Let's get to work!
brianlux
Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 42,426
Seriously, rather than argue for the sake of arguing, lets get to work and start making some changes for the good. The idea that humans are changing the planet more rapidly than natural cycles do is evident all over the place, even in mainstream news as illustrated by the article to follow. Most of us are old enough such that we won't have to live with the worst of the consequences but there's a lot we can do to help future generations. Let's stop being selfish and get to work doing something helpful.
http://news.yahoo.com/tipping-point-ear ... 04844.html
Tipping Point? Earth Headed for Catastrophic Collapse, Researchers Warn
Earth is rapidly headed toward a catastrophic breakdown if humans don't get their act together, according to an international group of scientists.
Writing Wednesday (June 6) in the journal Nature, the researchers warn that the world is headed toward a tipping point marked by extinctions and unpredictable changes on a scale not seen since the glaciers retreated 12,000 years ago.
"There is a very high possibility that by the end of the century, the Earth is going to be a very different place," study researcher Anthony Barnosky told LiveScience. Barnosky, a professor of integrative biology from the University of California, Berkeley, joined a group of 17 other scientists to warn that this new planet might not be a pleasant place to live.
"You can envision these state changes as a fast period of adjustment where we get pushed through the eye of the needle," Barnosky said. "As we're going through the eye of the needle, that's when we see political strife, economic strife, war and famine." [Top 10 Ways to Destroy Earth]
The danger of tipping
Barnosky and his colleagues reviewed research on climate change, ecology and Earth's tipping points that break the camel's back, so to speak. At certain thresholds, putting more pressure on the environment leads to a point of no return, Barnosky said. Suddenly, the planet responds in unpredictable ways, triggering major global transitions.
The most recent example of one of these transitions is the end of the last glacial period. Within not much more than 3,000 years, the Earth went from being 30 percent covered in ice to its present, nearly ice-free condition. Most extinctions and ecological changes (goodbye, woolly mammoths) occurred in just 1,600 years. Earth's biodiversity still has not recovered to what it was.
Today, Barnosky said, humans are causing changes even faster than the natural ones that pushed back the glaciers — and the changes are bigger. Driven by a 35 percent increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide since the start of the Industrial Revolution, global temperatures are rising faster than they did back then, Barnosky said. Likewise, humans have completely transformed 43 percent of Earth's land surface for cities and agriculture, compared with the 30 percent land surface transition that occurred at the end of the last glacial period. Meanwhile, the human population has exploded, putting ever more pressure on existing resources. [7 Billion Population Milestones]
"Every change we look at that we have accomplished in the past couple of centuries is actually more than what preceded one of these major state changes in the past," Barnosky said.
Backing away from the ledge
The results are difficult to predict, because tipping points, by their definition, take the planet into uncharted territory. Based on past transitions, Barnosky and his colleagues predict a major loss of species (during the end of the last glacial period, half of the large-bodied mammal species in the world disappeared), as well as changes in the makeup of species in various communities on the local level. Meanwhile, humans may well be knotting our own noose as we burn through Earth's resources.
"These ecological systems actually give us our life support, our crops, our fisheries, clean water," Barnosky said. As resources shift from one nation to another, political instability can easily follow.
Pulling back from the ledge will require international cooperation, Barnosky said. Under business-as-usual conditions, humankind will be using 50 percent of the land surface on the planet by 2025. It seems unavoidable that the human population will reach 9 billion by 2050, so we'll have to become more efficient to sustain ourselves, he said. That means more efficient energy use and energy production, a greater focus on renewable resources, and a need to save species and habitat today for future generations.
"My bottom line is that I want the world in 50 to 100 years to be at least as good as it is now for my children and their children, and I think most people would say the same," Barnosky said. "We're at a crossroads where if we choose to do nothing we really do face these tipping points and a less-good future for our immediate descendents."
http://news.yahoo.com/tipping-point-ear ... 04844.html
Tipping Point? Earth Headed for Catastrophic Collapse, Researchers Warn
Earth is rapidly headed toward a catastrophic breakdown if humans don't get their act together, according to an international group of scientists.
Writing Wednesday (June 6) in the journal Nature, the researchers warn that the world is headed toward a tipping point marked by extinctions and unpredictable changes on a scale not seen since the glaciers retreated 12,000 years ago.
"There is a very high possibility that by the end of the century, the Earth is going to be a very different place," study researcher Anthony Barnosky told LiveScience. Barnosky, a professor of integrative biology from the University of California, Berkeley, joined a group of 17 other scientists to warn that this new planet might not be a pleasant place to live.
"You can envision these state changes as a fast period of adjustment where we get pushed through the eye of the needle," Barnosky said. "As we're going through the eye of the needle, that's when we see political strife, economic strife, war and famine." [Top 10 Ways to Destroy Earth]
The danger of tipping
Barnosky and his colleagues reviewed research on climate change, ecology and Earth's tipping points that break the camel's back, so to speak. At certain thresholds, putting more pressure on the environment leads to a point of no return, Barnosky said. Suddenly, the planet responds in unpredictable ways, triggering major global transitions.
The most recent example of one of these transitions is the end of the last glacial period. Within not much more than 3,000 years, the Earth went from being 30 percent covered in ice to its present, nearly ice-free condition. Most extinctions and ecological changes (goodbye, woolly mammoths) occurred in just 1,600 years. Earth's biodiversity still has not recovered to what it was.
Today, Barnosky said, humans are causing changes even faster than the natural ones that pushed back the glaciers — and the changes are bigger. Driven by a 35 percent increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide since the start of the Industrial Revolution, global temperatures are rising faster than they did back then, Barnosky said. Likewise, humans have completely transformed 43 percent of Earth's land surface for cities and agriculture, compared with the 30 percent land surface transition that occurred at the end of the last glacial period. Meanwhile, the human population has exploded, putting ever more pressure on existing resources. [7 Billion Population Milestones]
"Every change we look at that we have accomplished in the past couple of centuries is actually more than what preceded one of these major state changes in the past," Barnosky said.
Backing away from the ledge
The results are difficult to predict, because tipping points, by their definition, take the planet into uncharted territory. Based on past transitions, Barnosky and his colleagues predict a major loss of species (during the end of the last glacial period, half of the large-bodied mammal species in the world disappeared), as well as changes in the makeup of species in various communities on the local level. Meanwhile, humans may well be knotting our own noose as we burn through Earth's resources.
"These ecological systems actually give us our life support, our crops, our fisheries, clean water," Barnosky said. As resources shift from one nation to another, political instability can easily follow.
Pulling back from the ledge will require international cooperation, Barnosky said. Under business-as-usual conditions, humankind will be using 50 percent of the land surface on the planet by 2025. It seems unavoidable that the human population will reach 9 billion by 2050, so we'll have to become more efficient to sustain ourselves, he said. That means more efficient energy use and energy production, a greater focus on renewable resources, and a need to save species and habitat today for future generations.
"My bottom line is that I want the world in 50 to 100 years to be at least as good as it is now for my children and their children, and I think most people would say the same," Barnosky said. "We're at a crossroads where if we choose to do nothing we really do face these tipping points and a less-good future for our immediate descendents."
"Pretty cookies, heart squares all around, yeah!"
-Eddie Vedder, "Smile"
-Eddie Vedder, "Smile"
"Try to not spook the horse."
-Neil Young
Post edited by Unknown User on
0
Comments
Also, I guess here in Europe, it's generally easier to walk to a corner shop to get your little odds and sods than in the US or Canada (well, at least from what I remember from the time I lived in the US). We are less dependent on our cars.
And it not just the above - one can be very proactive in a 'gentle' way in caring for the environment/conservation. Where I live for example, there are groups regularly meeting in the parks/along the rivers, etc. to clear/plant habitat, put up bird/bat boxes and loads of other little things like that but that, in the end will have an impact.
A lot of little things by a lot of people... it adds up and helps tremendously. Keep up with any effort you make. It's not going to be an overnight thing - I may not even reap full benefits of this in my lifetime, but I'm sure my daughter will (she's 17).
Yes, it's easy to feel defeated but remember what Vaclav Havel said: Hope is not the conviction that things will turn out well. Hope is the conviction to do what makes sense no matter how things turn out.
What we do does make a difference no matter how small. When I get to feeling defeated that's when I know it's time to dig in my heals and keep trying because it feels right to do so. I don't care if people laugh at me or call me a fool- that's just more incentive for me to work harder.
-Eddie Vedder, "Smile"
We’re so self-important. So self-important. Everybody’s going to save something now. “Save the trees, save the bees, save the whales, save those snails.” And the greatest arrogance of all: save the planet. What? Are these fucking people kidding me? Save the planet, we don’t even know how to take care of ourselves yet. We haven’t learned how to care for one another, we’re gonna save the fucking planet?
I’m getting tired of that shit. Tired of that shit. I’m tired of fucking Earth Day, I’m tired of these self-righteous environmentalists, these white, bourgeois liberals who think the only thing wrong with this country is there aren’t enough bicycle paths. People trying to make the world save for their Volvos. Besides, environmentalists don’t give a shit about the planet. They don’t care about the planet. Not in the abstract they don’t. Not in the abstract they don’t. You know what they’re interested in? A clean place to live. Their own habitat. They’re worried that some day in the future, they might be personally inconvenienced. Narrow, unenlightened self-interest doesn’t impress me.
Besides, there is nothing wrong with the planet. Nothing wrong with the planet. The planet is fine. The PEOPLE are fucked. Difference. Difference. The planet is fine. Compared to the people, the planet is doing great. Been here four and a half billion years. Did you ever think about the arithmetic? The planet has been here four and a half billion years. We’ve been here, what, a hundred thousand? Maybe two hundred thousand? And we’ve only been engaged in heavy industry for a little over two hundred years. Two hundred years versus four and a half billion. And we have the CONCEIT to think that somehow we’re a threat? That somehow we’re gonna put in jeopardy this beautiful little blue-green ball that’s just a-floatin’ around the sun?
The planet has been through a lot worse than us. Been through all kinds of things worse than us. Been through earthquakes, volcanoes, plate tectonics, continental drift, solar flares, sun spots, magnetic storms, the magnetic reversal of the poles…hundreds of thousands of years of bombardment by comets and asteroids and meteors, worlwide floods, tidal waves, worldwide fires, erosion, cosmic rays, recurring ice ages…And we think some plastic bags, and some aluminum cans are going to make a difference? The planet…the planet…the planet isn’t going anywhere. WE ARE!
We’re going away. Pack your shit, folks. We’re going away. And we won’t leave much of a trace, either. Thank God for that. Maybe a little styrofoam. Maybe. A little styrofoam. The planet’ll be here and we’ll be long gone. Just another failed mutation. Just another closed-end biological mistake. An evolutionary cul-de-sac. The planet’ll shake us off like a bad case of fleas. A surface nuisance.
You wanna know how the planet’s doing? Ask those people at Pompeii, who are frozen into position from volcanic ash, how the planet’s doing. You wanna know if the planet’s all right, ask those people in Mexico City or Armenia or a hundred other places buried under thousands of tons of earthquake rubble, if they feel like a threat to the planet this week. Or how about those people in Kilowaia, Hawaii, who built their homes right next to an active volcano, and then wonder why they have lava in the living room.
The planet will be here for a long, long, LONG time after we’re gone, and it will heal itself, it will cleanse itself, ’cause that’s what it does. It’s a self-correcting system. The air and the water will recover, the earth will be renewed, and if it’s true that plastic is not degradable, well, the planet will simply incorporate plastic into a new pardigm: the earth plus plastic. The earth doesn’t share our prejudice towards plastic. Plastic came out of the earth. The earth probably sees plastic as just another one of its children. Could be the only reason the earth allowed us to be spawned from it in the first place. It wanted plastic for itself. Didn’t know how to make it. Needed us. Could be the answer to our age-old egocentric philosophical question, “Why are we here?” Plastic…asshole.
G.Carlin-
"and for anyone who feels that they need a little space... go the fuck outside!"
he is amazing
thank you
In all seriousness though, yes we all should collectively do our best when it comes to taking care of our planet. But goddamn some of these "environmental groups" are just plain crazy. They want us to totally off oil,natural gas, no nuclear energy. And all of these coal fired plants that are being shut down by the EPA and they have to spend tens of millions of dollars to retro fit there operations which is going cause energy prices to sky rocket. Green energy is a fraud. Almost every company that the Obama admin. has bankrolled with tax payer money has failed.. And if I'm not mistaken Spain already tried to go down this road and every "Green Job" they tried to create they lost 2 in the private sector.
Here’s a list of the green companies that have gone belly-up since receiving Obama dollars.
Heritage reported:
For those who only hear about these failing companies one by one, the following is a list of all the clean energy companies supported by President Obama’s stimulus that are now failing or have filed for bankruptcy. The liberal media hopes you’ve forgotten about all of them except Solyndra, but we haven’t.
Evergreen Solar
SpectraWatt
Solyndra (received $535 million)
Beacon Power (received $43 million)
AES’ subsidiary Eastern Energy
Nevada Geothermal (received $98.5 million)
SunPower (received $1.5 billion)
First Solar (received $1.46 billion)
Babcock & Brown (an Australian company which received $178 million)
Ener1 (subsidiary EnerDel received $118.5 million)
Amonix (received 5.9 million)
The National Renewable Energy Lab
Fisker Automotive
Abound Solar (received $400 million)
Chevy Volt (taxpayers basically own GM)
Solar Trust of America
A123 Systems (received $279 million)
Willard & Kelsey Solar Group (received $6 million)
Johnson Controls (received $299 million)
Schneider Electric (received $86 million)
That’s 19 (that we know of so far). We also know that loans went to foreign clean energy companies (Fisker sent money to their overseas plant to develop an electric car), and that 80% of these loans went to President Obama’s campaign donors.
so since this is the heritage foundation we are talking about, the official conservative position must be "don't do anything. stay the course. let the earth cook. let the seas rise. the jury is still out. fuck green energy. fuck green jobs. drill baby drill. blame obama blah blah blah..."
when have any of the conservative media/blogosphere ever offered a solution to the energy crisis that has not been directly tied to big oil ie: "drill baby drill!!"???
they have no solutions. they have no answers. it is much easier to attack the guy in power and project your own lack of solutions onto the guy who is actually trying to do something different for once..
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
My only suggestion would be to let go of your precious sarcasm for a minute and hold the mirror up to yourself for a change . I do, metaphorically speaking, and I'm fine with what I see. But so what? It's not about me.
-Eddie Vedder, "Smile"
And while I do agree with his rant to a degree, it just wouldn't feel right to me to be willfully wasteful. As has been said, many little things add up and I try to do my part.
Going on a tangent that PJSoul mentioned - the inconvenience aspect - there's a recent law/ordinance passed here where plastic grocery bags won't be offered for free at markets anymore in certain cities. Fine, but my condo association requires our trash to be tied in a plastic bag to help prevent ants, vermin, etc. So, I'm gonna have to either pay for use of that bag, or buy those big plastic trash bags like Hefty.
One small example, but it just doesn't make sense from here.
To throw Thoreau and rearrange" - R.E.M.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xcu6pr ... song_music
Fisker is still selling cars right down the street from me. Just saying.
"With our thoughts we make the world"
"With our thoughts we make the world"
We can bad mouth the "liberal media", cite failed "green" companies, point fingers at environmental groups that don't cut the mustard, and dismiss the work of those who really are working hard to find solutions to environmental issues that are anthropogenic in nature.
We can throw our hands up in the air and declare the coming of the end of the world, numb ourselves into oblivion, rant endlessly about our misanthropic viewpoints on how fucked up humans are, or hide our heads in the sand.
We can blame the other guy or step forward and admit we all part of the problem. Maybe we need a 12 Step Polluters program.
"Hi, I'm brianlux and I'm a polluter. I realize that there's a higher power called Mother Nature who is going to kick my ass and yours if we don't clean up our act."
All of which are viable options but what I'm suggesting here is that some of us might like to try to do something to at least stave off environmental degradation, clean up the place a little or make things a little easier for coming generations because ours will look like a total fucking picnic to them.
That's all. No big deal. I'm part of the problem too and I'd like to be less a part of the problem.
-Eddie Vedder, "Smile"
Or the reason the post was posted was because of you? That seems a bit self important.
Just reading it as a passer by I didn't get any finger pointing towards anyone.
I liked the point George was making, it kind of belonged right here...yes?
I always thought George pointed out great human irony and tragedy, taking into consideration
the flip of both sides. It's a serious subject for many, for others like me the human irony
and tragedy is people getting filthy rich claiming they care about the environment.
Using money as their own that was given in the name of Mother Nature.
Profiting on the hearts of others at the expense of what could be a noble cause.
It's a scam with a grain of truth ...
but the grains are multiplying with the sands of time.
Lots of places here are now charging for the bags (even if it's only a token charge). I guess it does help us to think about our waste and maybe use re-useable bags for our shopping. Also, these bags are a huge litter problem, not only in our streets, but also our oceans, in the countryside, etc. where they can have a more serious impact than just disfiguration. Small animals get trapped in them - sometimes they free themselves - sometimes they don't, turtles in the sea as well (and they usually die if they are caught), cows eat them (yep!) and get ill, etc.
But I do get your point about the rubbish bags. I used to use the plastic supermarket bags for my rubbish bags but when I decided to use 'proper' bags for my shopping, I had the same dilemma. Our sanitation guys now only take household rubbish that has been bagged up - no more 'put everything in the bin and dump the bin in the truck' collection. We have been using biodegradable rubbish bags for this and have done so for a while. It's not perfect, but we feel it is a bit more helpful (along with other actions taken). But... whilst these biodegradable bags have come down in price, they are still more expensive than others and this can put a lot of people off.
No I don't think it describes you at all. I personally find you to be really cool and open minded just from a few of our pm's. unlike others on here. For what it's worth I do everything I can when it comes to the environment. For example, I ride my bike to work, pick up trash, I participate In our local beach sweeps when I can,recycle as much as possible. I started recycling all of our plastic bags and paper at work. I use a nalgene bottle so I don't have to buy water.
Like I said my problem is with the gov buearacrates and how they are tormenting small bussiness and private citizens. And I just dont get all the hate towards the companies that produce our energy. And I'm all for finding ways to improve these industries but we have to do it in a way so that we don't regress.
Sometimes, like in Hedonist's situation, the use of plastic bags is unavoidable. The biodegradable plastic bags are a big help that way just as the new all vegetable based, reusable, non-petroleum clear bottles are. I'm not sure why using plastic bags for trash became so common. Why not just empty waste basket directly into trash cans? Even some large companies like Patagonia Clothing Company do this. Plastic bags can usually be avoided (unless mandated). At work and at home I recycle as much as possible- paper, bottles, cans- and compost as much as possible (including coffee grounds and egg shells. Each week my wife and I dispose on the average only about one cubic foot of trash and that includes trash from my part-time book business which I run out of my home. I also work at my wife's full-time store and we do much the same there. One trash can is usually enough for my home garbage, the store's garbage and the trash from two apartments that share the building. Three households, two businesses, one normal sized trash can.
It amazes me that even here in "liberal" California I see far fewer people taking their own cloth bags into the grocery store rather than using brand new plastic or paper bags. We seem to be stuck in the dark ages on that one. That really has me scratching my head.
-Eddie Vedder, "Smile"
Thank you, Waves. Glad to hear you're doing your part in big ways!
Just as a thought, let's just focus on encouraging each other to do the right thing and not focus so much on who we do or don't like here. As for the government, we can vote and write and call our representatives but beyond that we can only be responsible for our own actions. And yes, we all like energy (or we wouldn't be sharing this forum) but let's support clean energy and find ways to decrease our energy consumption so we can continue to do this. Some companies are actually working on this. In our area for example, PG&E has been working on several energy saving programs and we participate in them at every chance.
-Eddie Vedder, "Smile"
Yep that's it, just like Obama said Republicans want dirty air and dirty water. :roll:
Just wait til your electricity bills go through the roof in a couple of years due to all these insane regulations. The EPA's only solution is to drive all of our energy infusrtucture industries out of bussiness.
:thumbup:
Anyway, good food-for-thought thread, brian
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
I dont know what the answer is. I do know this.. The EPA has no plan what so ever. They have launched an all out war on the energy sector and we have not felt the repercussions yet and when you do you're going to be playin a different tune. Do you even realize all the thousands of products that are oil based. You know like that real pretty finish on that Gibson you have? Or how about Mr. Edison he's all over the place,and coal is his best friend.. I did however see a doc on coal mining in W.VA. And it was really dirty and the coal dust was fucking every ones house up. It was getting in their houses,water supply, it was every where. So yeah I was discusted by that. But it didn't make me hate all the coal companies and oil companies.
Here's an article to show you what these people think like.
http://cnsnews.com/blog/craig-bannister ... snt-enough
In preparation for Obama-EPA Regional Administrator Al Armendariz’s testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Wednesday, Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) released a video montage of Obama EPA Regional Administrators longing to impose a green “Way Of Life Act” on Americans through the regulatory regime of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Regional Administrators talk of how they plan to “crucify” domestic energy producers, make their businesses “painful every step of the way,” or otherwise compel a green way-of-life.
Recently, Sen. Inhofe uncovered a video of Region 6 Administrator Al Armendariz admitting that EPA’s “general philosophy” is to “crucify” and “make examples” of oil and gas companies – just as Roman soldiers would crucify random citizens in conquered villages, to make an example of them. Armendariz subsequently resigned under fire for the exposed comments.
“But, it’s not just Armendariz,” Sen. Inhofe’s office warns:
“The purpose of this video is to get to know President Obama’s “green generals” – the regional administrators – who are going into battle for the Obama-EPA, working hard to force a green “way of life act” in regions across the United States.”
In the Inhofe video, EPA Region 2 Administrator Judith Enck claims, “I don’t think individual change is going to be enough” - while Armendariz twice says the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act can be used as proxies to enforce the “Way Of Life Act” he wishes he had.
“I don’t have a Way of Life Act that I can enforce - I’ve got a Clean Air Act, I’ve got a Clean Water Act, a Safe Drinking Water Act” that can be used to enforce green ideals, Armendariz says.
“nfortunately I don’t have a Way of Life Act I can enforce but at the same time EPA isn’t toothless and we do have certain things that we can enforce with the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act - and that’s one of the reasons why (EPA enforcement chief) Cynthia is going to be here tomorrow, she’s gonna go around and take a look at some of the oil and gas facilities in the area.”
Sen. Inhofe’s office says these videos challenge the president’s claim that he favors an “all-of-the-above” energy policy:
President Obama claims to be for an “all of the above” approach to energy as he hits the campaign trail, yet these videos show us the truth: the Obama-EPA is more set on a green “way of life” that is “painful. Painful every step of the way.”
My first reaction to reading this is, "Well, this kind of brutal action will probably get us closer to sustainability that my docile, easier going approach." I hate to admit that because I tend to want to appeal to peoples sense of logic and sensibility. Only people generally aren't logical and don't always respond to what makes sense. Sad, isn't it?
-Eddie Vedder, "Smile"
Yeah I tend to agree that people don't always do what's best, but we don't need a top down iron fisted all power central gov agencies either. I happened to agree with what Newt wanted to do with the EPA. Get rid of it and start all over with an " environmental solutions agency" further more I think these people could give a shit about the environment. All they care about is power.
Frack
Nuke
Woot
Some probably care, there are just bad eggs so I'm not sure it's worth it. Then it just turns into another small group of people that have their influence in government and once again the politicians will strive towards their special interests, leaving everyone else behind.
No, we can't just sit around and expect the government to do it for us... though we could try demanding they do and, yeah, that's a long shot but what the heck, I write letter make phone calls, etc. because I think it's the right thing to do. But the even better thing to do is make a difference ourselves. Plan "no drive" days, turn off the machines more often, use cloth bags at the store, live closer to work, etc, etc. There is a lot we can do. And don't get me wrong, I'm no saint either. I've got to do more, lots more.
-Eddie Vedder, "Smile"