Desertification Is the End of Being

June 27, 2007
OVERVIEW & COMMENTARY by Dr. Glen Barry, Ecological Internet

A new study by United Nations University suggests climate change is making desertification [more] "the greatest environmental challenge of our times". They report that some 50 million people may be displaced within the next 10 years as a result of desertification [search], and that ultimately some one-third of
the Planet's population is threatened by expanding deserts.
The process of desertification is the ultimate end result of all poor environmental stewardship, a synthesis of climate change and land clearing, that quite literally makes the Earth a burning hell. They are not making much new land, so just exactly where will the natural resources, food and water come from to care for an increasingly urban world. Hello?! Is anyone home? Is there anybody in there? How many more reports on looming environmental catastrophe can be ignored without major loss of life and a severe decline in the complexity and habitability of the Earth? Are we so into our ipods and Paris Hilton that we can not see the Earth is dying? Climate change, water scarcity, over-fished oceans and desertification; to say nothing of AIDs, terrorism, militarism and poverty; threaten our very being. Yours. Your childrens. It is essential that policy and strategy to fight global threats are integrative, and willing to propose and implement actions that are up to the task of reversing monumental adverse trends. Fifty million people, driven from their land, because we refuse to stop wantonly procreating and consuming. I am stunned, shocked, dismayed (and yes deeply hurt) to read dispassionate accounts of the ecological foundation of being dismantled tree by tree, SUV by SUV. We shall learn to live differently with the Earth or we shall not live at all.
Please forgive the emotions as I mourn the looming end of being, Eden turned to dust, by ignorance and vanity.

To comment:
http://www.climateark.org/blog/2007/06/desertification_warning.asp

Ecology Is the Radical Science

Ecology is the study of how organisms interact with each other and their physical environment. Sounds deceptively simple and non-threatening to the status quo, but I contend that growing ecological knowledge and re-understanding of humanity's place within the web of life is one of the most radical and potentially transformative notions ever. Awareness of humanity's utter dependence upon ecosystems and the biosphere, found in the relatively new discipline of modern ecology, has coincided with a period of unprecedented ecological destruction. Ecology may provide the only truthful answers regarding how to save the Earth and ourselves.

Read on...

STERN REVIEW: The Economics of Climate Change

The scientific evidence is now overwhelming: climate change presents very serious
global risks, and it demands an urgent global response.
This independent Review was commissioned by the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
reporting to both the Chancellor and to the Prime Minister, as a contribution to
assessing the evidence and building understanding of the economics of climate
change.

The Review first examines the evidence on the economic impacts of climate change
itself, and explores the economics of stabilising greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere. The second half of the Review considers the complex policy challenges
involved in managing the transition to a low-carbon economy and in ensuring that
societies can adapt to the consequences of climate change that can no longer be
avoided.

The Review takes an international perspective. Climate change is global in its
causes and consequences, and international collective action will be critical in driving
an effective, efficient and equitable response on the scale required. This response
will require deeper international co-operation in many areas - most notably in creating
price signals and markets for carbon, spurring technology research, development
and deployment, and promoting adaptation, particularly for developing countries.
Climate change presents a unique challenge for economics: it is the greatest and
widest-ranging market failure ever seen. The economic analysis must therefore be
global, deal with long time horizons, have the economics of risk and uncertainty at
centre stage, and examine the possibility of major, non-marginal change. To meet
these requirements, the Review draws on ideas and techniques from most of the
important areas of economics, including many recent advances.

Live Earth - 7/7/07

Live Earth is a 24-hour, 7-continent concert series taking place on 7/7/07 that will bring together more than 100 music artists and 2 billion people to trigger a global movement to solve the climate crisis.

Live Earth will reach this worldwide audience through an unprecedented global media architecture covering all media platforms - TV, radio, Internet and wireless channels.

Live Earth marks the beginning of a multi-year campaign led by the Alliance for Climate Protection, The Climate Group and other international organizations to drive individuals, corporations and governments to take action to solve global warming. Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore is the Chair of the Alliance and Partner of Live Earth.

Live Earth was founded by Kevin Wall, the Worldwide Executive Producer of Live 8, an event that brought together one of the largest audiences in history to combat poverty. Wall formed a partnership with Al Gore and the Alliance for Climate Protection to ensure that Live Earth inspires behavioral changes long after 7/7/07.

Live Earth will stage official concerts at Giants Stadium in New York; Wembley Stadium in London; Aussie Stadium in Sydney; Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro; Maropeng at the Cradle of Humankind in Johannesburg; Makuhari Messe in Tokyo; the Steps of the Oriental Pearl Tower in Shanghai; and HSH Nordbank Arena in Hamburg.

Live Earth concerts will be broadcast to a live worldwide audience by MSN at www.LiveEarth.MSN.com.

7steps towards an energy saving [r]evolution

Signup today, and for seven weeks you'll get a weekly email with instructions how to campaign effectively for energy efficiency. "How many people... to change a lightbulb?" Try changing the law!

The inconvenient truth about the carbon offset industry

In the concluding part of a major investigation, Nick Davies shows how greenhouse gas credits do little or nothing to combat global warming

Saturday June 16, 2007
The Guardian

The Power of Community

When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1990, Cuba's economy went into a tailspin. With imports of oil cut by more than half – and food by 80 percent – people were desperate. This film tells of the hardships and struggles as well as the community and creativity of the Cuban people during this difficult time. Cubans share how they transitioned from a highly mechanized, industrial agricultural system to one using organic methods of farming and local, urban gardens. It is an unusual look into the Cuban culture during this economic crisis, which they call "The Special Period." The film opens with a short history of Peak Oil, a term for the time in our history when world oil production will reach its all-time peak and begin to decline forever. Cuba, the only country that has faced such a crisis – the massive reduction of fossil fuels – is an example of options and hope.

See the trailer

THE INTERNATIONAL FORUM ON GLOBALIZATION

The International Forum on Globalization (IFG) is an alliance of sixty leading activists, scholars, economists, researchers and writers formed to stimulate new thinking, joint activity, and public education in response to economic globalization.

Representing over 60 organizations in 25 countries, the International Forum on Globalization associates come together out of a shared concern that the world's corporate and political leadership is undertaking a restructuring of global politics and economics that may prove as historically significant as any event since the Industrial Revolution. This restructuring is happening at tremendous speed, with little public disclosure of the profound consequences affecting democracy, human welfare, local economies, and the natural world.

Our Finite World

We all know the world is finite. There number of atoms is finite, and these atoms combine to form a finite number of molecules. The mix of molecules may change over time, but in total, the number of molecules is also finite.

We also know that growth is central to our way of life. Businesses are expected to grow. Every day new businesses are formed and new products are developed. The world population is also growing, so all this adds up to a huge utilization of resources.

At some point, growth in resource utilization must collide with the fact that the world is finite. We have grown up thinking that the world is so large that limits will never be an issue. But now, we are starting to bump up against limits.

Read on....

Corn-based ethanol: Is this a solution?

Many people have high hopes for ethanol made from corn–that it will prevent future gasoline shortages, prevent global warming, be a wonderful investment, and improve the income of farmers, among other things. Other observers raise a whole host of concerns including scalability, impact on the environment, and impact on food prices. Why is there such a huge disparity in views? What is the real promise for corn ethanol?

What If The Oil Runs Out?

Though the government is planning a massive expansion of transport networks, it has never considered this question.

By George Monbiot. Published in the Guardian 30^th May 2007.

The rise of slime

The run-off from modern life is feeding an explosion of primitive organisms. Kenneth R Weiss finds evolution running in reverse.

In Moreton Bay, Australia, the fireweed began each spring as tufts of hairy growth and spread across the seafloor fast enough to cover a football field in an hour. When fishers touched it, their skin broke out in searing welts. Their lips blistered and peeled. Their eyes burned and swelled shut. Water that splashed from their nets spread the inflammation to their legs and torsos.
‘It comes up like little boils,’ said Randolph Van Dyk, a fisher whose powerful legs are pocked with scars. ‘At night-time you can feel them burning. I tried everything to get rid of them. Nothing worked.’

As the weed blanketed miles of the bay over the past decade, it stained fishing nets a dark purple and left them coated with a powdery residue. When fishers tried to shake it off the webbing, their throats constricted and they gasped for air.

Others made an even more painful mistake, neglecting to wash the residue from their hands before relieving themselves over the sides of their boats. For a time, embarrassment kept them from talking publicly about their condition. When they finally did speak up, authorities dismissed their complaints – until a bucket of the hairy weed made it to the University of Queensland’s marine botany lab.

Read on...

World's Spotlight Misses the True Cost of Disasters

Don't look to economic losses alone for the scope of devastation wrought by weather-related disasters, as these figures fail to capture the true extent of post-disaster suffering, according to a new Vital Signs Update from the Worldwatch Institute. Weather-related disasters include those caused by heat waves or cold snaps, floods, landslides, avalanches, wildfires, hurricanes, cyclones, typhoons, and winter storms. While these events are often perceived as natural, many human actions, including climate change, can have a hand in their creation.

In 2006, the planet experienced more weather-related disasters than in any of the previous three years, but the economic losses associated with them fell sharply, from $219.6 billion in 2005 to $44.5 billion in 2006, thanks in part to a relatively quiet 2006 Atlantic hurricane season. With only 1 to 3 percent of households and businesses in low-and middle-income countries insured against disasters, compared with 30 percent in high-income countries, the full economic toll from disasters is often difficult to calculate, says Worldwatch Research Associate Zoe Chafe.

"For many victims, the true disaster begins when the storm, earthquake, or flood ends," says Chafe. "Injuries, homelessness, and job losses are rarely included in estimates of what a disaster costs."

When floods recede or storm clouds dissipate, the real suffering begins for survivors. Nearly 5.4 million people became homeless as a result of a disaster last year, and other "secondary" disasters often follow: sexual harassment in camps, domestic violence, child labor and trafficking, poor resettlement plans, and ongoing disabilities.

While economic losses decreased, human deaths from disasters were up 24 percent in 2006. Floods, which affected 87 countries, were responsible for more deaths than any other weather-related disaster. The Horn of Africa was particularly hard hit by flooding, while Typhoon Saomai became the strongest storm to make landfall over China in 50 years, destroying 50,000 homes and forcing more than a million people to evacuate.

"The media spotlight shines on disaster," writes Chafe. "But that spotlight often fades before we understand the true extent of post-disaster suffering."

Several new initiatives aim to provide quick relief to countries hit by disasters. The United Nations has set up a Central Emergency Response Fund, which pledges to dispatch money and supplies within 72 hours of a disaster, and the World Food Programme recently issued an innovative drought-insurance policy to Ethiopia aimed at decreasing reliance on post-disaster aid.

The Idols of Environmentalism

ENVIRONMENTAL DESTRUCTION proceeds apace in spite of all the warnings, the good science, the 501(c)3 organizations with their memberships in the millions, the poll results, and the martyrs perched high in the branches of sequoias or shot dead in the Amazon. This is so not because of a power, a strength out there that we must resist. It is because we are weak and fearful. Only a weak and fearful society could invest so much desperate energy in protecting activities that are the equivalent of suicide.

For instance, trading carbon emission credits and creating markets in greenhouse gases as a means of controlling global warming is not a way of saying we’re so confident in the strength of the free market system that we can even trust it to fix the problems it creates. No, it’s a way of saying that we are so frightened by the prospect of stepping outside of the market system on which we depend for our national wealth, our jobs, and our sense of normalcy that we will let the logic of that system try to correct its own excesses even when we know we’re just kidding ourselves. This delusional strategy is embedded in the Kyoto agreement, which is little more than a complex scheme to create a giant international market in pollution. Even Kyoto, of which we speak longingly—“Oh, if only we would join it!”—is not an answer to our problem but a capitulation to it, so concerned is it to protect what it calls “economic growth and development.” Kyoto is just a form of whistling past the graveyard. And it is not just international corporations who do this whistling; we all have our own little stake in the world capitalism has made and so we all do the whistling.

Read on..

Carbon-labelling

Organic fruit from Chile, grass-fed lamb from New Zealand, spring water from Fiji, and plastic toys from China all have one thing in common: they require a lot of fuel to make and to move from source to market. Food travels an average of fifteen hundred miles before it reaches an American plate. That ecological footprint is usually hidden from the consumer, who may only think about fuel consumption when standing at the gas pump. Tesco, the largest supermarket chain in Britain and one of the top five retailers in the world, aims to change that.

Read on...