 

One study was also done with soil under the eucalyptustrees, along with a soil sample not influenced by eucalyptus.
Soil samples from under eucalyptus trees proved to be lessable to absorb water. This meant that though eucalyptustrees have been planted in areas to reduce runoff andflooding, this result is not usually successful because of theeffect of the tree’s oil on the soil.

 These same results have been documented in eucalyptusplantations in China, Kenya, Ethiopia, Vietnam, and othersites. 
Kenya Forest Service has published guidelines, basicallyaimed at promoting eucalyptus plantations in the country,
called “A Guide to On-Farm Eucalyptus Growing inKenya”, December 2009.
They advise not growing eucalyptus in wetlands andmarshy areas, and riparian areas. They advise not growingeucalyptus closer than 30 meters from rivers, and ideally50 meters, so that the trees do not adversely interfere withthe water source. 
They add that other areas where eucalyptus should not beplanted include around lakes, ponds, swamps, estuaryand any other body of standing water. They advice thateucalyptus not be plants closer than 50 meters to farmlands, and other measures. In other words, even those 
who are pro-eucalyptus recognize the adverse effectsof eucalyptus on the environment, and offer ways tominimize those effects. 

U.C. Berkeley should proceed with the removal ofeucalyptus trees on the lands under their control, andbegin the long process of re-introducing natives, and themany benefits that will come therefrom.
[The facts stated in this article come from over a dozenresearch papers; source provided upon request] 

OUT TO PASTOR 

A Weekly Religion Column by Rev. James Snyder 

ADVICE TO THE TRAVEL-WEARY VACATIONER 


Summer is usually a busy

time, with everybody 

engaging in one of 

the great American 
activities. According to the overwhelmingnumber of citizens, no summer is actuallyofficial until every American pursues this 
activity vigorously. Of course, I am referring tosummer family vacation. 

Our American government guarantees itscitizens the right to "life, liberty and the pursuitof happiness." This is the great American 
dream, drawing people from all over the worldto our shores. Once they become full-fledgedAmerican citizens, they then dream of taking asummer vacation to Italy or France. 

I am not sure how it happened, but somewhere,
someone defined "the pursuit of happiness" tomean summer family vacations. Actually, if leftup to me, I could find happiness in some otherpursuit. Like an afternoon pursuing Applefritters. However, who am I to buck the greatAmerican tradition? 

Since the "pursuit of happiness" is the annual 
summer vacation, I thought it might be 
beneficial if I offered, out of my vast yearsof experience, some advice to my fellowvacationers on this crucial subject. After all,
somebody needs to learn from my mistakes; Iam not sure I have. 

Every family vacationer consists of two 
categories; those who plan the vacation andthose who fund the vacation. 

The difference is obvious. If you plan a vacation,
you are not required to fund it. If you fund thevacation, you have no say in the planning. 

Rules are rules and I would like to know who 
made up these rules. I am guessing it was noone in the funding category. 

If your responsibility is to fund the familyvacation, there are certain things you are notallowed to say to those who are planning saidvacation. For one, the sponsor of the vacationis never allowed to mention the word "budget."
Nothing kills the exuberant spirit of thevacation planner than mentioning that foulword "budget." 

If you insist on interjecting the concept ofbudget to the summer vacation, you mightas well stay at home. Now, if you exercisethis option, be prepared to endure the worstsummer of your life. The entire cast of yourfamily will work together to make you regretthis option. They will find ways to finaglemoney out of you throughout the summer, farexceeding what you would have spent on thevacation, which brings the curtain down onyour precious budget. 

One year I thought I had a brilliant idea. I sentmy family on vacation while I stayed at home.
It was the most relaxing two weeks I had everenjoyed in my life, not to mention the quietness. 

Unfortunately, a month after my familyreturned from their vacation, I began getting 

the credit card bills from their delightful jaunt.
According to my credit card statement, myfamily had the time of their life and no expensewas spared for their enjoyment. 

The next year, and every year after, I 
accompanied my family on the annual summervacation just to keep tabs on my credit card.
And believe me; the tab grew each day of ourvacation. 

So, when anyone in your family mentions theword "vacation," bite your tongue if the word"budget" pops into your mind and take it likethe man you are, which is the only sensiblething to do if you love a happy life. 

I know when the first mention of the conceptcomes up in the family discussion, immediatelyyou might think to yourself, "is it really worthit?" 

I have wrestled with this question for manyyears. Every annual two-week vacation takessix months to prepare, five months and twoweeks to recover, along with the mysteriousdisappearance of a full year's salary. Followingthe vacation there is no logical explanation as towhere that money went. 

Someone said a picture is worth a thousandwords. Let me modify this to apply it to thefamily summer vacation. A vacation picture isworth $1,000. 

Following every vacation, there is the necessarytime to recover. Recuperating from the 
summertime vacation is like recovering theliving room couch. The sofa looks refreshed andrefurbished, but you know what is underneathand you know it really is not what it boasts tobe. 

No matter how much you recover that oldliving room sofa, it is still old and worn out.
Appearances can be deceiving and appearancesat the summer vacation can also be deceiving. 

After years of financing the annual summervacation, I have concluded that fun is expensive.
I have found no way of getting around thistruth. 

On the other hand, grumpy is free. Lately, Ihave been leaning toward grumpy. 

Summer vacations are necessary and a personjust has to learn to deal with it and make themost of it, or the least of it, depending on yourperspective. 

Everybody needs to get away and rest. EvenJesus understood this concept. 

He invites us to "Come unto me, all ye thatlabour and are heavy laden, and I will give yourest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me;
for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shallfind rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy,
and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:28-30). 

The best thing about the "rest" Jesus offers is hehas already paid for it. Now I can really enjoythat vacation.