Eric Needle
I run a boutique marketing agency, focused on brand, content and digital. For the past year, we've helped FPSPI manage its brand and outreach, through graphic design, print, social & events marketing.
Location Melbourne, FL
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Eric Needle replied to Eric Needle
"When a series of dust storms reached far-flung Washington, DC, in the spring of 1935, a reluctant Congress was finally convinced to allocate resources to help stabilize the soil. With government subsidies and direction from the newly created Soil Conservation Service, practices were introduced to help hold down the earth. Grasses were replanted; shelter belts...
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I'm feeling a little disconnected and bet that in a group environment, in real time, there'd be much more collaboration, brainstorming, decision making and sharing/refining of ideas.
I'm fighting the urge to race through the tasks, purposely working slower, to see what everyone else is communicating.
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Eric Needle made a comment
The need to listen, understand and work together for a better future.
Cause: Because we live in a world under siege by mass media and over-communication, we can't hear over the noise, we can't see what's in front of us, and we don't understand what's really important.
Effect: Instead of caring for our world and each other, instead of working to improve...
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Eric Needle made a comment
Wanted to share an article I found today -->
https://theconversation.com/healthy-soil-is-the-real-key-to-feeding-the-world-75364
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Eric Needle made a comment
Communication - to prevent catastrophic events like the Dust Bowl, we need to raise awareness of the causes and effects of desertification. As we learn from past mistakes, each of us can contribute, share best practices, innovations and a deep concern for a better tomorrow.
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Psychological Health: The Dust Bowl brought about food shortages and triggered a mass migration in the American heartland, resulting in the Great Depression. This traumatic event questioned our faith, our way of life, and our national aspirations. It changed the course of a nation, yet also helped us recognize the need to care for the land that sustains us.
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Eric Needle made a comment
Challenge:
Lack of awareness and indifference to the causes and effects of desertification, represent an ever growing threat to our civilization's future.Reason:
Our collective ability to produce food and sustain world populations is dependent on the health and well being of the soil that covers the earth. Failure to understand and correct the causes of... -
Progress, movement in the right direction, learning from mistakes should be the goal.
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Eric Needle made a comment
Found this article, which has some great points, but they didn't source them.
https://theconversation.com/healthy-soil-is-the-real-key-to-feeding-the-world-75364
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Forests need fire to regenerate. The scale of fires is what can devastate. I was trimming bushes in my backyard and am reminded of a "rule", to never prune more than 1/3 of a plant.
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Eric Needle made a comment
We live in Florida, on the east coast, middle of the state. We had brush fires a few years ago for about two weeks, that closed roads and threatened a few neighborhoods, shutting off I-95, a major traffic corridor on the coast. To address, the state conducts routine burns often, and while they can be annoying, we've prevented major fires.
Recent fires in...
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All true. I think we're more conscious of global effect today, and hope we can learn from the past. It is so hard to change anything globally. Locally we can make a difference. Local focus, globally aware.
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Eric Needle made a comment
Human cause - Bad farming practices, lack of understanding, predicated the crisis. We need to learn from our mistakes and not repeat them. Future looking, we need to address issues before they become catastrophic.
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Eric Needle replied to Lee Scott
@LeeScott What can we really do in the face of catastrophic weather? Especially events that are as long lived as the Dust Bowl.
We need to build a more redundant, locally focused system, and then rely on other communities when disaster strikes.
In Florida we see hurricanes than can be very damaging. This past year a storm pummeled the Bahamas. It's...
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Eric Needle replied to randi rogers
The trek from the plains to Cali is not an easy one with the Rockies in between vs. driving east. Imagine losing everything.
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Eric Needle made a comment
Video 2. Scary stuff to see the scale. In just 4 generations of farming, "the world's richest grassland" turns into the dust bowl, and the Great Depression.
I'm reminded of the movie, Interstellar (2014). We take so much for granted. Like, there will always be abundance at our local grocery store.
"This mind-bending, dystopian thriller from Christopher...
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Eric Needle made a comment
This course is encouraging. We're learning about issues and will be a voice to bring about positive change. A thousand mile journey begins with one step.
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Eric Needle made a comment
Excited to work through this course. :)
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Eric Needle made a comment
I'm all in. I'm open to learn, eager to help, and hopeful that we can help make a contribution to a very complex issue that effects us all. :)
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Eric Needle made a comment
Top Reason: Indifference and delusion
Plagued by a lack of understanding, nor a desire to understand, and short term gain vs. long term sustainability, desertification can be cured with knowledge, wisdom and a caring focus on our collective future.
The din of global media politicizes truth, preventing insight, wisdom, and sustainability to triumph....
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Eric Needle made a comment
A society that mistreats its soil will suffer. If we continue on this path, the planet will correct our behavior, one way or the other.
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Eric Needle made a comment
Every plant we harvest takes nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and other nutrients from soils. We can add back the nutrients that crops extract, and we can limit the loss of soil nutrients to erosion and runoff. But, to grow abundant crops for years to come—to avoid starvation—we must keep soils healthy and safeguard soil...
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Eric Needle made a comment
Respiration
To gain energy, soil microorganisms take electrons from compounds in soil organic matter and combine them with oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, or other elements. This is how they respire or “breathe.” Humans use only oxygen. -
Eric Needle made a comment
Plants, rooted in soils, are the primary producers of food that sustains almost all life on Earth. By using the energy of sunlight to transform carbon dioxide from the air into energy-rich organic chemical compounds, plants set in motion soil food chains and intricate soil food webs.
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Interesting that in biblical accounts (OT), God tells us to give our fields a rest, every seven years. Much of modern Israel observes this today.
https://www.jta.org/2014/09/09/israel/understanding-shmita-israels-agricultural-shabbat-1
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Eric Needle made a comment
What is soil?
The Earth’s “skin” is not one soil, but many soils—each with its own story. Tens of thousands of different soils cover the continents.
Soils are alive. They are born, they age, they breathe.
Soils are constantly created and lost. Soils are everywhere in our everyday lives. Living soils sustain life on Earth. Soils are constantly changing.... -
Eric Needle made a comment
Article from "The Australian," and promoted by PragerU suggests that cause of the brushfires are arson, not climate change.
"More than 180 alleged arsonists have been arrested since the start of the bushfire season, with 29 blazes deliberately lit in the Shoalhaven region of southeast NSW in just three...
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Eric Needle replied to Hamish Morrison
@HamishMorrison there's so much we need to do. In Florida, we water our lawns for instance. We need to move past the notion of the "English Garden" and brainstorm better land use on micro and macro scale.
Changing hearts and minds is critical. In my neighborhood, the HOA (Home Owners Assn.) will fine you if your yard isn't up to par, but who determines...
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Eric Needle replied to [Learner left FutureLearn]
I was thinking about the Dust Bowl of the Great Depression and other past events. We need to remember lessons learned. :)
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@IanBARKER That is encouraging, Ian.
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Eric Needle made a comment
Looking at the NOAA page on climate change*, desertification is something we can measure and is a key indicator of problems with the planet.
The report talks about extreme weather events. In current news, wild fires in Australia and recently in California seem to be related, though lack of adequate forest management and persistence of plants like...
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@DougKaro Yes, how society thinks about things is a big component is realizing positive change. :)
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Eric Needle made a comment
Greetings team. I'm excited to be a part of this effort. I know there's much we can do to reverse trends—I am encouraged by this article, so I thought I'd share it:
https://www.israel21c.org/top-10-ways-israel-fights-desertification/
"If done correctly, tree planting can reverse desertification by supporting the earth as plant life grows its roots into...
