Dead Zones Off Oregon and Washington Likely Tied to Global Warming, Study Says
NEWPORT, ORE. — - Peering into the murky depths, Jane Lubchenco searched for sea life, but all she saw were signs of death.
Video images scanned from the seafloor revealed a boneyard of crab skeletons, dead fish and other marine life smothered under a white mat of bacteria. At times, the camera’s unblinking eye revealed nothing at all — a barren undersea desert in waters renowned for their bounty of Dungeness crabs and fat rockfish.
“We couldn’t believe our eyes,” Lubchenco said, recalling her initial impression of the carnage brought about by oxygen-starved waters. “It was so overwhelming and depressing. It appeared that everything that couldn’t swim or scuttle away had died.”
Upon further study, Lubchenco and other marine ecologists at Oregon State University concluded that that the undersea plague appears to be a symptom of global warming. In a study released today in the journal Science, the researchers note how these low-oxygen waters have expanded north into Washington and crept south as far as the California state line. And, they appear to be as regular as the tides, a lethal cycle that has repeated itself every summer and fall since 2002.
“We seem to have crossed a tipping point,” Lubchenco said. “Low-oxygen zones off the Northwest coast appear to be the new normal.”
Although scientists continue to amass data and tease out the details, all signs in the search for a cause point to stronger winds associated with a warming planet.
If this theory holds up, it means that global warming and the build-up of heat-trapping gases are bringing about oceanic changes beyond those previously documented: a rise in sea level, more acidic ocean water and the bleaching of coral reefs.
Low-oxygen dead zones, which have doubled in number every decade and exist around the world, have a variety of causes.
A massive dead zone off Louisiana is created each spring by a slurry of nutrient-rich farm runoff and sewage that flows out the Mississippi River, causing algae to bloom riotously, die and drift to the bottom to decompose. Bacteria then take over. In the process of breaking down the plant matter, they suck the oxygen out of the seawater, making it unable to support most forms of sea life.
Off Oregon, the dead zone appears to form because of changes in atmospheric conditions that create the oceanic river of nutrient-rich waters known as the California Current.
The California Current along the West Coast and the similar Humboldt Current off Peru and Benguela Current off South Africa are rarities. These powerful currents account for only about 1% of the world’s oceans but produce 20% of the world’s fisheries.
Their productivity comes from wind-driven upwelling of nutrient-rich waters from the deep. When those waters reach the surface and hit sunlight, tiny ocean plants known as phytoplankton bloom, creating food for small fish and shellfish that in turn feed larger marine animals up the food chain.
What’s happening off Oregon, scientists believe, is that as land heats up, winds grow stronger and more persistent. Because the winds don’t go slack as they used to do, the upwelling is prolonged, producing a surplus of phytoplankton that isn’t consumed and ultimately dies, drifts down to the seafloor and rots.
“It fits a pattern that we’re seeing in the Benguela Current,” said Andrew Bakun, a professor at the University of Miami’s Pew Institute for Ocean Science who wasn’t part of the Oregon study. “It’s reasonable to think these hypoxic and anoxic zones will increase as more greenhouse gases build up in the atmosphere.”
The Benguela Current has seen sporadic dead zones. There, rotting clumps of algae have also released clouds of hydrogen sulfide gas that smell like rotten eggs and poison sea life. Residents along the coast of South Africa and Namibia have witnessed waves of rock lobsters crawl onto shore to escape the noxious gases.
Bakun considers the Benguela, the world’s most powerful current, to be a harbinger of changes in other currents. His theory is that warm, rising air over the land makes upwelling more frequent and more intense. The phenomenon, he said, is complicated by decades of heavy fishing that has reduced schools of sardines to a tiny fraction of their former abundance.
Not enough fish remain to consume phytoplankton before it dies and settles on the bottom, creating an anoxic dead zone.
Crab fisherman were the first to take note of Oregon’s dead zone. Al Pazar recalls his alarm in 2002 when he pulled up his traps and found something seriously amiss.
“It was a good amount of crabs,” Pazar said. “But they were dead, or dying or very, very weak. Those that we managed to keep alive didn’t survive for long.”
The fishermen called Oregon State, which dispatched a boat of researchers to investigate.
“It was a big mystery,” Lubchenco said. “We didn’t know what was killing them.”
Fishermen found other oddities. As they pulled up their crab traps, they found baby octopuses, about the size of silver dollars, inching their way up the lines toward the buoys floating on the surface.
“I’d tell my crewmen, be careful with these cute little things,” said Dennis Krulich, a longtime fishermen in Newport. “Peel them off the rope, and we’ll put them back.”
Only later did he realize that these babies were coming up from oxygen-depleted waters that hover near the seafloor, climbing to save their lives. “In 30 years of crabbing, I’d never seen anything like it before, Krulich said. “It’s spooky, this dead-zone thing.”
The size of the zone has fluctuated over the years. In 2006, it was the largest ever measured, covering an expanse slightly larger than Rhode Island.
Last year, it was smaller but detected over a longer stretch of coastline.
To make sure the phenomenon was actually new, Oregon State marine ecologist Francis Chan reconstructed data from water sampling at 3,100 stations dating to 1950.
He found that low-oxygen areas have long existed in deeper waters, but there was virtually no evidence until recently of hypoxic waters in prime fishing waters, which extend down to 165 feet.
“It’s pretty clear this is unprecedented,” Chan said. “It’s never been detected since we began to measure oxygen levels.”
So far, the seasonal dead zones, which begin as early as June and wrap up in September, have not hurt the crab fishery, which mostly operates in the winter. Many crabs and fish manage to flee the low-oxygen area. And fishermen have learned to set their traps in the wasteland of the previous year’s dead zones, to catch crabs that return to feed on the detritus of all the suffocated animals.
Scientists say seafood caught in low-oxygen zones is not harmful to eat.
© 2008 The Los Angeles Times
This article is a well-written presentation of the results of research efforts from several different groups of oceanographers. (Another article on this same topic has also appeared today in the Seattle PI (http://www.seattlepi.com)). The research teams have done a nice job of documenting the phenomenon and explaining it in terms of persistent strong winds over the eastern Pacific for the past several years. Potential connections to climate change are felt possible, but the linkages remain uncertain, and the researchers are appropriately cautious in this arena. The results of this research are based on observations, not theory or modeling, and they are frighteningly real. We should all be concerned.
Of course the oxygen levels in our oceans are dwindling, the tiny plants that by far supply most of the oxygen for our planet, both for our oceans and our atmosphere, the critial for all life on Earth, the ‘phytoplankton’, are dying off.
We humans are killing them with all types oif pollution, atomic waste, plastics, oil spills, the acididty of our oceans from burning coal, pesticide runoffs, etc. It is rapidly catchng up to us and I seriously doubt we will do anything productive to reverse the situation before there is not enough oxygen to sustain life in this bio-sphere we call Earth.
Most people are far, far more concerned about politics, the price of oil, if our athletes use steroids and the high cost of food and fuel, than they are about the very MOST serious issues facing humanity, their very children and the future of this planet.
You will see perhaps 20 different bloggers on this thread if that many before it disappears into the archives. But if an Obama or Cheney thread is posted, you will see 100 or more posting on it. I can tell you one thing with absolute certanty, Obama or Cheney are not going ot do one single thing to save the phytoplankton.
It takes less than one minute to read this link. For further information on the subject, just Google phytoplakton.
http://www.whyplankton.com
This is happening in my backyard, and it’s been quite interesting in many respects. This year we’re having more of a La Nina event. I should also say this is not just a curiosity here. Fortunately the fishers and enviros are on the same side (sure, we have a few differences, all coalitions do) and more vigilent research is required, which is happening as this item shows. How this study will impact the governor’s Ocean Reserves plan and our wave energy trials remains to be seen.
Every oldtimer I’ve talked to about climate admits seeing it change, and many are quite thankful they’re old because they’re worried.
Kem, I would say that it’s our collective behavior that must change to save the planet. Will top-down leadership change this? Millions saw Gore’s film and attended his talks; how much change in our collective behavior has occurred since? Very little when measured by hydrocarbon use and GDP growth.
You and I both realize the massive amounts of energy use that MUST be curtailed to mitigate global warming–essentially ALL of the hydrocarbon based thermo-electric plants in the OECD MUST be shutdown tommorrow, and those elsewhere by 75%. But the economy is set-up to run on coal-fired electricity; there would be no internet as we know it without it. You’re a politician; what are you going to tell the people? You’re a clergyman; what are you going to tell your congregation? You’re a businessman; what are you going to tell your staff and clientel? You’re a parent; what are you going to tell your children?
It’s easy to write; it’s much more difficult to look at our reality and affect the needed change.
Bacteria - first life, last life. Amen.
You are correct ~Karlof1~, The power plants will eventually be shut down by Mother Nature not by man. The only question about that fact is when?
Well, I’m so relieved to know that seafood caught in low oxygen zones isn’t dangerous to eat — Kelmer, where are you when I need you?
When? Today, many countries are struggling to provide electricity; the stories are reported daily and are increasing. We are at Peak Oil; Natgas in our hemisphere has peaked; new studies on the world’s coal endowment say we have much less than we think. As Limits to Growth and Heinberg’s new book’s title suggests, we are at “Peak Everything.” Catton said it well in “Overshoot,” “We are at the end of the Age of Exuberence.” Ever read Duncan’s Olduvai Gorge Theory? http://www.theoildrum.com/story/2006/3/6/135437/7111
Did you see that hard red wheat is selling for just under $20/bushel! Have you read about the coming rice shortage, http://story.malaysiasun.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/b8de8e630faf3631/id/327521/cs/1/
Got land? Start planting.
You better plant crops that are self pollinating and need a low oxygen content.
WOW! seven different bloggers already. Might make 20.
Karloft, I can answer part of your question.
I went to the Unitarian fellowship hall last week to listen to the mayor of our city talk about the Mayoral Initiative against global warming that he has joined.
Our mayor is a Republican and very ambitious. Apparently he joined to further his ambitions, because he didn’t have a clue to what is needed to stop carbon emissions. He kept talking about recycling paper!
When I confronted him about zoning and land use planning and urban sprawl, all current and important issues in our town, he professed ignorance to what I was talking about! I was probably ruder than I needed to be, but I have a history with this mayor.
So, what does a politician tell his constituents? That global warming can be solved with paper recycling. What does a clergyman do? Give stern looks to a person rude enough to confront an invited guest.
However, the local newspaper did print my comments and yesterday a postal employee told me that she understood and agreed with my points, that a walkable city with bike paths and green space is what we need to zone for, not constant rezoning of farmland to accommodate sprawl.
We need to reach many people to change our ways.
What did we do wrong? We listened to stupid f***king scientists without questioning or common sense.
We listened to “Scientists”, who were hired by corporations such as Exxon/Mobil, who paid such “scientists” up to $10,000 each to debunk global warming. Then our “free press” published those “fu$$king corrupt, selfish, greedy, utterly stupid “scientists” opinions.
The question of oxygen use by burning oil or coal, and it is massive, is rarely raised. If the oxygen is taken out of the atmosphere then the concentrations of the remaining gasses becomes higher. Taking the oxygen out of the atmosphere may like when a bottle of pop is opened, then gasses trapped in the liquid bubble up and the drink eventually goes flat. Is this what is happening to the oceans and thus contributing to these other problems? If so then we must stop burning oil or coal even though we are still virtually swimming in the stuff. I believe that the ancients of the First People considered the existence of oil as very bad news.
Our oxygen is created by the ocean’s phytoplanton, over 70% now, down from the 90% of only a few years ago. In addition, we have destroyed over half of our vital to life rain forests. A forth of Africa is on fire 24-7 for example. From space, it is a planet on fire say the astronauts.
If you Google phytoplankton, you can see what is occurring and doing so very rapidly.
If anyone missed it, here is a very brief article on the subject.
http://www.whyplankton.com
Hi carrots–Oxygen is recycled through the combustion process, so it doesn’t get diluted in the manner you described. What happens in the ocean is the algae blooms so rapidly that it uses up all the locally available oxygen–making it anoxic–and thus killing itself and any other life unfortunate to not escape. As the item stated, this can be manmade–as in the Mississippi/Gulf dead zone–or natural. What is postulated is this natural process is being accelerated and moved closer to shore than previous via global warming. Of real concern, that alluded to by Kem, is the oceans’s increasing acidification and temperature and their affects on plankton–the basis of the planetary food chain whose collapse is depicted in the film Soylent Green. First peoples in general found oil seeps mysterious but useful, especially in the middle east, although there are some in Africa and South America who do consider it “very bad news.”
greenerthanthou–Your town has the right idea, and your mayor at least has his finger testing the wind. But we need to do more than change land use patterns, as I’m sure you’ll agree. Oregonians are worried, but not enough yet, although we do have political motivation with the local corporate media mostly onboard due to the earlier and ongoing salmon crisis.
The first nations people used oil to heal things. It is refined oil and how it is used that is the problem.
Most humans are way to toxic for anyone to want to eat…
Soylent Green is a great education, then look at THX 1138 and read “Earth Abides”. ArchDruid deals with a lot of this.
I wonder if we can transfer this phenomenon from Washington State to Washington DC…a lot of bottom feeders there that should be suffocated.
What is being done by those who cry the loudest?
whatfools said:
“Bacteria - first life, last life. Amen”
First we will have lots of jellyfish…..
Beware of the “Primeval Tide of Toxins”.
http://www.truthout.org/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi/62/21496
Time to start changing your taste buds!!!!!
The Bush Admin. has been trying to debunk all of this for the last 7+ years, but ultimately, you can’t hide the truth. The major polluters (big business), gas cars & trucks, etc. have to go. We should have turned to a hydrogen based economy in the 70’s. Why aren’t we doing what Germany is doing? The entire country is going “SOLAR” and it’s working!!!!!!!!
And on land - better start developing a taste for insects.
Ever hear of the great close-Permian dying?
The biggest problem in the US today was the way that the environental, antiwar, human rights activists did not join arms and DEMAND impeachment. They never went global, either, which is a shame because most of the world knows about these environmental CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY.
Start working for impeachment, file sworn statements to the International Criminal Court against BuZh and Cheney and the whole deadly lot. I suggest writing down every single crime committed against you.
Much of the enviromental damage is NOT due to global warming; it’s due to the effect of depleted uranium (covered up), the use of nuclear weapons, and biochemical warfare.
I posted a war crimes swick on my blog, and that includes these crimes against humanity.
Everyone is doing what they can to avoid nuclear strikes on Iran - and chemical spraying in the Middle East and all the other depopulation efforts. But it’s time for the environmental movement to quit “chasing whales” and get truly political. I hope members will tell their organizations that. The time is NOW.
We need a broad based coalition to gather as quickly as possible. Impeachment IS the legal rememdy, despite what people think and many environmental lawyers are already aware of that.
Here is some great legal information you can use.
http://ladybroadoak.blogspot.com/2008/02/special-prosecutor-information-plz.html
Tell all candidates that they get NO MONEY if they don’t change policy on the environment.
I found du information hidden in the Department of Energy’s files myself, long buried. The secrets must stop being covered up.
ps - I forgot to mention the use of jet fuels to fly bomber jets and to make test flights. The amounts used are mind boggling.
Who is crying the loudest ~IKE KAY~ and what are they doing?
The 2,500+ decent scientists who have spent their entire adult lives studying the issue, people like Al Gore, John Edwards and other politicians, writers like Rachael Carson, internet bloggers etc, ___ they do what they can. I use solar heat for my house and water, I have an organic garden, limit my driving and support enviromental issues.
There is not a great deal that you or I can do as individuals, anything we do to reduce polluting our atmosphere and waters helps. Until our world leaders, and those who actually control the money, and our press and media come together on the problem and initiate a MASSIVE effort to reduce pollutions of all types, stop the destruction of forests and land, the problem will continue to accelerate.
Also, until we have an effective and humane means of reducing the Earth’s population of humans and cattle, the problem will not be solved. It is not just a problem, it is a looming disaster, no different in th eend result than a ten mile wide asteroid crashing into the planet. It is happening and to date, the only thing being done of any real significance, is talk about it and most don’t wish to hear it.
Much of this grim change, like cancer spreading in a body, is going on unseen. Unseen because it is in the deep ocean, or the deserts, or the remaining forests, or in the ice caps and tundra. And unseen because the corporate media has no interest in worrying people about the loss of a planet, only in worrying them about crime, and gay marriage, and pedophiles, and car crashes. And unseen because the American public at large seems disinterested. When I blog on a major American site about religion I get great interest, when I write about climate change and environmental damage, I get ignored. An imaginary universe with an imaginary being in it is of far more concern than the real universe we all live in where crabs are dying and octopus are trying to escape the damage we have caused. The climate change material is all at http://www.blognow.com.au/mrpickwick/Climate_change/. I despair of concern developing fast emough, unless the people who read posts like this can manage to get together mentally and bypass the corporate media.
~LADYBROADOAK~ Thank you for mentioneng depleted uranium, __ DU.
I believe it is one of the major reasons for the decline in the ocean’s phytoplnkton. The microscopic DU nano-partilces will float on water, just as the microscopic phytoplnakton do. We humans have to date, spread thousands of TONS of that deadly poison all over the globe. DU will kill any living thing, down to the microbal level. A single cupfull of burned DU holds over five billion nano-partilces of certain death. DU dust blows in the wind before it settles back to earth, and 70 percent of our planet is oceans.
http://www.uraniumweaponsconference.de/background.htm
This - and much else - would not be happening now if everyone’s grandmother had produced only two children.
Perhaps framing the message of zero-population-growth in this way will help the message get through to people who feel that a family with less than four children just ain’t natural.
It started with Adam and Eve ~JJJJohnny~ . Eve was an apple eatin horny bitch according to the Bible.
I used to have a pretty blond girl friend, who loved pears. When she’d board the shool bus she was always holding one in her hand and all of the guys would tell her she had a nice pear. __ She did too.
Do youuuu __ Sttt-uter JJJ-John?
Hey, 19 and counting. Not half bad.
ladybroadoak, the time for impeachment was one, two, three, four, five years ago. IT’S TOO LATE. They’re dragged their idiot feet all these criminal years under the Bush-Cheney junta because they 1)support the junta’s agenda, 2)are afraid of the junta, 3)think if they try to impeach they won’t be reelected (Dems who think only of their political career), 4) are basically a bunch of spineless assholes who NEVER listen to their constituents, especially about impeachment, 5) will claim forever that they “couldn’t get the votes” when that’s just a convenient cover to hide behind.
There isn’t going to be any impeachment. I’ve been signing online petitions for it for YEARS, and will not waste another second doing it. There must be about 300 organizations around the country dedicated to bringing impeachment to the table, but all that’s needed to stop it is Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, and they’ve stopped it stone dead. The usurpers have only 10 months left and it would take Congress at least that long to proceed with hearings if they weren’t doing anything else at all. So if they started right now, the optimistic scenario is impeaching Bush and/or Cheney by January 15, 2009. Whoopee. Victory!
Besides, impeaching isn’t going to stop the global warming that is causing these oceanic dead zones. Impeachment leaves the greenhouse gas environment exactly as it is, since no other politician is going to do a damn thing about it either, including rock star Obama. Our tragedy is that we’re totally dependent on these corporatist politicians, which they ALL are with the possible exception of Kucinich, Bernie Sanders and maybe four or five others, to address world-ending catastrophic situations like global warming. If it can’t be shown to plump up corporate bottom lines, no measures beyond the ridiculously symbolic are going to be undertaken. We’re hostage to the corporate profit imperative, and until THAT changes we’re doomed to whatever catastrophes global warming has in store.
Scientists have been incharge for the last 50 to 100 years and you see the consequences in the picture above. It is time for stewardship to be put in hands of people that understand, if you don’t understand then you need to learn. (Know your garden) Try looking at it for yourself instead of what someone else tells you.
well, i’m not putting much faith in the bible, great story, and most likely would have been enjoyable watching eve get off, other than that…
jjohnjj, you’ve touched on a point there. but it’s much more complex and it’s no longer about our grandmothers. the real issue should be the abolition of tax credits for having children. instead, the ones who should be receiving tax credits are the ones who are not procreating. for those having the desire to bring children into this world, knowing full well the consequences, pay admission. of course, due to our fucked up system of tax credit welfare (and yes it is a form of welfare) most of them don’t know full well the consequences. but it is basic math. added stress to an overused and underappreciated planet…
our country is far beyond peak oil production, has been since the 70’s. thus our dependence on foreign oil. thus the reason for war. and weapons manufacturing. greed, profit. most everyone, even some very knowledgeable and well-rounded acquaintances, fail to grasp our dependence on oil; our absolute and total dependence on it. although the giants will not come out and say, oil is fading. thus the quick-fix solution of mountaintop removals as an alternative.
now, even the simple lifestyle will not be enough.
pity us for the slow death we’re bringing upon ourselves. after reading cormac mccarthy’s “the road,” which i initially thought was a real piece of crap, i’ve altered that belief and think maybe that’s the way our planet will go. we deserve it.
let those loggers just keep up the good work!!! clear cutting all that remaining old growth will certainly do a lot to lower the temperature and quality of run off.. additionally, somebody ought to take a look at the dioxin levels from that pulp mill in Toledo—it’s just up the river from Newport.
‘not enough fish remain to consume phytoplankton before it dies and settles on the bottom, creating an anoxic dead zone’ so there it is: NOT ENOUGH FISH REMAIN. and why do not enough fish remain? because they have been over-fished…………. and the stocks are depleted and the human greed is the victor. but the human greed will eventually kill itself. unfortunately, the human greed will take everything else in its wake………
The article points to global climate change as the cause of the dead zones. Global climate change has two root causes, both tied to fossil fuel use: emissions from electric power plants and the internal combustion engine.
Leadership in this country and other Western nations have much to be held accountable for on both fronts.
In this country, the car companies destroyed the basis of mass transit by purchasing the trolley and train companies, converting them to bus lines and then bankrupting the bus lines. Before that the trucking industry successfully lobbied Congress and the ICC (now defunct) to pass long-hauling of heavy commodities over to trucks. Much harm was done as the result of these events. The single engine vehicle, whether it was a car or a bus or a truck, moved to the forefront of our transportation system and the roots of global warming were laid down.
What choices were left to individuals?
To walk to work? To ride, as in the city of Detroit, an unreliable bus system that seldom goes in the direction you need to go and rolls up its routes at 8 pm? I rode this horrible system for years and can testify that it is not a really a viable alternative unless you plan on spending 4-5 hours a day in transit to and from work. Ergo, most people by a gas guzzling car, (what else is there?) and their lives are better in the short run.
The same is true on the electric power front. Power companies rule the roost and give us choices of hooking up to the grid or. . . hooking up to the grid. Oh, I know, homeowners can invest $15-35,000 (aprox) in solar and become independent of that grid; what do apartment dwellers do? Cut back on their power use? What if you do not have the thousands needed to switch to solar? I consumed less than 300 KW/month for years in my tiny apartments, cutting back was not possible, I was seldom home anyhow. Still, DTE energy, the local power company, makes billions off of small utility users like myself.
My point is that the individual in this country cannot shape public policy by use, or ‘conserving’ . We are given no real choices by the power elite:
oil companies, of course they control the mass transit option–totally, there will never be mass transit in this country as long as Exxon is alive and well. Gas guzzlers, millions of internal combustion engines and tons of carbon emission are what Exxon wants and what they want, by gum, they will get as long as there are fancy restaurants on K street.
The electric power companies and the coal industry rule the electric power production scene, again, until the lobby industry shuts down, we will not have solar power emerge as a viable alternative to electric power plants.
Certainly individuals, meaning corporate entities as well, can conserve in a very real way.
But the solutions we need to global warming are not on the map, in the drawing room or on any of Obama’s or Hillary’s web pages.
1. A movement away from relying on individual, internal combustion powered modes of transit to a system that would rely on rails as well as buses, autos, bicycles, scooters, mopeds and yes, plain old fashioned walking.
2. Forcing power plants fired with coal or nuclear material off the map and replacing energy production with solar and wind. This can be done despite the nay saying.
Now how is problem of the dying suffering creatures because compliments of humans there is no oxygen going to be fixed?
Hopefully the 2012 theory of human extinction is correct, whichever one happens
** the 41st Comment! **
This article is well worth reading:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/australias-epic-drought-the-situation-is-grim-445450.html
I learned recently that in Australia there is now talk of some major cities no longer being viable, due to the chronic water shortages, and that people will possibly have to abandon the major cities and move to the countryside…
…now there’s a thought: an *enforced* Back To The Land movement!
Stay bright y’all,
UCD
xx
Oh so you think Hillary will, Kem Patrick?
I despair. When with my parents in small town Iowa over the christian holiday that I stopped celebrating many years ago, my father, while watching the news about the unusual winter storms screamed with glee, “Where’s Gore’s Global Warming, huh?!?!”
The next day, he gleefully cheered while Rush pointed out the stupidity of the tree huggers who claim that the reason for Katrina was because Iowa farmers produce too much corn.
How does one even begin to address this severe lack of knowledge, let alone thinking?
Our education system has dumbed down the population to such an extent that millions of minds are not capable of making the requisite connections between climate change and Iowa corn crops. And to Kem, if they can’t get this, they certainly can’t understand DU.
Our children are incapable of making making these connections because many parents and grandparents were not taught to make them. And the schools have only gotten worse in this generation. But while our parents and grandparents weren’t taught critical thinking, at least they read. Now, many children don’t even do that. And their parents are too overworked to do anything other than sit them in front of the electronic boob-tube babysitter.
I despair.
LINO
i’ve just looked up ‘the road’. see: readingandmorereading.blogspot.com
i’m an avid reader (no t.v. for the past 30 years) so am looking forward to reading it when i can locate it.
SSW
that is a good question. and not being a scientist i cannot answer. but the fact remains life on earth is in grave danger.
What bothers me the most, is our children, with no real future to look forward to and people like CoCo, who won’t be here after the methane gas in the Arctic blooms.
UNCOMMONDREAMS
what are they going to do? why should there be more water in the countryside? i don’t get it. even if there is, it will run out eventually. and do you really believe that those pampered city dwellers are going to go ‘back to the land’…..ha ha ha … but we are told that spain will become two thirds desert in the next 50 years. and btw why did you comment on being the 41st comment?
IOWAIRISH
it’s not just the lack of knowledge. it’s the ‘psychobabble’ that’s forced onto people. nothing is ‘natural’ any more. (unless you want it to be.)
KEM PATRICK
yeah, i’m waiting for that methane gas. i want to go out with a BIG BANG……….
Send your number kiddo, we can both go out with a bang.
Hi JESS. Why that question here on this thread?
Hillary HAS to win the Ohio, Texas and Pennsylvania primaries. If she does not win ALL THREE of those states by 55% or more, she won’t be our next president. If she does, she will be. We’ll see how she does. If she wins Ohio and Texas, she will win Pennsylvania by 60% or more.
kem patrick,
sadly, hillarious has spent her time here in texas the last couple of days, seemingly an eternity, being very specific in her target audience: el paso, the rio grande valley, san antone - all and mostly hispanic voters - going after that family bond. by getting one or two family members on board, she effectively gathers the whole clan. very little room for dissuasion. although hispanic voters in texas have historically voted democratic, this time around, sadly, race will undoubtedly be the deciding factor. do not underestimate hillarious. at least for texas, she’s got her game plan.
coco, when you find it, read it with an open mind. it is troublesome, bothersome, depressing. and finally, months after you read it, unsettling.
As much as I like impeachment and whatnot, I’ll try to stay on the subject…
This article about anoxic areas in the ocean is very important for a couple reasons. First, it’s a great introduction for people who haven’t read much about anoxic events in the oceans elsewhere (there are dozens around the world). Second, it’s the first mention I’ve seen of anoxic zones created specifically by climate changes attributable to anthropogenic GHG emissions, rather than the usual nutrient-loading due to runoff of agricultural fertilizers or storm/sewage water.
While it sucks that plankton are dying and that ocean food webs are being shattered (by climate change now as well as everything else that industrial civilization has done to them), I don’t see a need to worry much about oxygen running out anytime soon. Since the atmosphere is 20% O2, it will be a geologically long time before respiration and combustion comes close to lowering O2 levels to those below which humans can survive.
I think that the more worrisome thing is that this is a prelude to what will likely cause the next mass extinction. Anoxic oceans (not just regions, but the whole shebang) are likely to end humanity once and for all. This will happen most likely once the polar ice melts and removes the temperature gradients that drive ocean currents, which absorb O2 from the atmosphere in cold areas which then sink, drawing in otherwise stagnant warm water with less ability to absorb oxygen. Once that happens, it’s pretty much over. No more plankton anywhere, no more ocean life, and then we get belches of hydrogen sulfide from the water…
There’s a great video about the geological history (and likely future we face) of fossil carbon called “The End of Oil.” The last section talks about previous periods of supergreenhouse stages of the Earth’s past, which somewhat resemble what we’re trying to cause with all the burning of fossil fuels. YouTube has it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVwf2XqZ-XE
I don’t know about you all, but I’m hopeful that we stop before this actually happens…
I’M GETTING DEPRESSED!!!!!!!
I don’t blame you one bit ~Agave~. To combat that, most people tend to ignore these type problems. They blow it off and have as much fun as possible. People who harp on the issues such as DU, methane gas, global dimming, acidic oceans and global warming are looked upon as dooms-sayers, pessemists. Facts are facts however and it blows my mind that the powers who are don’t attempt to fix it.
You know, if we knew a madman was running towards our house carrying an assult rifle and intended to kill us,___ we’d act. Like another blogger stated here, these most serious issues are not that visible. It’s much easier to tend to believe they don’t exist, or it won’t happen to me or mine. I often think that way myself, but whenever I do, I’m wrong and I know I’m wrong. I try to get my congress woman depressed about it. ___ And I do.
Hi SIMPLE SAUSE. I don’t know if you are correct about your opiniion, if the Earth’s oxygen will not be depleted to a dangerous level anytime soon or not. Our oxygen is primarily supplied by the ocean’s phytoplankton. If those tiny plants die off, or reduce by say 40%, it seems to me that we’d soon be in serious trouble tryng to breathe. Those ocean plants supply oxygen for our oceans also and there is a pretty big problem there now and that was not the case to any large degree just six short years ago.
Here is an analogy: ___ Planet Earth is unique, it is a biosphere, a one of a kind water planet. Earth is very similar to an artificial biospere anyplace. The space station for example, or better yet, the huge biosphere tested near Tucson, Arizona several years ago. The people livig in that sealed enviroment, supplied their own oxygen, which was produced for the seven or so humans living inside, by the suns beams interacting with the plants they grew in their little “planet”.
After about three months, they began to run out of oxygen. The large supply of plants growing in there could not produce quite enough oxygen to continually give off an adequate supply for the animals, garden plants and human’s needs.
So, __ if our biosphere, or Earth, whose oxygen is supplied by plants and it is, and those vital for all life plants die off, the oxygen is soon depleted. You cannot just pump in more oxygen, like they did with the Tucson Biosphere experiment. You either have enough plant life to produce oxygen, or you eventually run out and don’t have it. To adequately supply enough oxygen for our planet, we need the vast ocean’s phytoplankton, if they die, __ we all die. ___They are dying at an alarming rate. __ Depressing huh?
Heyyyyyy, 55 comments. ___ But only 26 different bloggers, so far. That’s pretty darn good for day one on an enviromental issue and the day ain’t quite over. Now if everyone will bug their elected in a sane and sober manner, maybe we’ll have accomplised something. I learned a lot here today. I thank you all for
helping me. I am certain CoCo won’t be giving me her number anytime soon. __ She may be a cute blond, but she ain’t stupid.
I have seen dead zones while diving in New England and smelled the sulfer/sulfate right through my mask!
Nice theory they have up there, seems no one asks “what happens to all the Herbicides, Pesticides , Fungicides, auto oil etc, that homeowners/farmers spread on the soil?”
If you saw someone dumping all them billions of gallons of chemicals directly into the Ocean people would freak. But thats exactly what is happening, eventually. Add Phosphates, Nitrogen and other fertilizers and the Ocean doesn’t stand a chance.
Enjoy nature while you can, take some pictures of the animals to show the grandkids….these are the good ol days.
from an older chemical company TV commercial…..
“Chemicals, life itself would be impossible without them”
” from an older chemical company TV commercial…..
“Chemicals, life itself would be impossible without them” ”
____
I thought it was “Plastic, life itself would be impossible without them”
____
Anyhow, new here. Hi! Hippy friend showed me the link. I was so sad that I accually wanted to log in.
Tom DeLay was claiming on the teevee the other day that the science was still out on humanity causing global warming. He said it was arrogant to think man could affect nature in such a big way. So he will continue not to believe science, thinking it only some liberal’s biased opinion to get at his money… but he will continue to believe in his magical invisible god in the sky, and he is of course not himself arrogant to think this god cares about little old him.
After all, he is an exterminator, who got into politics because the government wouldn’t let him use DDT anymore. But he also may have forgotten that the detonation of 30,000 nuclear devices might affect the climate a wee bit, giving the self-evident lie to his claim about man not having the ability to affect nature in a big way.
With ‘leaders’ like this cretin and the turdbrains in the White House, no wonder nature is taking a pounding. These jerks think they can buy their way out of the collapse of the biosphere. They ought to be the first ones rendered into dogfood by the Soylent Corporation.
By the way, NICE JOB HIGHER EDUCATION! You should all be closed down as failures, judging by the candidates and votes of the last few elections in America, when zealotry, money idolatry, warmongering, greed, fear, tribalism, emotionalism, manipulativeness, mendacity, religious intolerance, superstition, and stupidity became supreme, and truth now takes a back seat to opinion.
And it was an act of betrayal to his cause that Al Gore did not run for president this year. Al, you are now ‘politically irrelevant’, at the very critical time we needed a voice of reason, on many environmental fronts. There may not be another chance for you.
Instead we get McCain, who doesn’t give a shit -just pass the (depleted uranium) ammunition; Clinton, who will tip-toe the corporate line; and Obama, who sez “don’t worry, be happy.” He may also try,”I want to buy the world a Coke…”
About the alarm bells going off in nature, not a peep. If we do not crash the global overpopulation rationally and kindly, with family planning and with mitigation of harm and pollution, then it will be done with natural culling: the death of the ocean (getting underway), the arctic methane burping, the ravaging of an avian flu with an 80% kill rate, the failure of crops (happening now), the desertification of whole countries (happening now), tribal civil war (happening now), and war over food, water, land, energy (happening now). I can see the neutron bombs falling, as the nuclear wars start.
So get ready people. The death train is a-coming, because the leaders of the world are one big bunch of retarded baboons (which proves Darwin was right, after all).
Around here dead zones refer to clear cut areas. The whole thing is so far out of balance, I grieve for the lost life on earth. Obama says change, does this mean rationing energy resources, no more made in China and stay home people for the good of all? I seriously doubt that the younger crowd will be so content to take up the challenges that await them. Somehow people seem to forget that people did survive without electricity and modern transportation for thousands of years.
KEM PATRICK
‘i’m certain coco won’t be giving me her number any time soon’. what, and let the fbi listen to our intimate calls.? i don’t think so………. now if we had homing pigeons…………
Hey Kem-
Just a quick note on why I’m less worried about suffocating than starving. The atmosphere is some 20% O2, and some .0384% CO2. The annual photosynthetic variability is something on the order of .0009% by volume (due to northern hemisphere seasonality, which represents a large portion of terrestrial biomass).
So, assuming that all photosynthesis stops, the change in O2 concentration due to respiration (and combustion, etc.) will be somewhere on the order of .01% per year (assuming northern terrestrial biomass represents roughly 10% of the total). People currently live at 14,000ft above sea level in Bolivia, where the air density (and therefore total oxygen availability) is reduced by over 30%.
So I’m not worried about suffocating because it would take roughly .01%/yr * 660 years for the O2 levels to drop to dangerous levels if all the biomass on the earth continued respiring in the absence of photosynthesis, which is as dubious an assumption as is “humans cannot possibly affect the planet so significantly.”
My guess is that food webs start collapsing within a few decades at most of photosynthesis being significantly reduced, and we all starve to death before we have to worry about a lack of oxygen. Again, I could be wrong, and I hope we never find out one way or another.
In other news, politicians will never do anything useful to change our direction or head off this (or any other environmental) catastrophe. It’s up to each and all of us. Good luck!
The web of life may be in danger, the world is changing, we need to make massive changes, but all is not lost. Nature gave us the ability to think and act for the same reason she gave phytoplankton the ability to convert sunlight to food and oxygen. We may have done huge harm to some of Earth’s systems, but I refuse to believe that all is lost and we might as well just prepare for the end of the world. People should pressure the governments of the world to change their policies on agriculture, forestry, fishing, transportation, energy, and many other devastating and wasteful practices. They should dig up their lawns, stop driving their cars and become more involved in their local communities, and if you think you can’t, remember that people cna do anything they want to with the right attitude and the right approach. How many bloggers have given up their commute, grown their own food, joined or formed a CSA, and have modified their eating and spending habits to benefit their local economy? DO IT. It will help.
KEM, about half the supply of oxygen comes from the sea, the other half from plants, or so I’ve read. Though, global warming may be playing a part, I wonder if a much bigger problem is the poisons we’re releasing into the oceans. Since the oceans are so huge, one would expect them to recover more quickly if we stem the release of these toxins. Another thing that might be saving our bacon at present is the release of new water from the polar regions, adding volume to the oceans and diluting the dangerous chemicals, while cooling the water (much like ice cubes in a glass), but this melting has other deleterious effects, such as increasing the rate of global warming, due to a decrease in the sunlight ‘reflective factor’ that these regions provide.
Isn’t it ironic that we’re destroying the very thing needed for our survival, just so the multitudes can buy a bunch of crap they don’t need. No doubt many corporations pride themselves on their cleverness in maximizing profit while minimizing environmental regulation. How stupid of them to forget they need to breathe the same air as the rest of us. Destructive greed is indeed a form of insanity.
Oh, Boy,
THE WINGNUTS CAME OUT ON THIS THREAD!! But they are right on this one.
Unfortunately, people don’t change until they have to.
Hi ~Chessgames~ indeed it is ironic. BTW our oxygen supply is primarily derived from the ocean’s plankton. Of course those are figures from about 60 years ago, before we’d destroyed over half of the major rain forests and the forests in Africa. It may be much higher than 70% now. Of course if it is half, we are destroying our forests faster than we are destroying our ocean’s life. Either way, it’s not good. I’m certain the oxygen content of Earth is far less than it was only 200 years ago.
We don’t realize just how polluted our atmosphere is now, because we have nothing to compare with what it was like 200, or even just 60 years ago. I remember when I was a youngster, we could easily see the Milky Way every clear night. Not anymore. Now you need to be above 10,000 feet in altitude to enjoy the night sky. When our kids come to visit where we have our retirement home, they spend their first two nights sitting outside half the night star gazing. It’s a real treat for them.
I do know the Co2 in our atmosphere has risen dramatically in just the past twenty years. It’s sort of like being locked in a refrigerator, eventualy you run out of oxygen. I hope ~Simple Sause~ is correct.
Hello sister Coco,
My “41st comment” was a nudge towards Kem’s initial thought that not many folk would comment on this thread, his forecast was (quote) :: “You will see perhaps 20 different bloggers on this thread if that many before it disappears into the archives.” -so I was making a cheery little observation that, -with my comment added, it had reached double that figure. (It’s now #66!)
_______________________
As to the Australian scenario:
In my own (warped?) little view, human life would be much enhanced if we abandoned cities, and our ruinous, rapacious way of life, and lived simpler existences without so much of the fripperies and nonsensical indulgence which typifies 21st Century life. Many of us in the (…er) ‘civilised’ world, have seemingly lost the plot as to what human life should + could be all about, and have instead been swallowed up in foolish, brash consumerism and an ersatz existence which is as meaningless and irrelevant as it is wasteful, -on all fronts.
I feel cities are a reckless human experiment which are failing us, and that to crowd into tight, squalid, diseased, polluted environments is nonsensical and unhealthy for the minds, bodies and spirits of those compacted into such places.
We know enough of differing groups and ‘tribes’ around the world, to know that one can live very successfully and happily without many modern appurtenances and ‘luxury’ items which so clutter our ‘civilised’ lives.
Such luxuries come at a heavy price, - not only in terms of their cost to our pockets, (and which thus chain us to lives doing horrible, often worthless jobs to afford them), but also their cost to the planet.
We have come to accept this way of life as ‘normal’ when in fact it is an *ab-normal* way to live, and brings not deep psychological and emotional satisfactions and contentments, but more often just a newer set of problems.
We have effectively become divorced from rationality and spirituality and connection with our patient host: -Mother Nature, and this hiatus brings a welter of problems.
I feel that we need to abandon the cities and massive urban / suburban conurbations and return to living a much more simplified existence, -sans stupidities and inanities such as fashions, luxury cars, junk food, and unnecessary technological novelties (who here actually *needs* an electric trouser press / carving knife, or SUV?)
Living closer to the earth, living slower, less abstracted lives, living without making such an abhorrent mess all over the planet is not an *option* for our race, it is fast becoming an essential.
So the observation that Australians are beginning to contemplate deserting their cities and setting up homes in the huge unpopulated areas is perhaps a positive note?
Dear Coco, you ask: “What are they going to do?” and,
“Why should there be more water in the countryside?” ~ well, whilst not an expert, it occurs to me that they will be *obliged* to live much more simple lives, to begin with, and as to water, well, - at present many humans live with very little water; they catch and carefully preserve what precipitation occurs and / or use water from aquifers.
If one doesn’t waste huge amounts of this precious liquid on washing the SUV fleet out front, and watering wasteful lawns, one can often successfully get by!
In the past I have ‘lived in the hills’ without all the trappings of modern luxuries, such as mains water, glass in windows, gas or electricity and etc, and felt that such a situation is a real edification! – it changes one’s consciousness, and enables us then to value the REAL and important / necessary things, and not live so *carelessly* …
You mention the “pampered city dwellers” and their reluctance to live closer to nature, and yes, they will not immediately like their new situation and it’s various privations, but what choice will they have when there’s no longer any water to sustain their pampered ways?
Even the richest, most blithely unconcerned consumerist-minded among them will not be able to live in a city without water! So they will just have to get out, adapt, change their lives, and do things very differently.
Ghandi famously said, “There us enough in the world for everyone’s need, but not everyone’s greed.”
There are two basic ways humanity learns things:
1). Empirically,
2). Theoretically
As a race we are able to listen to the likes of Ghandi (and all the other true sages) and learn via their sagacious ‘theory’, or, -like the child who won’t listen to a parent cautioning against touching a hot kettle, we can learn by burning our fingers… via empirical, practical and painful experience!
The wiser, more intelligent / progressive among us choose to listen carefully to wise Teachers, but the arrogant and unintelligent ones seem to need to learn via painful lessons. I see one of our roles as being that of helping those with half an ear to *hear*, and help them to avoid disasters which even now they are beckoning unto themselves…
xx
Hopeful Brewer:
I’ll drink to that! Local food, local economies, local communities, and local identities are the steps to soften our landing and lead us to more sustainable and fulfilling lives. I’m fortunate enough to live where some of these things are already going on, and I wish everyone luck in creating alternatives to this madness.
UN-common-dreams:
Your view sounds a lot like mine, and I’m hopeful that we can help a few more folks come around to this (perhaps warped, but certainly less so than business-as-usual) perspective about what makes for a good life and good living. If anyone is feeling frisky, there’s a good film out recently that talks a bit about this.
http://www.whatawaytogomovie.com/
Well- Kem— give the devil his due— Mr.Bushko and friends have made their contirbution to global population reduction— there are (according to most estimates) at least a million less Iraqui’s than there were a few years back. Haven’t seen figures for Afghanistan— but you know that with the lavish lifestyle that these folks have traditionally had, they were perpetrating global damage!!!!???? er, is it us in the “developed” world that is responsible for corportate culture?????? Like many who post here, I try to minimise my footprint on the earth, live on my farm and do in fact grow a fair amount of what I consume, use minimal “tractor power” (have bought 15 gallons of diesel in the past year for farm use) but cannot figure out a way to get my output to market without trucks.
32 bloggers and 68 comments, I’m really glad I was wrong. I hope more get onto these enviriomental issues every time they are posted at CD.
Kem—- I respectfully observe that you are both extraordinarily bright and astute, but coco handed you one with the “carrier pidgeon” line.
yo Donkey Hote, another small farmer here..and rather than send your produce to market, eat it and barter with neighbors what you can’t consume… maybe…
and thogh this is about the worst news i have ever read, thich nhat hahn writes,
breathing in i calm my body
breathing out i smile
I’m buying some carrier pidgeons, of course they’d better be able to fly from here to Eastern Europe.
The truth is, I used to raise pidgeons on our farm when I was a kid. I never had any carriers though. I had Fleets, Kings, Tumblers and a few plain old city park pidgeons and some white doves. They were free to fly wherever they desired, but they always came home and the tumblers would often bring in strays. We used their eggs and sometimes cooked a few of the the kings, they were as good as any chicken, smaller of course, like a squab. Primarily we used their dropping for our garden fetilizer, along with pure alfalfa cubes, Clover, earthworms and shredded soy bean plants.
Hi ~DONKEY HOTE~ I’m not all that bright, I’m just old and have been around the block a few times. When we have our depression, don’t worry about taking your crops to market. There will be armed, roaming gangs from the metro areas, coming to take whatever you have. You may consider having some twelve gage shotguns with 00 buck loads handy for home protection.
We humans are full of bright ideas but seem to be so easily tricked and overwhelmed by the issues of the present day. BUYING into propoganda spewed by corporate institutions and falling victim to our own fallible desires is what has gotten us into this mess. Truly war seems to always have existed here on earth, but not until petroleum-based products have been availble for immediate consumption have we truly been so quickly turned into wastful, lazy, and thoughtless creatures. Our way of life is in peril, if not our life in total. We need to start thinking how “Ma and Pa” used to get by before life got so convenient, or we will be taken by surprise, YOUR CHOICE! We can choose to make changes in our lives that are apparently necessary, or the changes can be made for us. Please lets start now…
Hi everyone, I have a question, isn’t that dead spot off the coast of Oregon awfully close to where Columbia River Gorge empties into the sea? The same river that the Hanford nuclear site was dumped into after the “problem”, the same river that was deemed inhabitable due to the toxins the Canadians dumped into it from some chemical,like fertilizer or maybe aluminum processing waste, any how they (the canadians, besides hanford) dumped something that is creeping slowly down river and out to sea right between Oregon and Washington states not to mention fertilizer runoff is there too in huge quantities.
I’ve read all your threads as it is the best news to me to see thinkers like you all out there. There might be hope at the bottom, just not at the top of our political scheme.
KEM PATRICK
it’s southern europe, not eastern……..btw check out the total eclipse of the moon on 20th feb. look it up on www.space.com
UNCOMMON DREAMS.
ah, right, understand the ’41st’ comment…..
and to go back to the people moving to the countryside. i don’t think your view is ‘warped’, just unrealistic. as by the time people are forced to move from the cities, it will be too late. i believe by then it will be utter chaos and there will be no chance to do anything except try to survive day to day, not trundle out to the countryside and make a new living. wouldn’t you agree? ok, maybe a few might be able to do that, but it will be very difficult without resources. i recently took the decision to move here from a country going through a radical ‘boom’. however, the greed and ruthlessness of the ‘builders’ made me sick to my stomach. i am living somewhat as you described during your ‘hill’ time. i do have water and electricity, but my home is very modest and i walk everywhere except when i need to go to the shops when i take the local bus. i am delighted to see all the wildlife around but am dismayed at the denial of people around me who do not want to accept the dismal future our planet has unless we ALL do something about it. ostriches…………and because they cannot see it they don’t believe it and regard it as propaganda. you know as a regular poster, that we are in the minority. how to convince these ‘deniers’?
Dear sister Coco,
Thanks for yr reply (and ‘Hi’ to our craftsman friend Jungleboy, and other pals here!)
Yes, I accept my vision may be somewhat unrealistic, but then dreams sometimes are…
Until they become a reality that is!
Maybe the notion / vision that many folks will be obliged to get out of the cities will be a more *gradual* thing than some envisage?
Eg: Suppose this movement first happened in Australia, that would make the *international* news broadcasts, and this would then *seed* the idea among others, (right across the world) that we need to be looking at replicating such a course of action elsewhere…
And, -Frank Zappa apart, necessity is one heck of a mother of invention!
_________________________________
Maybe we underestimate the power that a ‘new idea’ can have? ‘Shifts in consciousness’ is what we are all about here, is it not? So once (for whatever reason) people start to get the message that they really DO have to start living differently now, then the idea will ‘catch fire’ and start to take off?
Yes of course, it would be far more preferable if folks took the initiative *before* disasters were obliging them to change their wasteful habits, but in lieu of that, at least the ball will be set rolling, -albeit due in this case to a kick in the rump from Mother Nature!
So often it seems the more intransigent / obstinate / hard-of-hearing / arrogant among us only get off their backsides and wake up when flames are already licking at their feet!
As a race, Americans do seem to particularly prone to FEAR, but alongside that ubiquitous little devil, they also have a ready adaptation to change, **when they need to!** (nb: This comes from one not native to the USA!)
Personally I don’t feel too gloomy about the upcoming shifts taking place. ~ Yes, there will be upsets, pains and many difficulties, but hey, -human life has those already!
Okay, our new challenges may be exacerbated by large social upheavals, but as a race, I believe we will successfully weather such storms; -we are quite an adaptable race after all!
And for those who have a spiritual basis to their lives (-as do I) I am accepting and looking forward to whatever is to come.
I love life, and I love my fellow beings, but I don’t fear death, coz whatever happens to my body, I’m aware that my heart’s loving energy and my consciousness will not be snuffed out when this little body dies, and so, -within that, there is a lessening of the fear which so mangles our creativity and happiness on many occasions…
Whatever happens to us, - individually or as a race, I trust that our Maker (call it what we will) is a loving being who will try to aid us and spare us from unnecessary pain as we make the coming shifts in consciousness, — away from being a somewhat rapacious, uncaring, hearing-impaired, often arrogant, warlike species of Earth-vandals, …into becoming a much more *caring* and respectful race.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What we (here) can sensibly and compassionately do in this epoch of radical change, is try to gently educate those who can hear our words: that our race needs to speedily wake up and begin living very differently and much less selfishly, ASAP.
We can help lead the way (as many here are already doing) by showing that human lives CAN be lived radically differently, -and quite happily, without so many of the ridiculous consumer-society lumps of junk.
[I think our friend Cee Miracles is busy right now, but she too is very much living as a Backwoods (not backwards!) Gal! ]
The more we can do to disseminate this message, the less of a shock it will be for the unaware ones, and so that much sooner the necessary changes can be gotten underway.
Thankyou to brothers and sisters here who are already leading ‘exemplary’ lives, -as in: showing by example how it *can* be done! (And remember always that, “a prophet is generally without honor in his own country”!)
Lastly Coco, as to your point about us “being in the minority” well, -let’s recall and be inspired / fired-up by anthropologist Margaret Mead’s astute observation:
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. - Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
Stay bright y’all!
U-C-D
xx
U-C-D
thankyou for the inspiration. you always have the courage and optimism that so many of us lack. (me included at times) i just get tired of being called a doom and gloom merchant when i talk about these things. people just switch off as soon as anything ‘inconvenient’ is commented on. as far as cee miracles goes, i was hoping to see a website she talked about ages ago. but she hasn’t been around for a while. (or i’ve missed her)
stay bright yourself
coco
The “Unstoppable Obama” thread has 177 comments. That’s a very important subject since the election is in November. I notice CoCo didn’t metion anything about buying any pidgeons. Gosh, maybe she’s not 18 yet and I’ll get into trouble here?
I got 20 pounds of rice and twenty of pinto beans today at Wal-Mart. Fifty cents a pound.
Dear Coco,
I could put you in touch with Cee Miracles if you / she wished (she and I have mailed each other from time to time). Sometimes things get a little tough, working the land, etc, -she’s a brave soul! I think you two have a lot in common.
Re yr comments on “courage and optimism” feel free to mail me at: deepart2000 (at) hotmail, if you’d like to discuss that topic, -or anything else, further. When I get bits of spare time, (huh, what’s that!) I too am working on putting a website together, and there’s some lovely folk here at C-D who I’d like to invite when it’s up and running. I have often felt that we could take some of the concepts discussed here at C-D further if we occasionally linked up via mails and blogs, or whatever.
It’s one of the suggestions I may be making to the boss of C-D in near future, -to maybe open up a sister site whereby the good-hearted + intelligent, progressive folk hereabouts can link up and tackle topics in a different way than upon these rather transient (but still v. worthy!) boards. I feel that the more we unify, the greater power we have to change things all around. ~ I wonder if one of the big pharma groups or oil conglomerates will sponsor us to open up a big plush HQ in Manhattan?
:p
KEM PATRICK
you know i’m as old as the hills, and even older than mae west……and i have a few walter pidgeons up my sleeve……..but keep buying the pinto beans; the rice is about to go awol……………
U-C-D
i’ll be in touch. ha ha ha ha about the pharma groups/oil conglomerates…. but hey, maybe we could wing it….. i might be mature, but like KEM says, i’m cute…………..
Jungleboy
I think you might be right about the contributing factors to the dead spots. On the southern ca coast there is four square miles of dumped DDT and the middle coast I believe still has nuclear waste dumped in the 70’s. Global warming is the end stage result of all the other misuses.
It is unreasonable to expect politicians, who depend on financial support for expensive political campaigns from the wealthy, to actively and effectively promote zero or negative population growth.
The wealthy depend on a growing pool of think free consumers with income just sufficient to keep the think free pool growing while buying everything in sight. How else can the wealthy stay at the top of the human food chain.
The wealthy must be starved into submission!
-
S T O P
O P T I O N A L
S H O P P I N G
A N D
P R O C R E A T I N G
-
and tell your politicians you have done so. So far they’ve not passed any laws requiring shopping and procreating.
What a beautiful sight the rest of this thread has been. This is the way we start to connect and work together. Thank you Common Dreamers.
You’re Okay Simple Sauce.
Dear Coco, I have you down as acute, (- as well as ‘cute’?)
-catch yer soon!
Simple Sauce: I love *positivity* and *unity*, and people who use words like *beauty*, and who have the very important attribute of *gratitude* in their hearts; see my post of 6:17pm and maybe drop me a line?
The way I see it, if *divided* and seperated we have little chance of making much impact upon the ‘Ruling Ghouls’ who create nothing but harm on every front, ~ but working together we have every chance of tapping into something which is (IMHO) innate in most human beings, and that is their often inchoate thirst to make a very different world from that which we have today.
It’s generally a sure-footed and ‘uplifted higher vision’ which is lacking in our leaders, -they *think* low, and *aim* low, and thus (perforce) seldom ever achieve any higher ideals.
( -I don’t include Dennis Kucinich in that last assertion BTW.)
If we can successfully break through the morbidity which sits like a scum upon the surface waters of society (see Murdoch’s effluent for ubiquitous examples of the latter!) then we’ll uncover unifying factors which are, in the long-run, far more powerful than the mundane dross at present so sadly apparent.
Without sounding too outré, or pretending to be ML King, :p I “have a dream” that what we C-D folks seek is in many ways not so very different from what the bulk of the (less articulate) ‘masses’ seek, - and that is a world wherein we all live and work more in harmony with each other, -right across the world.
My work as a therapist and teacher has led me to believe that human beings –no matter how seemingly ‘hard line’ and intransigent / obdurate on the surface, are actually far more malleable than many might believe…
I’ve spent a lifetime studying society and human psychology, and feel we may, -in fact, now be a lot nearer a real breakthrough than what might *appear* to be the case, (when we merely look at the surface of things). ~ As the Mamas & the Papas sung in their song, ‘Dedicated to the one I love’ ::: “The darkest hour is just before dawn…”
IMHO, the *soul* of humanity is more operant (in the background of things) than many might realise or believe, we need to bring that oft overlooked aspect to the fore, and act in accordance with universal verities, and then a widespread revivification and radical renaissance can and will begin…
… or summink like that!