Ecosystem includes primary production, nutrient cycling, the flux of energy and matter through our environment and much more. It was a group of US botanists in the 1890s that initiated the modern science of ecology; although it was a German scientist, Ernest Haeckel,  who introduced the word from the Greek word for “home,” oikos* in 1866.

If you want to know what to wear tomorrow, or whether to go fishing, our local weather stations do a good job. If you want to join the growing number of people around the globe who wonder how we can avoid an ecological apocalypse in our planetary ‘home’, listen also to AccuWeather.

Indeed, it would be a good idea if AccuWeather and Ask the Experts took the ecumenical step of deepening their affiliation and call their joint program Expert EcoWeather!

Thanks to Wikipedia for some of the data for this op-ed.

*’Ecumenical’ is often used today to describe religions that work together—also from the Greek word “oikos.”