I signed up for Blog Action Day this year as soon as I got wind of the site being online.  This is the third annual Blog Action Day I’ve taken part in, and it really is a challenge considering this is a photoblog… especially because the theme this year is not very conducive to photos that I can take at home… or so I thought, until I read an article about how even the succulents are being affected by the change in climates around the world.

For some reason, I assumed that because succulents thrive in hot and dry areas in South Africa, that the prevalence of these plants would be increasing because of the change in climates.

Turns out I was wrong… I seriously didn’t realise how much water is required to farm aloes and to grow other succulents.

For example, an Aloe Vera plant required 150l of water a month to live. Aloe Vera plants that survive drought conditions end up with bitter and strong smelling gel which renders them useless for farming because the gel cannot be used.  As a result, the aloe farms in Australia for example, have mostly shut down.  It’s not only in Australia, populations of Aloe dichotoma are declining the northern areas in South Africa as I type.

In fact, according to the one article I found this evening, the entire Karoo succulent population is under threat!!

And in response… there’s a website that seems to be aimed at the people that live in the Karoo area that deals primarily with the climate change issues in the area!

This has been quite an interesting topic to blog about actually, and I’ve enjoyed reading through other bloggers’ interpretations of the theme, and I’ve learnt quite a bit today.  Do yourself a favour, and visit the Blog Action Day site, watch this video explaining more about this event and learn about how our world is changing…. and then blog about it too!