Category Archives: Nature

All, Environment, Nature, Plants, Pests, Rescue

Let’s change our ways and prevent the 6th global species extinction

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globe in leaf in handsThe Guardian’s Jan Zalasiewizc covers the release of the paper last Friday by Gerardo Caballos of the National Autonomous University of Mexico and his team. They warn of an upcoming 6th global species extinction that differs from past extinctions (of dinosaurs, for example) only because it is voluntary rather than rooted in natural occurrences. Voluntary, as in man is choosing to create it.

The good news is that Caballos apparently thinks that man can still choose to stop this from happening. Pope Francis shares this view in the release of his encyclical, “On Care for Our Common Home”.

We should remember that when we talk about the impending destruction of nature, we’re also talking about the destruction of people – because how can we survive without it? In short, we should pay close attention to sound advice being shared on how we can prevent this, and exercise extreme caution.

Abuse of public trust, All, Environment, Nature, Policy, Protection, Sustainable communities

Pope Francis’ climate change encyclical might be a global game changer

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vatican ws - encyclical imageOn Thursday, Pope Francis released his 180-page papal encyclical, “On Care for Our Common Home”, which sets for the need for the people of the world to halt climate change and end global social injustice. I have high hopes that his statement will change our world, transforming personal human choices that have led us to the brink of nature’s destruction and ultimately, our own … because the Pope’s standing as a world leader is never in dispute.

pope-francis-600I have noticed that even lapsed Catholics, people whom are not Catholics and people who do not believe in Christ, nonetheless respect the Pope and pay attention to His Holiness’ edicts and opinions.

The Guardian provides an overview of the encyclical. Here’s an excerpt:

Pope Francis has called on the world’s rich nations to begin paying their “grave social debt” to the poor and take concrete steps on climate change, saying failure to do so presents an undeniable risk to a “common home” that is beginning to resemble a “pile of filth”.

The pope’s 180-page encyclical on the environment, released on Thursday, is at its core a moral call for action on phasing out the use of fossil fuels.

But it is also a document infused with an activist anger and concern for the poor, casting blame on the indifference of the powerful in the face of certain evidence that humanity is at risk following 200 years of misuse of resources.

Up to now, he says, the world has accepted a “cheerful recklessness” in its approach to the issue, lacking the will to change habits for the good of the Earth.

“Climate change is a global problem with grave implications: environmental, social, economic, political and for the distribution of goods,” the papal statement says. “It represents one of the principal challenges facing humanity in our day.”

…The pontiff included a personal handwritten note in his communication, ending with a plea for help: “United in the lord, and please do not forget to pray for me.”

Another Guardian article shares reactions from scholars and citizens around the world. Prof Ian Gough speaks to the difference between need and greed, terms Pope Francis reintroduces to global discussion that modern economics has buried:

• Pope Francis’s encyclical “on care for our common home” introduces two terms buried by modern economics: “need” and “greed”. These represent two opposing worldviews. One seeks to satisfy our wants or preferences, which are limitless, non-satiable, substitutable and amoral. The other prioritises meeting universal human needs, which are limited, sufficient, non-substitutable and with clear ethical grounding. By counterposing these and putting them centre-stage, he has clarified the egregious moral dilemma inherent in climate change in a way that can unite both religion and humanism.

The pope also takes issue with the arguments of green growth, which is the current dominant strategy to handle climate change. Yes, we must support the fastest possible decarbonisation of the global economy through eco-efficiency, as Nicholas Stern persuasively argues in his new book, but at some point, very soon, we will need to switch to post-growth strategies.

This revolutionary encyclical challenges both current ethics and economics.
Prof Ian Gough
London School of Economics

I’m interested in knowing your views on the Pope’s encyclical and the impact it may have on our world. Please share …

All, Environment, Justice, Nature, Plants, Pests, Rescue, Protection, Water

Urge officials to use BP Gulf restoration funds to protect bluefins & turtles

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Restoring a degraded gulf of MexicoThe government trustees charged with restoring the Gulf have released 10 new projects, including two that will protect bluefin tuna and sea turtles. This suite of new projects is the fourth phase of the Natural Resource Damage Assessment early restoration process, funded by a $1 billion “down payment” from BP to restore the damage caused by the oil disaster.

We need your help. The trustees are calling for comments on the 10 proposed projects by July 6 – so, add your comment today!

Here’s what I wrote (first paragraph are my words):

Diversity is the invisible undercurrent that powers our world. And the sea covers most of our planet. We need to protect and nurture natural life and marine victims of the Gulf Oil tragedy. Please, act on behalf of a people and a planet who need your help.

Canned message follows (written by Ocean Conservancy):

I am writing in support of the pelagic longline bycatch reduction and sea turtle early restoration projects, proposed in phase IV of the Natural Resource Damage Assessment early restoration process.

For too long, we have seen the list of impacts to deep water species grow, while the projects to restore those species never materialized. From dolphins dying in record numbers, to corals covered in oil and millions of gallons of oil sitting on the seafloor, a troubling story is unfolding offshore. It is past time to begin restoring our impacted deep water resources and habitats. Only by addressing restoration in an integrated and comprehensive way — from the coast to the deep water can our impacted habitats, wildlife and coastal communities fully recover.

With these two projects, I am encouraged to see the trustees finally begin to restore the Gulf not just on the coast but beyond the shore, where the BP oil disaster began. These projects represent the comprehensive approach that we’ve been hoping to see in the five years since the disaster began. If we want to truly restore the Gulf, we must focus on both the coast and the deep water — our communities, culture and livelihoods depend on it.

All, Environment, Health, Nature, New solutions, Plants, Pests, Rescue, Policy, Protection, Sustainable communities, Water

We need Green Infrastructure, and EPA infographic shows why

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EPA GI infographicThis EPA infographic may just be the mother of all Green Infrastructure elucidations. It shows many different ways to incorporate GI in communities and how this helps us conserve water, reduce energy use, reduce flooding risks and make both buildings and Planet Earth, cooler.

Wikipedia‘s Green Infrastructure definition is pretty empty: it doesn’t help us paint a mind picture of what GI is.

Green Infrastructure or blue-green infrastructure is a network providing the “ingredients” for solving urban and climatic challenges by building with nature.

But American Rivers helps us understand the scope and relevance of Green Infrastructure.

Green infrastructure is an approach to water management that protects, restores, or mimics the natural water cycle. Green infrastructure is effective, economical, and enhances community safety and quality of life.

It means planting trees and restoring wetlands, rather than building a costly new water treatment plant. It means choosing water efficiency instead of building a new water supply dam. It means restoring floodplains instead of building taller levees.

Green infrastructure incorporates both the natural environment and engineered systems to provide clean water, conserve ecosystem values and functions, and provide a wide array of benefits to people and wildlife.

Abuse of public trust, All, Food, Nature, Protection

GMOs are a fraud the US and Africa must resist believing in, using

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GMOd tomatoesNational Geographic writer Simon Worrall has nothing good to say about GMOs and plenty of cautions about following what has become conventional wisdom in the agri-business food industry. BTW, when did we start to refer to frankenscience by the term ‘conventional‘?

Monsanto was driven out of England after widespread protests against seed trials. Why are the Europeans so much more critical of GMOs?

Because Europeans have been better informed of the facts. The media in Europe, up to a few years ago, reported this scientific controversy fairly. People knew many well-credentialed scientists did not agree with the claim that these foods were safe. Adverse research showing harm to lab animals got publicized. As a result, European citizens made it clear they didn’t want these foods. Here, the media has not reported the controversy fairly. They’ve almost always presented the pro-GMO side. As a result, the American public has been systematically deceived…

Only if there were not risks that might impact health in ways we don’t yet know. As I said, when it comes to food safety, benefits should not be considered in offsetting risks. Everybody has to eat food and changes to food should not entail new risks, no matter what the purported benefits. Several studies by the UN and World Bank also concluded that genetic engineering is not needed to meet the world’s food needs. One of the directors of these studies was asked, “What role do you see for GMOs in the future of food?” He said, “Actually none. They aren’t needed. They haven’t been boosting yields. Small scale, agro-ecological methods are what’s needed in the Third World.”

Worrall believes in small holding farming, especially in Africa which is just beginning to experience the destruction of GMOs:

What would you say to an African farmer who wants to use GMOs to feed his starving child today rather than worry about an imaginary threat tomorrow?

First I would say: Read what the UN and World Bank-sponsored reports have said. You don’t need GMOs … there are solutions that do not rely on GMOs, which have been proven to work in Africa. So I would say: Get with the sound science, spend less money, and solve your food problem in a way that will create healthy soil, a healthy family and a healthy Africa.

All, Energy, Environment, Nature, New solutions, Protection

Cute polar bear app helps you control your daily energy use

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Screen Shot 2015-05-03 at 12.31.00 PMTime recommends using this cute app to track your energy use helps you learn how much energy you’re consuming and the adjustments you can make to evolve a more eco-friendly lifestyle. If you’re good, the polar bear’s iceberg gets bigger.

The app tracks your energy consumption in areas like electricity, travel and food, and within each category, there are suggestions for doing things differently to help conserve energy. Some of the suggestions are simple (like recycling) and some are complex (like installing a high-efficiency water closet). As you take up the suggestions, you accumulate carbon units and can quickly see how much energy you are saving.

A cute visual device — a polar bear perched on an iceberg — depicts your progress. The more energy you save, the bigger the iceberg gets.

Get the free app on Google Play or iTunes

Abuse of public trust, All, Environment, Justice, Nature, Plants, Pests, Rescue, Policy, Protection

Want your tax dollars spent to kill 2.7 million wild animals again this year?

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refugeweek97-with TrumanNew data from the highly secretive arm of the U.S. Agriculture Department known as Wildlife Services reveals it killed more than 2.7 million animals during fiscal year 2014, including wolves, coyotes, bears, mountain lions, beavers, foxes, eagles and other animals deemed pests by powerful agricultural, livestock and other special interests.

Despite increasing calls for reform after the program killed more than 4 million animals in 2013, the latest kill report indicates the reckless slaughter of wildlife continues, including 322 gray wolves, 61,702 coyotes, 580 black bears, 305 mountain lions, 796 bobcats, 454 river otters, 2,930 foxes, three bald eagles, five golden eagles and 22,496 beavers. The program also killed 15,698 black-tailed prairie dogs and destroyed more than 33,309 of their dens.

“It’s sickening to see these staggering numbers and to know that so many of these animals were cut down by aerial snipers, deadly poisons and traps,” said Amy Atwood, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “These acts of brutality are carried out every day, robbing our landscapes of bears, wolves, coyotes and other animals that deserve far better. Wildlife Services does its dirty work far from public view and clearly has no interest in cleaning up its act.”

Agency insiders have revealed that the agency kills many more animals than it reports.

Many animals – especially wolves, coyotes and prairie dogs – were targeted and killed on behalf of livestock grazers or other powerful agricultural interests. Wildlife Services does not reveal how many animals were wounded or injured, but not killed.

The new data also show that hundreds animals were killed unintentionally including 390 river otters, as well as hundreds of badgers, black bears, bobcats, coyotes, foxes, jackrabbits, muskrats, raccoons, skunks, opossums, porcupines and 16 pet dogs.

The data show that the federal program has refused to substantially slow its killing despite a growing public outcry, an ongoing investigation by the Agriculture Department’s inspector general, and calls for reform by scientists, members of Congress and nongovernmental organizations.

“Wildlife Services continues to thumb its nose at the growing number of Americans demanding an end to business as usual,” said Atwood. “This appalling and completely unnecessary extermination of American wildlife must stop.”

Just since 1996 Wildlife Services has shot, poisoned and strangled by snare more than 27 million native animals.

All, Justice, Nature, Policy, Protection, Water

The scientific assessment: global warming is actually science

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penguin on diminished ice floeTruthout has published a book excerpt from Unprecedented, subtitled Can Civilization Survive the CO2 Crisis?

Author David Ray Griffin addresses the failure of United States’ Big Media to cover climate change fairly, quoting three scientists who explain why this is a mistake.

Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway:

[O]nce a scientific issue is closed, there’s only one “side.” Imagine providing a “balance” to the issue of whether the Earth orbits the Sun, whether continents move, or whether DNA carries genetic information. These matters were long ago settled in scientists’ minds. Nobody can publish an article in a scientific journal claiming the Sun orbits the Earth.

James Hansen also regards misapplied science to be a major problem in communicating scientific conclusions to the public. He wrote:

The scientific method requires objective analysis of all data, stating evidence pro and con, before reaching conclusions. This works well, indeed is necessary, for achieving success in science. But science is now pitted in public debate against the talk-show method, which consists of selective citation of anecdotal bits that support a predetermined position. Why is the public presented results of the scientific method and the talk-show method as if they deserved equal respect?

And he references John Oliver’s segment on the topic:

In May 2014, John Oliver humorously demonstrated on his fake TV news show, “Last Week Tonight,” what this would mean in a “Statistically Representative Climate Change Debate.” Having described the typical TV debate between a climate scientist and a climate denier, he pointed out that the debate should really be representative of the two positions. So after having two more people join the denier, Oliver brought in 96 more to join the scientist.

See for yourself – Oliver’s always interesting (and fun).