debate Environmental Thread does anyone care that Amazon Rain Forest is burning down to the ground

[oldtimer]

This is a total catastrophe and failure for the World and humanity at large. There are some things that surpass national boundaries and borders like Human Rights and certain Environmental issues that affect the whole Globe which surely should be of concern to all of us. Whether it’s the Oceans and Rivers that have been polluted or whether it’s our air and soil that have been poisoned, it all has something to do with human activity like the Global Warming and the Melting of the Ice Caps and Glaciers which is going to put many coastal Cities and Communities under water soon. IMO

Everyone’s opinions are welcomed, but keep your comments constructive, professional, and on topic. Personal attacks and belittling of others are not tolerated.

 

[oldtimer]

You believing the "world was flat" was a joke obviously.
I was pointing out how unscientifically minded you are.
I never said that you said anyone should be shot.
I asked you who you would put against the wall and shoot
when you said that people who don't meet your environmental demands
would be charged with "crimes against humanity."
And you do sound like a 1939 Nazi to me.

So you are just making up personal jokes and accusations just because we hold different point of views on the Global Warming and how to deal with the problems that the Environment and Humanity are facing. That is not very professional of you.

IMO

 

[Blitzpotz]

So another UN Climate Conference came to an end yesterday,

I hope that everyone realizes that time is of the essence and that talking and giving speeches is not going to do this Planet of ours any good if it's not followed by taking some concrete and precise actions after everyone leaves the conference.

The COP25 negotiations in Madrid have been extended and ended today without mentionable results.

Just to remember: There have been over 25,000 representatives from 200 countries participating in those negotiations.
And while people still discuss if there is a climate change or not and if global warming is man made or not this conference failure sends out the wrong message. It could be misunderstood like This rising temperature thing is really not that bad but we had a good tax paid time in Spain.

I hear in the news that USA and Brazil have been the main blockers of an agreement as well as Australia, obviously still dazzled by the wildfires near Sydney. This also means that the overwhelming majority of other nations has been too weak to offer reasonable compromises or creative "deals". And it proves that the conference format of worldwide consensus has failed.

 

[J Sokol]

COP26 will be in Glasgow sometime toward the end of next year. This will give all the attendees a chance to do it all over again. If they were unable to realize any success in the first 25 conferences, why bother with number 26? It will just create more carbon emissions.

 

[oldtimer]

The COP25 negotiations in Madrid have been extended and ended today without mentionable results.

Just to remember: There have been over 25,000 representatives from 200 countries participating in those negotiations.
And while people still discuss if there is a climate change or not and if global warming is man made or not this conference failure sends out the wrong message. It could be misunderstood like This rising temperature thing is really not that bad but we had a good tax paid time in Spain.

I hear in the news that USA and Brazil have been the main blockers of an agreement as well as Australia, obviously still dazzled by the wildfires near Sydney. This also means that the overwhelming majority of other nations has been too weak to offer reasonable compromises or creative "deals". And it proves that the conference format of worldwide consensus has failed.

Thanks for the update, they usually take care of the official matters during the work days and do some extra events on the weekend, I couldn't find the final resolutions that were achieved for this conference as their website is experiencing some difficulties. But I understand that a lot of attention was given to deforestation and many UN agencies pledged to take more action towards stopping it from getting worse.

https://unfccc.int/news/at-cop25-un-agencies-commit-to-turn-the-tide-on-deforestation

IMO

 

[oldtimer]

COP26 will be in Glasgow sometime toward the end of next year. This will give all the attendees a chance to do it all over again. If they were unable to realize any success in the first 25 conferences, why bother with number 26? It will just create more carbon emissions.

They have achieved some success in the past hence the fact that more and more people are paying attention to their Home Planet, but the incremental steps that they are taking now is not adequate enough to keep up with the acceleration that we are seeing with the Climate Change, so what worries me is that this Planet might go past the point of no return before anything substantial is done to try to fix the problems with the Environment.

IMO

 

[Blitzpotz]

the incremental steps that they are taking now is not adequate enough to keep up with the acceleration that we are seeing with the Climate Change, so what worries me is that this Planet might go past the point of no return

Very well said. I share your sorrow. As long as short-time economic advantages and securing political power by manipulating less educated masses are successful there will be no change to the better. Mankind must and will go past the point of no return to understand and to act.

Last week the European Union has agreed to a strategy to be climate neutral until 2050. This may be too late especially if other nations do not even think about measures. As a side note Poland is the only EU nation with acceptance of a 2080 neutrality goal. 60 years from now! The really bad thing is they want to burn their coal as long as possible. Coal is on top of the global warming reason hitlist. It does not just spread CO2 but also quicksilver which pollutes drinking water after all.

 

[oldtimer]

Some interesting info

Sustainable Development Goals:

https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/


COP25 ended with lack of agreement to increase climate ambition:

https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/12/1053561

COP25: UN climate change conference, 5 things you need to know:

https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/12/1052251

Deliver ‘significant results now’, UN General Assembly President tells COP25 climate conference:

https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/12/1053141

UN News for Climate:

https://news.un.org/en/search/climate

In all honesty some of these UN programs seem to have been designed as if things weren't in such distressed and dire conditions and that they had all the time in the World to have many more conferences to talk and make speeches about the Environment. Under normal conditions these programs might have been considered to be okay for maintaining the Environment, but under the current circumstances the UN needs to realize the urgency of the situation and rise to the challenge and come up with some programs that are going to produce results in 5 years not 50 years.

IMO

 

[Cal2]

Actually...what she said is that if people don't follow our extreme demands...we will put them against the wall and shoot them. Any country that uses the phrase "put them against the wall" knows that it means to execute the people who are put against the wall. Even people in Sweden know that.

 

[J Sokol]

Wishing a Happy New Year to all friends of the planet. Let's hope for great strides in 2020 ... but sadly, the title of this thread now applies to Australia.

 

[oldtimer]

Wishing a Happy New Year to all friends of the planet. Let's hope for great strides in 2020 ... but sadly, the title of this thread now applies to Australia.

It seems like everything is increasing in intensity as far as floods, fires, droughts, storms, and hurricanes and looks like this is going to be the new norm that we have to live with from now on.

At this time we can only pray for those who are taking the brunt of all these natural disasters and deep in our thoughts think about if there was something that could have been done in the past 50 years that would have prevented the situations that we are facing today.

Happy New Year to everyone, lets hope that in this new year people can overcome all the disagreements and animosities that has brought everything to a stalemate and work together to come up with a solution for all the problems that Humanity and this Planet are facing before it gets to be too late.

PS: I might have to cut down on my participation in the forum since I am facing some health issues arising from my ongoing disabilities and coronary heart problem, but I am glad that I was able to be part of a movement that has created a little more awareness about saving Humanity and our Home Planet.

IMO

 

[J Sokol]

Sorry to hear about your health troubles @oldtimer -- I hope you'll continue to contribute when you're able.

As for our future as a planet, I feel only moderately hopeful. On the one hand, new technologies are being developed and applied all the time and new policies are being implemented around the world to address the problems. On the other hand, oil companies are still drilling and are now focusing on producing MORE plastic, since demand for gas has declined. Amazon is blanketing the world with warehouses and delivery trucks for customers who expect instant delivery. In my mid-western city, most people seem to be going about their lives, oblivious to impending disaster.

It will be interesting to look back a year from now and see what political and cultural changes have taken place with regard to climate change. Let's hope it shifts in a positive direction.

 

[oldtimer]

Just saw the report about the over one million seabirds that have died not long ago due to the abnormally high temperatures in the oceans. Add that to all the animals that have perished in Australia recently and that are facing starvation and extinction elsewhere around the World and it's beginning to become more and more clearer that urgent action needs to be taken today as such that is going to have a big impact in solving these problems before we reach the point of no return.

It might be easy for some to ignore the millions of animals that have perished or that are in distress, but today it's animals tomorrow it's going to be people that are going to get caught in the horrible effects of rampant climate change. Starvation, mass migrations, local and global conflicts and Wars are what is awaiting us if we look the other way to what is happening to the wildlife today.

PS: just registered the domain ClimateFairy.com , maybe Climate Fairy will save us because I don't see any meaningful and effective actions being taken by people beyond just giving lengthy speeches at the conferences.

IMO

 

[J Sokol]

Greta Thunberg has applied for a trademark for her Fridays For Future name - https://fridaysforfuture.org.

https://www.theguardian.com/environ...nberg-files-application-to-trademark-her-name

 

[BrandEntrance.com]

Greta Thunberg has applied for a trademark for her Fridays For Future name - https://fridaysforfuture.org.

https://www.theguardian.com/environ...nberg-files-application-to-trademark-her-name

She is as ligit as a 7 dollar note.

 

[BrandEntrance.com]

For a 16-year-old, she has an amazing capacity to cut through the B.S.

"While thanking the council for the 'huge honour', she said the 'climate movement does not need any more awards'." She noted that Sweden is living "as if it had about four planets."

Well her and her family are and continue to do so.

Here's a word she should learn "Hypocrite".

 

[BrandEntrance.com]

THIS DOES NOT MAKE SENSE... Why do some American Food companies sell healthier options to other countries but keep the unhealthier options for their own people?...

These differences between US and UK ingredients are disturbing...
While some may not realize, it is also no secret that ingredients used in American food products are significantly worse than ingredients found in any other country.

Companies like Kraft-Heinz, Kellogg’s, PepsiCo, and Quaker all sell safer products overseas, while injecting food in America with gross ingredients, packing them full with high fructose corn syrup and chemicals. These differences are found in all types of foods — chips, cereal, candy and even oatmeal. Oatmeal! The one thing that is supposed to be healthy. It is inescapable.

To break it down, Food Babe took it upon themselves to list six American products whose ingredients look completely different in other countries.

https://ronproject.com/ingredients-...ly1zw2s5kLwkvjvUZ0iSFtdOBfZ31bokZW96ABD_GFrqA

Here's just one of many examples:

They don't. They get exposed for putting poison in the food and then they are ordered to change.

People are generally healthier in Europe. I haven't eaten at a McD's for years. It's crap. Same for Burger King and all the others. Make a sandwich. Eat an avocado and some coctail tomatoes.

I have taken my kids to McDs but only for a Milkshake, ice cream and me having a coffee. That's it.

My BMI is 27.8. Working on that but it's not that bad.

 

[oldtimer]

Unfortunately with the pandemic going around some of the attention has been taken away from the Environment, but at the same time because of the slow down and in some cases the shut down of some very highly polluting factories in places like China the air quality has improved by a noticeable degree.

As to Greta, we are all human and no one is perfect, we can't judge her one way or another, but she has created a certain amount of awareness about the Environmental issues and as such we should give her some credit for that. If we were to assign a percentage to her contribution to this cause I would say that she has been at least 75% effective in making some real and positive impact on the World's population especially on the younger generations that are of her own age. The other 25% that might be driven by politics or personal agendas and interests (hers or her handler's) is perhaps something that we have to accept as her being human like everyone else and there is not much that can be done about that until humanity as a whole ascends to a higher level of thinking and existence that is based on logic and compassion.

IMO

 

[J Sokol]

Unfortunately with the pandemic going around some of the attention has been taken away from the Environment, but at the same time because of the slow down and in some cases the shut down of some very highly polluting factories in places like China the air quality has improved by a noticeable degree.

Fortunately, there are some silver linings to the pandemic. Cleaner air is one and a drop in car accident rates is another. Maybe we will all rethink our lifestyles a bit after the storm has passed.

https://www.wired.com/story/the-pan...e3a8db-9a58-4285-9ab4-8147e495794e_popular4-1

 

[oldtimer]

As the fires on the West Coast are raging out of control it seems to me that the only solution to prevent these catastrophes from happening again and again in the future is to redesign the whole landscape of that region in order to eliminate the dry underbrush and vegetation that fuel these fires. Also to cut some of the trees down to make sure that there is adequate spacing between them in the denser areas.

This might sound like an impossible task to accomplish, but there doesn't seem to be any other choices now that the effects of the Climate Change are becoming more and more noticeable in our everyday lives.

IMO

 

[Cannuck]

The Amazon is and has been intentionally been cut down and burned over the last 50 years, mainly to provide grazing land for cattle. During the last five years the Brazilian beef industry has been the largest exporter of beef globally and one of the biggest producers of beef in general, one in every five pounds of beef originates from there.

As for the West Coast, the large scale fires were inevitable. Fire is a natural occurance. It has been the forest service practise to minimize fires, thereby allowing the forests to grow unattended for the past century, only now to become a full-on tinder box. Hot, dry summers (partly due to Global Warming) has led to dying trees. Overpopulation in fire prone areas, carelessness and/or arson increases the likelyhood of fires. Expect every summer to be worse than the last as the population continues to grow and the summers get hotter and drier.