| s'il on a un rêve il y a une chance... |
[Oct. 23rd, 2007|11:48 am] |
…the greatest story yet to be told!
Remember the early Greenhouse days when a story about climate change (Cch) was a rarity in the news-mainstreams (and of course, the rare event would always include the obligatory quote- unquote “Greenhouse Effect” as if it wasn’t a proven hundred year-old scientific fact)? My, how far we’ve come in even just one decade, these days you can’t shake a stick without hitting a climatologist, climate journalist, skeptic, activist, government pundit or vlogger in the daily news troughs. And it’s not just because of Alfred Nobel's latest choice, or the end-of-the-year “Wacky Weather” reports. The story about Cch has broke in the MSM news. The trickle is now a steady stream, which sadly, will only well-up more and more-- as this story refuses to go away. Climate is going to grow to the biggest story of the 21st century (and the story has sharp fangs and talons). You can even see various networks and newswires quote science bodies who say that we may only have 10 years left. And recently we’ve witnesses everyone from morning news teams to Martha Stewart embracing sustainable solutions on the air.
So at least the dialog has started. And recently, an interesting trend has appeared; the addition of the word adaptation into the mix --that we can adapt to Cch as well as reduce our greenhouse gas emission. It is often used by groups who don’t necessarily like the idea of mitigating greenhouse gasses, so I wonder just how much thought they’ve actually put into the concept of adapting to Cch. But nonetheless, I agree. Both being important (adapting, and mitigating CO2 emissions), if we could only solve one problem at a time, focusing on adaptation to Cch is probably our best bet right now.
But what the heck does adaptation mean, anyway?
Do the pundits and government agents mean that we will adapt our lifestyles, technologies and microclimates to deal with a no longer stable climate? ( click here there's more... ) |
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| and more and more... |
[Jul. 30th, 2006|04:01 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | climate adaptation, climatemodification, dinosaur fuels, evolution, extreme weather, food, greenfuture, i want one!!!, living machines, my happy place, prts | ] |
global warming is an existential threat that should affect our approach to just about every issue. To take it seriously, we would have to change the way we think about transportation, agriculture, development, water resources, natural disasters, foreign relations and more.
-in today's San Jose Mercury News "High energy prices compelling Americans to care about climate" |
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| Adapt or Die.. thats what evolutions is all about..... |
[Jun. 1st, 2006|06:35 am] |
US News started talking about something I think is really important. The next battle in the climate-change wars: preparing for and adapting to a warmer climate.
They write: "Even if people everywhere unplugged their appliances, left their cars home, and shuttered their factories today, enough fossil fuel emissions are already in the atmosphere to heat up the planet an additional 1 degree Fahrenheit this century, experts say. In reality, however, emissions are increasing--and scenarios put the likely temperature increases at 2.5 to 8 degrees over the same span. While politicians wrangle over mitigation, i.e., cutting emissions of gases like carbon dioxide and methane, some environmentalists and policymakers are increasingly focusing on the controversial concept of adaptation--preparing for changes increasingly seen as inevitable. Adaptation has long been the third rail of green politics for fear it would pull the focus away from fixing the problem. For many, however, the next debate in the climate-change debate is not why the planet is warming, or if we can stop it. It is this: How do we live with it?" [and in interesting note: our hominoid ancestors evolved every time there was a climate change... it's our cue to get bigger brains, stand upright... and now we need it more than ever]
so: bring on the agribots! bring on the living machines! seed banks!! While it is possible to stop & reverse what has been building since the industrial devolution, it won't happen if we dont have bellies full to actually scrub the CO2, and to deal with ocean circulations, and geoengineering and all the other neato fixes.... |
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| EcoKids.... a nice new read! |
[Jan. 24th, 2006|06:51 am] |
 >
"In Eco-Kids: Raising Children Who Care for the Earth," author Dan Chiras focuses on touching the hearts and minds of our youth, for the future of the world depends on what they feel, think, and believe. Most importantly he has given parents the tools by which they can raise children who truly care for the Earth. It's a must read---long overdue."
-- Dennis Weaver, actor, founder of Institute of Ecolonomics
EcoKids, Written by Sustainable Design Consultant Chiras, addresses this gap by presenting a coherent plan that will help parents foster love for nature, teach children the importance of environmental protection, and promote environmental values and inspire action - actions that will last a lifetime. A hopeful and inspiring guide for parents, topics covered include ways to:
* avoid gloom and doom in favor of positive solutions
* foster love and empathy for nature
* develop environmental values
* put values into action
* help children discover the roots of problems and be part of lasting solutions
* walk the talk
* counter the consumer culture, starting in your own home and community
* generate hope and combat apathy.
Each chapter includes an inspiring case study of a child who's making a difference, short pieces that highlight serious problems such as global warming, along with positive solutions that can be read aloud to children, and activities for children. A resource guide lists helpful books, articles, videos, and organizations.....
[buy one or order a bunch for all the kids] |
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| ...the good news! |
[Nov. 23rd, 2005|11:52 am] |
ok, so it does look like we will see a climate flip flop in our own lifetime. That is pretty heavy an idea... but i just wanted to state for the record that this may be the best thing to ever happen to us and-- should we choose to accept the mission-- it may be something that one day in the future will be considered as the beginning ...HUGE!
Why the optimism? Well, in my own personal theosophy, there just wouldn't be so many amazing technical advances and greening of culture, if we weren't going to make it (ok i'll go back into the corner with my violin in a few seconds), that would just be too much of a cosmic waste... but for those that chose a more 'scientific' approach, lets say it's because climate change (esp. climate flips) is directly linked to human evolution. So, the way I see it, the closer we get to the flip flop the closer we are to evolving.
about 10 years ago, i got a copy of this book  about this link (between Cch & Evo), and was sooo fired up about it that i trekked across the country to meet the guy who wrote it. Professor WIlliam Calvin. We chatted for hours at length about this evolution... he wasn't so sure we'll make it saying that it usually takes a species 50 years minimum to adapt, but me ever the teary-eyed optimist kept pushing.... eventually we got to the bottom line, that this time around it's not our posture that will change, or a new tail, but our societal structures that will evolve if we are not to do the other thing that happens when a climate flips (those who don't evolve eventually end up in museums collecting dust). It's our food manufacturing & delivery systems, our shelter systems and of course our energy production (among others... I pray that we will lose roads as well).... My homespun interpretation also adds that we will have a huge shift in perception finally seeing the whole before assuming we know or are all that special...
But when i look at how fast things are changing, I get giddy thinking that yes! this is going to happen! to us! what an amazing time to be alive!! Lateley there has been more talk about this evolution link and no longer from the hallowed halls of academia but even from the mainstreamers... I mean how much proof do we need?
we can have it! the organic food-growing agribots, the regrowing of rainforests (no, they don't have to disappear), and all the other goodies that a highly evolved species has to play with. That is our future and no one can tell me otherwise.
thanks!
~L |
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