discuss The Environmental Thread - Earth Matters, so what's holding us back?

[Cannuck]

I believe everyone would agree on at least one point - planet Earth matters! For years, scholars and environmentalists have touted the idea - that the boundaries of life on our planet have been stretched to a breaking point by human activity. From a scientific perspective, the notion of climate change is no longer up for debate. Our species and life as it exists on planet Earth now depends on the choices we humans make. Each individual with a brain possesses the ability to contribute solutions to our common current dilemma, so what's holding us back?

Is it our lack of knowledge; a conflict of interest; the lack of will, and/or other priorities that define the human race? Do we possess the courage to take an initiative, to act upon our convictions and choose to help preserve the Blue planet? Have our environmental problems become too big for individuals to tackle that we must leave it for governments to handle?

Are we limited by our own self-interests, by the confines of our own box or bubble? Have we merely been caught up in our daily mundane existence, distracted by the media and current affairs, that we fail to consider the future? Is Climate Change simply a hoax? Is the human species destined to evolve or are we doomed to extinction?

Here is place to discuss any pertinent thoughts or ideas you may have on the subject. Every thought counts. Please be respectful.

 

[Cannuck]

Is it too late to prevent climate change?
There is a time lag between what we do and when we feel it. But it may not be too late to avoid or limit some of the worst effects of climate change.

The key question is: what will our emissions of carbon dioxide and other pollutants be in the years to come? It’s up to us what happens next.

When we begin to understand that our debt is to the future of the planet, and not to the past, perhaps human beings can learn to change our way of doing things in the present.

 

[Cal2]

Terrifying UN Draft Climate Report Urges Total Transformation of Our Way of Life

If the data and conclusions in this IPCC report are accurate, what immediately awaits us is staggering:

https://truthout.org/articles/terri...rges-total-transformation-of-our-way-of-life/

 

[Cannuck]

Food choices diminish finite resources for monetary gain.

The Catch 22 is that the more rare the animal, the higher price it will fetch of the market. For example, a 489-pound (222 kg) tuna fetched US$1.76 million at a Japanese auction (for sushi). These fish take 15 years to mature in order to reproduce. Higher limits propsed by Japan would threaten recovery and be a failure of ocean fisheries management.

According to a stock assessment by researchers, populations of bluefin tuna in the western Pacific Ocean are down by nearly 97 percent from pre-fishing levels, yet...

Higher Fishing Limits Proposed for Pacific Bluefin Tuna Would Threaten Fragile Population

https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2021/07/22/higher-fishing-limits-proposed-for-pacific-bluefin-tuna-would-threaten-fragile-population

 

[.X.]

I feel the earth .. move .. under my feet .. I feel the sky tumblin down .. tumblin down .. fix it @Cannuck … while I am battling Tyrants about the covid - 19 mandate

 

[Cannuck]

I feel the earth .. move .. under my feet .. I feel the sky tumblin down .. tumblin down .. fix it @Cannuck … while I am battling Tyrants about the covid - 19 mandate

We've only had climate stability during the last interglacial (Holocene). Now it's the Anthropocene (age of humans), and humankind's impact on the planet during the last 50 years has changed the planet more than in the last 10,000 years! There are limits of climate pressure, issues that include, but dwarf any politic. It's a complex system, and the threshold (tipping point) may already be passed - and accelerating toward an irreversible state unable to support life as we know it. The lingering effects will last hundreds if not thousands of years.

 

[dna]

As it turns out, the California fires were not caused by climate change as the California Governor claimed. They were set by an environmentalist.

"Palo Alto woman Alexandra Souverneva is suspected of lighting a fire near where the Fawn Fire started, Cal Fire announced on Thursday.

On Friday, she was charged Friday with felony arson to wildland with an enhancement due to the declared state of emergency California is under, said Shasta County District Attorney Stephanie Bridgett.

Souverneva is also being investigated for starting other fires in Shasta County and throughout the state, Bridgett said.

According to her LinkedIn profile, Souverneva was enrolled as a Ph.D. student in the environmental chemistry program at State University of New York College of Environmental Sciences and Forestry.

The number of people affected by evacuation orders was not immediately known. People living in other areas were warned to be prepared to leave. About 2,000 structures were threatened.

The fire scorched more than 5,850 acres of heavy timber on steep, rugged terrain amid hot, dry, and gusty conditions. It was just 10% contained."

 

[Cannuck]

As it turns out, the California fires were not caused by climate change as the California Governor claimed. They were set by an environmentalist.

"Palo Alto woman Alexandra Souverneva is suspected of lighting a fire near where the Fawn Fire started, Cal Fire announced on Thursday.

On Friday, she was charged Friday with felony arson to wildland with an enhancement due to the declared state of emergency California is under, said Shasta County District Attorney Stephanie Bridgett.

Another man-made disaster.

Add this to this list...

Pacific Gas & Electric was charged Friday with manslaughter and other crimes after its equipment sparked a Northern California wildfire that killed four people and destroyed hundreds of homes last year. PG&E last year pleaded guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter and one count of unlawfully starting the Camp Fire, which wiped out the town of Paradise - the deadliest U.S. wildfire in a century.

Shasta County Prosecutor Charges PG&E with Manslaughter in 2020 Zogg Fire

https://timesofsandiego.com/crime/2021/09/25/shasta-county-prosecutor-charges-pge-with-manslaughter-in-2020-zogg-fire/

California Utility PG&E Corp. prepared for bankruptcy in 2019 amid pressure from potentially crushing liabilities linked to California's catastrophic wildfires in 2017 and 2018.

 

[Cannuck]

Iconic Sequoia Trees Wrapped as Fire Approaches Giant Forest

The General Sherman Tree was one of numerous giant sequoias wrapped in a protective aluminum material as a lightning-caused wildfire burned upslope toward Giant Forest in mid-September. While giant sequoias are fire-dependent and able to withstand the heat of moderate fires with their thick, insulating bark, more severe fires have damaged or killed many large sequoias in the past six years. Thus, additional precautions were taken to prevent fire from burning into tree bases and igniting vulnerable fire scars – signs of the many previous fires these trees have survived.

As Giant Forest has had many prescribed burns in recent decades, firefighters observed that the wildfire behavior (flame length and rate of spread) was reduced as it hit previously burned areas. This moderate fire behavior allowed firefighters to work close to the fire, digging fireline to prevent the fire's spread further into Giant Forest. The General Sherman Tree is the world's largest tree, measured by volume. It stands 275 feet (83 m) tall, and is over 36 feet (11 m) in diameter at the base. Sequoia trunks remain wide high up. Sixty feet above the base, the Sherman Tree is 17.5 feet (5.3 m) in diameter.

https://www.nps.gov/seki/learn/nature/sherman.htm

 

[.X.]

GREED … that is what is holding us back IMO

 

[Cannuck]

A considerable portion of the population will never do anything to help the environment unless it's legislated by the government and people are forced.

 

[Cannuck]

Jordan Peterson says, "We're not going to do a damn thing about it, so it doesn't really matter."

 

[Cannuck]

Jordan Peterson says, "We're not going to do a damn thing about it, so it doesn't really matter."

At 6:17, Peterson says "there are more trees in the northern hemisphere than there were 100 years ago."

Does he account for the Global net loss from other areas of the planet (ie. tropical and subtropical areas)? What about 200 years ago (during a major deforestation of USA) or even 35 years ago as the following data demonstrates...

https://psmag.com/environment/the-planet-now-has-more-trees-than-it-did-35-years-ago

However, an important distinction needs to be made between tree cover and forest cover.

The study points out that industrial timber plantations, mature oil palm estates and other specifically planted forests add to global tree cover. On paper these areas compensate for the primary forest that has been cut down; 100-hectare loss of primary forest is perfectly offset by a 100-hectare gain on a man-made plantation, for example.

But while they may be equal in area, they are not equal in biodiversity. Primary tropical forests and savannas harbour a wealth of flora and fauna which is lost when these areas are cleared.

And man-made forests do not compensate for the damage and degradation done to ecosystems through land clearance.

The research attributes 60% of all land-use change throughout the study period directly to human activity, with the remaining 40% caused by indirect factors like climate change.

As the Earth turns increasingly green it could be masking the true extent of environmental harm caused by human activity.


https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/08/planet-earth-has-more-trees-than-it-did-35-years-ago/

 

[Sutruk]

Trio wins physics Nobel for work on understanding climate change

https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/s...risi-win-2021-nobel-prize-physics-2021-10-05/

"STOCKHOLM, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Japanese-born American Syukuro Manabe, German Klaus Hasselmann and Italian Giorgio Parisi won the 2021 Nobel Prize for Physics on Tuesday for work that helps understand complex physical systems such as Earth's changing climate.

In a decision hailed by the U.N. weather agency as a sign of a consensus forming around man-made global warming.

"Syukuro Manabe and Klaus Hasselmann laid the foundation of our knowledge of the Earth’s climate and how humanity influences it," the Swedish Academy of Sciences said in a statement. "Giorgio Parisi is rewarded for his revolutionary contributions to the theory of disordered materials and random processes."

 

[Cannuck]

Does Earth Matter?

Q: What is apathy?

A: Doing nothing when the ecosystem around you is collapsing.

 

[Cal2]

Does Earth Matter?

Q: What is apathy?

A: Doing nothing when the ecosystem around you is collapsing.

I see you did a bit more building out of your blue planet website. Thinking to do something with it over the winter?

 

[Cannuck]

I see you did a bit more building out of your blue planet website. Thinking to do something with it over the winter?

Yup, that project web-development is definitely on the 'to-do' list. I've been pretty busy building an off-grid cabin and sorting firewood over the summer. Now that part is done, I managed to hook up a signal booster & increased my data plan so I can use my cell-phone tethered to a laptop to better work remotely.

Edit: It's not really fair to say the public is apathetic, perhaps they are unaware or simply don't know what they can do, or maybe they feel their contribution means little if anything. Having personally reduced my carbon footprint dramatically, I can honestly say that it is not do-able for everyone.

Green communities are the answer.

 

[Cal2]

Yup, that project web-development is definitely on the 'to-do' list. I've been pretty busy building an off-grid cabin and sorting firewood over the summer. Now that part is done, I managed to hook up a signal booster & increased my data plan so I can use my cell-phone tethered to a laptop to better work remotely.

Edit: It's not really fair to say the public is apathetic, perhaps they are unaware or simply don't know what they can do, or maybe they feel their contribution means little if anything. Having personally reduced my carbon footprint dramatically, I can honestly say that it is not do-able for everyone.

Green communities are the answer.

Looking forward to seeing what your website thinking solidifies to.

Under your 'Mission', I'm wondering if a word like 'regenerate/regeneration' might work? A thought.

 

[Cannuck]

One step forward, two steps back... the climate crisis is outpacing any government progress. Even if global greenhouse emissions were neutralized tomorrow, we would still face decades of destabilized climate conditions.

“We are getting to the point where the rubber hits the road, where we’re going to have to make, you know, tough decisions by government officials. I don’t, certainly do not, underestimate the difficulty of the task which is ahead of us,” said climate summit president, Alok Sharma.

 

[Cannuck]

The era of exploitative throw-away capitalism will soon be over. It is essential we move to a new model of economics that prioritises wellbeing and sustainability over profit.

What is "greenwashing"? Companies that claim to be eco-friendly but are actually exploitive and environmentally negligent.

I found the footage at 2:33 to be rather poignant - using planet earth as a piñata.

 

[alop]

You should reopen the poll @Cannuck