We broke the rain meddling with the planet's cooling system. What now? | Erica Gies | TEDxBoston

Description

For hundreds of years, human development has rushed water off the land by draining wetlands, levying rivers, paving floodplains, and drying soil with industrial agriculture. Along with rampant deforestation, our choices have degraded as much as 75% of Earth's land, and even disrupted the reliability of the planet's own natural cooling and rainfall systems. When tropical rainforests 'exhale' water vapor, those particles seed rain that falls on crops thousands of miles away. The living systems that regulate our water, our weather, and our food supply are deeply connected, and we have been quietly dismantling them. Author Erica Gies calls this "The Great Drying". The good news is we can reestablish water systems and rehydrate the land, starting with even small interventions. Slowing water, allowing it to sink in, and restoring the living systems that work within it can help mitigate the increasingly severe effects of floods, droughts, and wildfires. Hear inspiring stories of deep repair and learn how you can put these strategies to work in your own community. Erica Gies is an independent journalist and the author of Water Always Wins, which documents how communities around the world are learning to work with water rather than control it. Her reporting has appeared in Nature, Scientific American, the Guardian, the New York Times, and National Geographic, and she has spent 15 years following water detectives, the farmers, engineers, ranchers, and urban planners, who are restoring the slow water systems that regulate drought, flood, fire, and rainfall across continents. She is a National Geographic Explorer and a fellow of the Society of Environmental Journalists. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx