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]

Where are your quotes from? Who are these so-called peers?

His peers: scientists, researchers and colleagues at work.

https://alumni.berkeley.edu/califor...s-berkeleys-most-controversial-nobel-laureate

He has obviously offended many climate parasites.

He also offended most of his peers, colleagues and employers. He never published any research on climate.

 

[Cal2]

Going to this thread's title of "Earth Matters, so what's holding us back?":

I'm wondering if a change in how things are being done/marketed could make a significant difference? An example, from the cover of Edward de Bono's 1979 book Future Positive:

“Of one thing we can be sure. The quality of our life in the future will be determined by the quality of our thinking.” Edward de Bono writes here of the positive future we can have if we want it. Societies, like organisms, develop certain characteristics that make further evolution impossible. At that point instructions and sacred ways of thinking have to be replaced with a more positive approach. Our negativity has to go. Our troubles are not due particularly to villains or stupid people, but to the exercise of high intelligence within bubbles of perception. We need to develop new concepts: some brand-new and some slightly different. De Bono firmly believes that’ we can no longer wait for drift and crisis management to carry us forward to a better future; instead we have to make a deliberate and positive effort to secure a positive future. The call is to arms: not the outmoded arms of gun and bomb but the focused power of human thinking unleashed from its pettiness."

Future Positive pdf - https://www.pdfdrive.com/future-positive-change-your-mindset-for-a-positive-future-e196792289.html

At least one company I'm aware of - XPrize - promotes themselves as 'A global future positive movement'. (Bolding mine.) https://www.xprize.org/about/mission

Could 'future positive' concept be improved on as far as possible effectiveness in getting things moving, moving in a positive direction?

 

[dna]

"Even in the face of hard facts, people turn to self-deception in order to protect treasured illusions."

 

[Cannuck]

"Even in the face of hard facts, people turn to self-deception in order to protect treasured illusions."

A known psychological barrier called 'Cognitive Dissonance' is nothing new, as research from over a decade ago demonstrates:

https://www.researchgate.net/public...imit_Climate_Change_Mitigation_and_Adaptation

 

[Cannuck]

 

[Cal2]

Long winded, but for what it's worth:

Where to Find the Energy to Save the World​

Jamie Beard is pouring everything into a singular vision: Tap into the awesome potential of geothermal power in Texas, and beyond. She has no time to lose.

https://www.wired.com/story/where-to-find-the-energy-to-save-the-world-geothermal-texas/

I like her thought of "To her, there are problems in everything big. Being afraid of them helps nobody, and the climate doesn’t have time."

 

[Cal2]

Autonomous Terraforming Here on Earth​

Terraforming is always seen more as science fiction than science possible, but the idea involved taking what would be, for humans, a barren planet and transforming it into a habitable one suited for human habitation....

Just like they drive the Mars rovers around the Mars Yard at JPL before they unleash them on another planet maybe we should conduct a little testing on earth first? How about we take a very cheap part of the world, somewhere where almost no one lives. Somewhere hostile to humans......

One of the most wonderful things that no one knows about is the Great Green Wall, a $2 billion project to plant trees and change local landscapes to stop desertification in its tracks. Along with locals and local governments natural resources will be managed better, pressure on natural areas will be reduced and perhaps desertification will be reduced. .......

So imagine for a second a tracked vehicle that is wholly autonomous.....

The robot would have a square kilometer to run around in. A thousand other robots would in parallel be doing the same in adjacent areas...

Gradually it would terraform this square kilometer, no humans involved. We’d mass produce these robots and make them better all the time so that they could autonomously terraform those parts of the earth encroaching us. Rather than farm the earth this bot would be tasked with preserving and engendering soil so that life would form around it.

https://3dprint.com/299302/concrete-dreams-autonomous-terraforming-here-on-earth/

 

[Cannuck]

Earth matters, so what's holding us back?​

Decades ago, I helped co-develop and pilot micro submersibles in order to study continental shelf habitats and monitor offshore platforms. Our work was groundbreaking and the project had great potential, but it was expensive for independent entrepreneurs, as venture funding for research was almost non-existant and/or difficult to obtain.

Fast forward 30 years...we’ve now reached a point where most people understand that we have to confront the threat of climate change, hence Canada's plan to invest in ocean and climate research (CFREF).

Transforming Climate Action: Addressing the Missing Ocean​

Multiple lines of evidence show that carbon-intensive human activity has destabilized critical parts of the Earth system that determine our climate. To date, the ocean has absorbed 40% of fossil fuel emissions and 90% of the heat from human-induced global warming through processes collectively known as the “ocean carbon pump.” In response, the ocean is changing at an uncertain rate, and its capacity to buffer human impact could fail, critically exacerbating climate change and compromising efforts to reach net-zero emissions.

Human adaptation to a changing climate urgently requires better understanding of how oceans respond to this crisis. The Transforming Climate Action initiative will resolve, identify and demonstrate the transformative solutions required. The research initiative proposes three interconnected research themes focused on the North Atlantic, which absorbs 30% of global ocean carbon.

The program will develop transformative knowledge mobilization, involving meaningful, impactful and usable communication. It will also investigate approaches to education for the empowerment needed to translate knowledge into action.

 

[Cannuck]

"It's not a technology problem nor an engineering problem, but rather, a financial engineering problem."

"We need to democratize the current infrastructure in order to create more energy solutions for the future."

 

[Cal2]

For what it's worth, the biggest climate change problem according to someone, and emphasizes my favourite thinking guru's lateral thinking approach as key to the solution:

We don’t have a climate change problem, we have a thinking problem​

The need for lateral thinking

Often patterns occur passively rather than by intent and could be done better if we could take the time to deliberately consider our actions and use methods to unpick established ways of doing things in order to add more value....

The lateral thinking attitude challenges the assumption that what is a convenient pattern at the moment is the only possible pattern. By using lateral thinking manoeuvres we can juxtapose unlikely information, break down old patterns, liberating information to stimulate new patterns that add value..."

https://uxdesign.cc/we-dont-have-a-climate-change-problem-we-have-a-thinking-problem-5e4e65ce29e0

 

[Cannuck]

The lateral thinking attitude challenges the assumption that what is a convenient pattern at the moment is the only possible pattern. By using lateral thinking manoeuvres we can juxtapose unlikely information, break down old patterns, liberating information to stimulate new patterns that add value..."

"We don’t have a climate change problem, we have a thinking problem"

 

[Cal2]

Government

If you think the problems we create are bad, just wait until you see our solutions.​

 

[Cal2]

“The major problems in the world are the result of the difference between how nature works and the way people think”
– Gregory Bateson

Developing a Living Systems Framework​

A regenerative field of practice looks beyond the bottom line, even past the triple bottom line, operating from a new paradigm that focuses on regenerating life, not merely extracting value or doing less harm.

https://thesef.org/regenerative-organizations/

 

[JB Lions]

Does Kary Mullis understand science?
He has a Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing PCR
He calls climate scientists "parasites with degrees."
But you don't have to call me "genius."
My IQ is only 139.

"Politicians don't know anything about scientific things.
They just want to look like they do.
Somebody has to advise them.
Who are those advisors?
It's an important question because those people—who are
always having to come up with emminent disasters
that can be prevented by governmental projects—are
manipulating you.
They are parasites with degrees..."

I remember you talking about him 4 years ago - https://www.namepros.com/threads/the-usa-political-thread.764342/page-1657#post-7488513

Dude was an alcoholic, on hallucinogens, believed in astrology and climate wasn't his field.

"In his 1998 humorous autobiography, Mullis expressed disagreement with the scientific evidence supporting climate change and ozone depletion, the evidence that HIV causes AIDS, and asserted his belief in astrology"

"Mullis claimed he had had an encounter with an extraterrestrial being, in which he denied the involvement of LSD. More specifically — he reported having close contact with a glowing green raccoon at his cabin in the woods of northern California around midnight one night in 1985."

-------------------------------------------------

Orcas have sunk 3 boats in Europe and appear to be teaching others to do the same. But why?​

"Scientists think a traumatized orca initiated the assault on boats after a "critical moment of agony" and that the behavior is spreading among the population through social learning."

https://www.livescience.com/animals...-to-be-teaching-others-to-do-the-same-but-why

 

[alop]

I remember you talking about him 4 years ago - https://www.namepros.com/threads/the-usa-political-thread.764342/page-1657#post-7488513

Dude was an alcoholic, on hallucinogens, believed in astrology and climate wasn't his field.

"In his 1998 humorous autobiography, Mullis expressed disagreement with the scientific evidence supporting climate change and ozone depletion, the evidence that HIV causes AIDS, and asserted his belief in astrology"

"Mullis claimed he had had an encounter with an extraterrestrial being, in which he denied the involvement of LSD. More specifically — he reported having close contact with a glowing green raccoon at his cabin in the woods of northern California around midnight one night in 1985."

-------------------------------------------------

Orcas have sunk 3 boats in Europe and appear to be teaching others to do the same. But why?​

"Scientists think a traumatized orca initiated the assault on boats after a "critical moment of agony" and that the behavior is spreading among the population through social learning."

https://www.livescience.com/animals...-to-be-teaching-others-to-do-the-same-but-why

Is it politics or science?

 

[dna]

 

[Cannuck]

She has a point, solar and wind power are not the only options. If we actually were able to harness the true power of our DNA, we wouldn't have such a climate of contradiction.

 

[Cannuck]

What's holding us back?

Carbon sense and fracking nonsense...

https://frack-off.org

 

[dna]

 

[Cannuck]

Good to have debate, for instance, he says "we are in one of the coldest periods in earth history", which may be true. This is fortunate because if it weren't, we would not have the luxury of time to take proactive action.

If you look at the data, the 10 warmest years in the 143-year modern climate record have all occurred since 2010, with the last nine years ranking as the nine warmest years on record. Satellite data clearly shows polar ice caps diminishing.

Data from the Arctic provides keys to understanding how much sea ice has melted:

Data from Antarctic shows the ice is diminishing at an even greater rate:

Unfortunately, Dr Moore has often quoted faulty evidence and debunked research to fuel his book sales. Yet climate denialists (like PragerU) have gobbled it up, afterall, they are funded largely by the fossil fuel industry.