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TechnoratiThe world's species are declining at a rate "unprecedented since the extinction of the dinosaurs", a census of the animal kingdom has revealed. The Living Planet Index out today shows the devastating impact of humanity as biodiversity has plummeted by almost a third in the 35 years to 2005.
The report, produced by WWF, the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and the Global Footprint Network, says land species have declined by 25 per cent, marine life by 28 per cent, and freshwater species by 29 per cent.
Jonathan Loh, editor of the report, said that such a sharp fall was "completely unprecedented in terms of human history". "You'd have to go back to the extinction of the dinosaurs to see a decline as rapid as this," he added. "In terms of human lifespan we may be seeing things change relatively slowly, but in terms of the world's history this is very rapid."
And "rapid" is putting it mildly. Scientists say the current extinction rate is now up to 10,000 times faster than what has historically been recorded as normal.
As nations meet for the Convention on Biological Diversity in Bonn, these alarming figures will cast a shadow over government pledges to make a "significant" reduction in biodiversity loss by 2010. In fact, the report's authors say that global inaction has already made such a goal totally unattainable.
"It's very damning for the governments that are party to the convention that they are not able to meet the target they set for themselves," said Mr Loh. "The talk doesn't get translated into action. We are failing, and the consequences will be devastating."
Tracking nearly 4,000 species between 1970 and 2005, the team has not only revealed the destruction of the Earth's wildlife, but also pointed the finger at the perpetrators of this devastation.
Ben Collen, extinctions researcher at ZSL, said: "Between 1960 and 2000, the human population of the world has doubled. Yet during the same period, the animal populations have declined by 30 per cent. It's beyond doubt that this decline has been caused by humans."
The study picked out five reasons for species decline, all of which can be traced back to human behaviour: climate change, pollution, the destruction of animals' natural habitat, the spread of invasive species, and the overexploitation of species. At a time when America has finally added the polar bear to the endangered species list, it is emerging that the scale of species destruction reaches far beyond the headline animals. But as in the case of the polar bear, mankind's behaviour needs to be radically changed in order to stop this pillaging of the Earth's biodiversity.
The Yangtze river dolphin is a case in point. Scientists believe it is extinct, as successive searches for the freshwater mammal have proved fruitless. There are many reasons for its rapid path to extinction: collisions with boats, habitat loss and pollution. These factors all point back to one perpetrator: mankind.
Aside from tackling global emissions, the report recommended two ways that species decline could be combated - by avoiding the destruction of animals' natural habitat by overdevelopment or cultivation; and in avoiding the over-farming or fishing of individual species.
The implications of such drastic reductions in biodiversity are already having an impact on human life. "Reduced biodiversity means millions of people face a future where food supplies are more vulnerable to pests and disease and where water is in irregular or short supply," said James Leape, director general of WWF.
"No one can escape the impact of biodiversity loss because reduced global diversity translates quite clearly into fewer new medicines, greater vulnerability to natural disasters and greater effects from global warming. The industrialised world needs to be supporting the global effort to achieve these targets, not just in their own territories where a lot of biodiversity has already been lost, but also globally."
© 2008 The Independent
106 Comments so far
Show AllEverything's shorter these days to the point of everything abbreviated. LOL. Who done it? hmmmmmmmmm
In the order of everything connected;
Just wanted to add language and poetries to the list.
Do a search of languages/extinction OR
http://www.ubu.com/ethno/discourses/rothenberg_endangered.html
or
http://www.travellady.com/Issues/Feb08/4751global.htm
Each of us can only do for the humans and animals in our little corner of the World, tend that garden, feed the squirels, bees, bats,ect.ect. Know that you have done the best that you can.
it is humorous to see how quickly meat-eating beings just cannot....CANNOT....let go of a habit that is non-essential to one's being alive...no one has ever died from a lack of meat....and yes, one can site Eskimos, Tibetans and other beings that have little vegetation in their surrounding who are surviving with meat in their diets....
The issue isn't what one eats to survive...the issue is that we, in America, consume massive amounts of animals( i must say 'partially consume' here, as i have seen so much waste in restaurants and school cafeterias, that could feed third world villages...no problem)....
It is that we are so disconnected with all of our food that
we don't THINK at all about the animal we just popped on the barby...where or how it was raised or what chemicals have been injected to keep it standing til its butchered ...
Nor do we think about the forrests that have been clear cut or burned to get these animas to our table
Nor do we think about the depletion of the Aquifers, or the damming and diversion of rivers....
Nor do we ponder how these feed lots damage our town wells with nitrates
Nor do we examine the cost of trucking all of these animals to a butchering point and then the trucking of the dead flesh elsewhere to end up on our tables.....or how much gas is used for that little round up....
Nor do we consider the massive amounts of species that are dregged up in nets for our "fish and chips" or fish sticks
my point is that because as an ill-informed and brainwashed species that has little concern for anything other that self...we can(and will) eat meat til we die... with blinders on to the real costs.....constantly defending our position on "Our rights"...or "it's the natural thing to do"...
unfortuneatly, because we all live on this planet together....we ALL will be affected by the choices each of us make....Bon Apetite!!.....by the way...if you must MUST eat meat...eat bugs..
The world population is propped up by fossil fuels.
The Oceans are sick, our rivers are polluted and our waste is overwhelming the planet.
The normal order of things is about to change drastically.
Think about Native Americans when they had to run with their families and belongings when they fled the European! What did they eat?
Whatever they could find!
I don't think you have to be the instrument of anyone else's karma here, I think it is a little late for that.
To paraphrase a famous author, "First we kill the developers - especially of quarter acre estates."
alright. COUNT ME IN!!! ill do my part if you do yours.
Human beings have to learn to live in balance with the world around them. Making an individual change is only a first step and a personal decision. We have to learn about our relationship to other beings, for some they have to first recognize there are other beings and they are all around them. We are all related.
http://www.vipassana.com/resources/bodhi/guardians_of_the_world.php
Reading these comments is like listening to the fable of the three blind men and the elephant. Few people can address all of the factors involved in our immanent decline. Water is certainly a major piece, as our population has tripled in my lifetime, while the absolute quantity of potable fresh water has declined drastically, due mostly to pollution from industry and cattle raising. Many people on this list should get a good text on physical anthropology and read it, especially those portions dealing with diet. We are not the only primate that hunts and eats meat - read Goodall. Meat is an excellent source of protein for the developing human brain, and television and the drugs it promotes, are efficient ways of destroying the development of the frontal lobe in growing human brains. I live a good life, take care to keep my footprint low, teach environmentalism to my students in the only way most humans will hear it - thru self interest. When I take them hiking and they have a hard time keeping up with my 68 year old body, they start to get the picture. We must each convince two people per week. Snowball effect. Maybe some of them/us will survive the coming cataclysm. There is a quantum leap in human intelligence happening among some of our youth - evolution in progress. I hope it is not too late for their survival. And I still am aware that it is all likely in vain.
Nonoo, yah the DNR is not known for it's sensitivity. Centralized and bureaucratic decision making in both government and corporations are not motivated by the needs of nature or of survival. I simply give thanks each day for the blessings that I do have and work to make it the best I can. I refuse to carry the burdens of abusers. That burden is theirs alone to carry. By giving thanks and retaining a good spirit it enables me to carry on with a good and effective attitude. I know that there are many more like me who do the same. I expect the change to be rough and not as we would like it to be. Change never is it seems. I do take comfort in the knowledge that many people are already living the new vision of life sustaining methods and do expect that after walking through a time of darkness a new dawn will again rise. It is we who are now planting the seeds of the rebirth. Your twenty acres are central to the rebirth. Plants and animals are much more sensitive than most people want to admit. They know your good spirit and intent and they too will share theirs with you. It is the universal circle of respect and compassion that you all share. That is a good way to live.
"And we plan to somehow change this by planting a garden? WE have one. We plan to change this by becoming vegans? I do eat meat. We plan to change this again how?
Please folks let's not kid ourselves. AS long as "price" is the means then the extent of the change will never be enough."
Let me rephrase my point a different way: Lead, follow, or get out of the way.
People recognize the dysfunction then go right out and vote against their own interest and well being. Such is the paradox of human life. Corporations win and everyone else gets the shaft. Even the corporations will get it in the end, as life on planet Earth diminishes. The more the political landscape changes the more IT STAYS THE SAME. And all the eager beavers marching lock step with their own extinction.
As I sit here on my front porch in Southern Florida listening tothe doves coo and the birds sing and the geckos run around I also hear the constant dull roar of the jet engines taking off and landing. I hear the drone of the weed wackers and blowers and lawnmowers. The constant whirring of the A/C heat pumps for cooling in the 90 degree temps. The bustle of cars going up and down the streets in the neighborhood.
As I type this on my own computer the use of generated electricity to communicate. The postman's vehicle. The Fed Ex truck. The ice cream man. The plumber called in. The local furniture store delivering a mattress. The u haul truck of the neighbor moving out.
And we plan to somehow change this by planting a garden? WE have one. We plan to change this by becoming vegans? I do eat meat. We plan to change this again how?
Please folks let's not kid ourselves. AS long as "price" is the means then the extent of the change will never be enough.
Rationing is the step that will be needed. Egregious consumption by those where price is not an issue is where we need to target our energies. Everyone must feel the same need to conserve. Rationing is the only way to implement that mindset.
My time is up for internet posting this morning on the computer. Now I must work. Self enforced rationing. If you don't want coal fired electricity plants then be the change that you wish.
Begin today.
itsaNaziWorldOrder May 16th, 2008 5:09 pm
"Can anyone PLEASE convince me that things will go differently?"
I'm working on it… and the more you work on it, the better you will get at being able (and positioned) to turn the tide… believe it or not, each person is potentially the one that can precipitate a landslide of change… we are aided by the fact that our change is mandated (and supported) by nature and so much easier to accomplish than not making the change.
Don't despair, gird yourself for the last mile and run like your life (and mine) depends upon it! Failure is Not an option
Agreed!
I think most of us have been overwhelmed by "reality" so that we believe we already know what will happen. We don't, and as long as we don't, there is a chance to change. Unless we really don't want to, in which case we should be honest enough to say that and get ourselves out of the way of others.
coco May 16th, 2008 7:10 pm
IAMMYSELF
great, but how do we implement your theory/revelations?
coco,
Nature is not a theory. There is a universal order to nature, and we either follow it or we die.
There are many people around the planet who are part of the small-scale movement. Many are part of organizations, many are doing it on their own. Some are part of tribes who have lived sustainably (for them) for eons. We moderns cannot be expected to live like the indigenous peoples of the Amazon or Indonesia, but we can take what they have to offer as far as living in small-scale villages and start implementing it wherever we are.
We have a choice: We either stop the direction we're heading in and mindfully change course, or we continue on to what appears to be mass suicide. There are innumerable examples of sustainable living and we can model them individually and as communities. The notion of vast nation states is coming to an end (hopefully before they all turn to brutal fascism). Nation states always decay and turn totalitarian. We - meaning you and I, coco - have to summons up the courage and will to seek out people within our communities and start supporting each other and working for the changes we want to see. If you haven't done so already, I suggest planting a garden. Nothing will ground you to the earth more than planting and tending a garden. Then, move out to the next zone of influence - your house, then your neighborhood, then your community. Each step will get you closer.
It can be done. It is being done. We're each needed.
Doom and Gloom, sounds like you've done well. Presently I'm depressed here again. The DNR clear cut to my east 3 years ago. A private party clear cut to my north 2 years ago. The DNR plans to clear cut to my south this summer. This all has a major impact on my 20 acres and my older trees especially. The DNR doesn't give a crap, in fact the forestry says they don't do environmental impact studies anymore. Right now I have the high water in the creek and the bald eagles and oprey land in my trees looking for fish. I mourn the loss for the wildlife and for the trees too.
Man.. I sure hope the aliens step in soon and disarm us and sterilize us for a few generations. Seriously! They could start in Crawford Texas. LOL
We're omnivores and the steak several million of us ate last night proves it.
Although I do like the "CARNIVORE:Sharp Claws"/"HUMAN:Flattened nails" argument. It is real cute and SO Scientific.
Omnivore without "sharp claws"? : Chimpanzee. Are we related to them in any way? Oh yeah...
But beyond the subject of jerks who want to control what you eat for "Progress":
Gotta say your headline was a little light, "Decimation:" would be the killing of one in TEN, the statistics cited refer to 28% and similar losses.
This would be more than "Quadimation" to coin a term, a bit more serious.
Sorry to interrupt, please carry on with the absolutist-telling-people-what-to-eat B.S. now.
-matti.
I am supportive of each persons individual efforts and thankful for them. I know that for me, working with the soil is a daily transformative experience. Seeing my efforts result in life and observing how that life gives life to other plants and animals is both satisfying and instructive. Learning to create a small healthy supportive environment can result in animal enrichment for a moderately larger area. The establishment of thousands, then millions of small healthy plots coupled with more enlightened individual lifeways creates the seeds of the larger transformation that we seek. It is this balance of creating a tangible sustaining mini-environment coupled with the intangibles of mental enlightenment guiding our improved behaviors that is an effective way forward. This represents a compassionate more sustainable vision for the times in which we live. Life is now expanding in the small more balanced environment in which I live. For this I am thankful.
As has been previously stated, this is NOT a numbers game (about over-population).
It is an organizational and behavioral crisis and the answer is scripted in our human anatomy (co-evolved to be efficiently supported in the earth's biosphere).
That is the absolutely necessary first step, to embrace our own physiological and anatomical requirements (herbivore) for personal, social and environmental health.
The dictates of our anatomy will quickly reverse our dire interpretations of the 'carrying capacity' of the earth. And it will also balance our numbers, our hormones, energy levels, life spans, etc.
Those who think otherwise really need to look at the statistics regarding meat-eating…
including water consumption and pollution, pesticide dumping, forest destructions, soil erosion, and the volumes of human health data suggesting that meat-eating is the principle cause of many (if not most) cancers and numbers of other conditions such as diabetes, atherosclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, dementia, autism, etc. ...
"A reduction in beef and other meat consumption is the most potent single act you can take to halt the destruction of our environment and preserve our natural resources. Our choices do matter. What's healthiest for each of us personally is also healthiest for the life support system of our precious, but wounded planet."
-- John Robbins, author of "Diet for a New America"
If you 'carry your own weight' meaning assume responsibility for respecting your own ecologically defined anatomy, the earth will not only easily support you, you can become a powerful force helping others transition to ecologically centered and aware behaviors.
20 million buffalo living in NY and eating grain fed beef would tax the carrying capacity of some of the earth... but 20 million buffalo living on the American plains was a wonderful aspect of America's natural ecology.
Our present idea of human society is no less absurd than the one of the buffalo living in NY also consuming an ecology defeating and unhealthy diet.
Numbers have to have context to be significant, how many in relation to what? And the 'what' in this case is behavioral: are these populations behaving according to ecological scripting (their own anatomical and physiological requirements) or in complete contradiction to it?
Again, 1/50th the land is required to feed a practicing human herbivore as is required to feed a western style and unnatural meatarian. How much land could be allowed to return to its wild state without any reduction in our numbers if everyone could understand that we have ALL been deceived (at least those of us in western societies)! We ARE NOT omnivores, we are herbivores!
What if we go one better and grow most of our foods locally? The ecological impacts are significant! Plant a fruit tree, eat responsibly… forget about health insurance…
You see, less people (in present terms) is NOT nearly as important as less functionally (ecologically speaking) ignorant people.
Our meat-eating hierarchical military societies have tricked us all... and we desperately need to throw off these unhealthy and environmentally destructive cultural scripts.
From "The Comparative Anatomy of Eating", by Milton R. Mills, MD
Facial Muscles
CARNIVORE: Reduced to allow wide mouth gape
HERBIVORE: Well-developed
OMNIVORE: Reduced
HUMAN: Well-developed
Jaw Type
CARNIVORE: Angle not expanded
HERBIVORE: Expanded angle
OMNIVORE: Angle not expanded
HUMAN: Expanded angle
Jaw Joint Location
CARNIVORE: On same plane as molar teeth
HERBIVORE: Above the plane of the molars
OMNIVORE: On same plane as molar teeth
HUMAN: Above the plane of the molars
Jaw Motion
CARNIVORE: Shearing; minimal side-to-side motion
HERBIVORE: No shear; good side-to-side, front-to-back
OMNIVORE: Shearing; minimal side-to-side
HUMAN: No shear; good side-to-side, front-to-back
Major Jaw Muscles
CARNIVORE: Temporalis
HERBIVORE: Masseter and pterygoids
OMNIVORE: Temporalis
HUMAN: Masseter and pterygoids
Mouth Opening vs. Head Size
CARNIVORE: Large
HERBIVORE: Small
OMNIVORE: Large
HUMAN: Small
Teeth: Incisors
CARNIVORE: Short and pointed
HERBIVORE: Broad, flattened and spade shaped
OMNIVORE: Short and pointed
HUMAN: Broad, flattened and spade shaped
Teeth: Canines
CARNIVORE: Long, sharp and curved
HERBIVORE: Dull and short or long (for defense), or none
OMNIVORE: Long, sharp and curved
HUMAN: Short and blunted
Teeth: Molars
CARNIVORE: Sharp, jagged and blade shaped
HERBIVORE: Flattened with cusps vs complex surface
OMNIVORE: Sharp blades and/or flattened
HUMAN: Flattened with nodular cusps
Chewing
CARNIVORE: None; swallows food whole
HERBIVORE: Extensive chewing necessary
OMNIVORE: Swallows food whole and/or simple crushing
HUMAN: Extensive chewing necessary
Saliva
CARNIVORE: No digestive enzymes
HERBIVORE: Carbohydrate digesting enzymes
OMNIVORE: No digestive enzymes
HUMAN: Carbohydrate digesting enzymes
Stomach Type
CARNIVORE: Simple
HERBIVORE: Simple or multiple chambers
OMNIVORE: Simple
HUMAN: Simple
Stomach Acidity
CARNIVORE: Less than or equal to pH 1 with food in stomach
HERBIVORE: pH 4 to 5 with food in stomach
OMNIVORE: Less than or equal to pH 1 with food in stomach
HUMAN: pH 4 to 5 with food in stomach
Stomach Capacity
CARNIVORE: 60% to 70% of total volume of digestive tract
HERBIVORE: Less than 30% of total volume of digestive tract
OMNIVORE: 60% to 70% of total volume of digestive tract
HUMAN: 21% to 27% of total volume of digestive tract
Length of Small Intestine
CARNIVORE: 3 to 6 times body length
HERBIVORE: 10 to more than 12 times body length
OMNIVORE: 4 to 6 times body length
HUMAN: 10 to 11 times body length
Colon
CARNIVORE: Simple, short and smooth
HERBIVORE: Long, complex; may be sacculated
OMNIVORE: Simple, short and smooth
HUMAN: Long, sacculated
Liver
CARNIVORE: Can detoxify vitamin A
HERBIVORE: Cannot detoxify vitamin A
OMNIVORE: Can detoxify vitamin A
HUMAN: Cannot detoxify vitamin A
Kidney
CARNIVORE: Extremely concentrated urine
HERBIVORE: Moderately concentrated urine
OMNIVORE: Extremely concentrated urine
HUMAN: Moderately concentrated urine
Nails
CARNIVORE: Sharp claws
HERBIVORE: Flattened nails or blunt hooves
OMNIVORE: Sharp claws
HUMAN: Flattened nails
Save the planet, become a cannibal.
As they said in Aliens..."Game over man...game over!"
The human population is already well over the carrying capacity of its environment (Earth). Some animal species have evolved mechanisms to ameliorate their having too many individuals relative to the environment's capacity to support them. In wolf packs only an alpha male and female will reproduce. Coyote females produce fewer young when their numbers are large and more young when the population is small relative to the resources in the environment. The numbers of these animals tend to cluster right at their environment's carry capacity, never being too far above it or too far below it. Populations of animals that fail to regulate their numbers reach a point where the environmental factors necessary to their survival disappear - their environmental foundation falls away - and their populations crash, usually, in nature, due to starvation and intense competition for food. With human populations add prolonged wars for resources, specifically land and energy for food production. Not a pretty picture.
Shall we do something about this or just keep on reading the obits looking for "Mandkind?"
All animals are earthlings and plants are just as much a part of the food chain then we allow ourselves to believe. We have isolated ourselves from that which is most important, we are all natural organisms bound and ruled by this planet.
The decline in other species will be followed by the decline of the rest until a balance is struck. Human numbers are far to great for this planet to sustain. I now believe that the issues of human infertility were initial warnings of things to come. The carrying capacity of this planet is being strained and soon our numbers will begin to fall when pandemics arrive to begin a devastating correction concerning this planet's biological systems. We can not live in opposition to, nor ignore, the natural biological systems of our environment.
We are not mature enough to make the necessary changes. We can not even agree on how to prevent global warming and climate change. We sit around in great halls and point fingers at each other while the planet prepares for the extinction of humanity. Near the end we will yield and be humbled. I get a feeling that this is not the first time this has happened.
Remember we are not just on this planet, we are a part of it for all time.
The only way it will ever change is when we all say "this is because of me." Sure, we have been seduced, rewarded, and brainwashed to live the way we live, but now that we know, we must not ignore the overwhelming imperative to change. Once we get to critical mass, then it will come in rapidly.
The funny thing is that what scientific research has proven to be the greatest influence on our behavior (as in choices) is that which we identify as having the least influence: what we perceive most other people like us are doing. Whether we realize it or not, we look around us to those we identify with for clues on how to act-- like birds flying in formation. This is why individuals can and will make a difference. I have already seen it happening in my own family. A few of us got started, and now the others (even initial resisters) are coming around.
Doom n Gloom, I'm growing a tree/bush orchard from seed as opposed to clonal propagation. From seed means more genetic diversity but a big risk of inferior genetics, which can mean weaker, less productive plants and lesser tasting food. Nutrition is probably not going to suffer. But there is a way to exploit the positives of both seed and clonal propagation: Start your orchard from seed to gain a genetic shift, plant multiple individuals to get some genetic variety, then get rid of the inferior ones.
itsaNaziWorldOrder:
Go to www.oneplanetonelife.com and go to the contact page and email me. I would like to talk.
Thanks!
Sik
What have i done? Got a vasectomy in my thirties, after two offspring. Drive a '71 VW 1600cc type II, when i drive. Leave it parked a lot, and walk/bike to town to buy locally produced groceries as much as possible. Live an extremely frugal lifestyle, by conventional standards. Rarely travel. Participate in local or domestic activities for my recreation.
And still I feel that I am surplus. Can't help having been born in the U.S.A. The hard reality we ought to face is that there are about ten times as many of us as is sustainable. And although we may be able to provide for another billion or two people, it will overtax the resilient qualities of our habitat. We will be pushing close to the limits, if not overrunning them. And it doesn't have to be. If we voluntarily alter our traditional ways to adapt to this crisis, we can cause our numbers to decline; and as they do, other beneficial changes should begin to take shape. We probably can't bring back the species that have gone extinct, but we can begin the healing.
rtdrury,
Absolutely correct!
"The answer to my question as to what you have done and are doing to mitigate the decline remains unanswered. Unfortunate."
To whom are you addressing your question or is it offered to all as a point of reflection?
Personally, I have for years utilized all my resources to do whatever, wherever and with whomever… to increase understanding... I am one in 6 billion.
As only one, it is not MY eating habits that are destroying the planet, and maybe not even a couple of billion other people's eating habits... but it is some people's and ALL of those are doing what they are doing because of culturally induced ignorance...
My personal focus is on correcting that ignorance and doing whatever it takes to accomplish this...
Many others here are clearly similarly focused... and education does not have to proceed incrementally... for every person who understands, an entire field of contacts could become 'affected' and each in their own ways and the ways available, can potentially spread a transformative understanding.
We could actually awaken tomorrow in a world of self-aware human herbivores… eager to explore the meaning of their new found understanding… tomorrow! It is not only possible, it is essential…
So, that is what I do, spread the understanding that will transform our biosphere interactions. It took decades to acquire... this is the sharing phase but when I was young, I thought the discovery phase was completely impossible... so, the sharing part must be also possible.
And that doing will ultimately accomplish its purpose.
"… truth is the enemy of the state" Goebbels
In this case, the truth is the enemy of the 'state' of environmental collapse.
And that 'enemy truth' to our 'state of environmental collapse' is:
HUMANS ARE HERBIVORES!
Individuals can help the planet's biodiversity by growing our own food, making our yards part of the natural habitat, and generally shifting our exchange/association away from the power centers and toward the local community.
By growing our own food we decrease demand for the capitalist's monocrops and increase the habitat for wild species. Better to plant the garden with a more diverse array of heirloom or wild species, preferably those indigenous to the region and are less dominant. Avoiding synthetic pesticides is important. Avoiding synthetics in the "built environment" is important too, but the switch to natural materials is too. There's a whole range of advantages to all of this - the health of the biosphere, societies, and people are all greatly enhanced and this is something that every individual can participate in.
The answer to my question as to what you have done and are doing to mitigate the decline remains unanswered. Unfortunate.
We are going through a major shift, whether you like it or not, believe it or not, and for a whole host of reasons, the least of which is our innate capacity for destruction and consumption. That is the old model. Humans are going to shift more towards survival mode now as in earlier times as we leave this period of unprecedented progress and affluence. Ironically, for the republican side, the greatest period (in history) by any measure was presided over by Bill (& Hillary) Clinton. That is not to say, they didn't build on prior progress or successes, republican or democrat. Good people are good people no matter which side. But I could stand Hillary in there at the helm. With her excellent international reputation, she'd repair the prestige of America to the rest of the world pretty damn quick. IMHO.
"Nitrate Fertilizers create 3 times the natural food…but when Oil becomes too expensive to make fertilizer, what then."
Food shortage is NOT the problem. There is plenty already and there could be so much more at MUCH less cost to the environment!
Our problem is fundamentally perceptual (humans are herbivores who are not naturally competitive, domination-focused carnivores or omnivores) and secondarily organizational (military modeled societies produce ecological chaos and destruction and defeat the human potential to fully enjoy the life experience)!
"AND THEY WILL DO IT IN THE NAME OF SAVING THE EARTH!"
You are absolutely right ellydozer. In fact, they ARE doing it.
And you are correct, the WWF is a Nazi funded and founded organization that was formed not to protect habitat but to provide venues for an elite and their wild game hunting appetites.
Interesting how so many of these Nazi organizations have morphed into respected leaders of the 'progressive' movement. Makes the cynical wonder where and what they are 'progressing' us into.
As I read the many 'alternative' articles on the declining environment, I see a decided stampeding towards the 'obvious' conclusion... we need another big blow-out genocide... war for everyone... or maybe, just 'wars without end'.... because, overpopulation is the problem…
Or genocide's companion idea… control over reproduction with the 'state' deciding… who procreates and who does not… and this one is as old as the Greeks. They practiced it for other reasons but the outcome was the same, a small group of oligarchs controlling ALL aspects of individual and community life.
Anyway, all megalomaniacs seem to want the same things… and isn't it interesting how they ALL seem to think that we should happy under this system because after all, IT IS DEMOCRATIC;(
"These are nice fantasies, but they are also hippie nonsense. They do not take into account the nature of man, "
I fear you have entirely missed the point! Cultural products are not necessarily indicative of 'nature'.
Even Pavlov could tell us that. Where have you been? The issue IS human nature. Discrediting the facts with ridiculous attempts to lessen their import (hippie nonsense) does not in anyway disprove those facts.
A cultural revolution is required. And the substance of it is quite simply stated: mankind co-evolved with nature and must respect its requirements for biosphere continuance.
Specifically, he must eat according to his design which alone will free up most of the land currently under cultivation and return it to 'wild' habitat. Had humans consistently respected their herbivore anatomy throughout time, we would not be having discussions about species losses today!
"The earth is gonna be fine."
It's the biosphere that is of concern, not just to humans but other animals as well...
as one seal said to me,
"You think that the suffering on this planet must end, and you think if destruction of all life is the only way to end it, so be it... but feel now, the miracle of the water on my skin... the miracle... it's worth saving." (There was, of course, much more that he said but that is the gist of it:)
It's not only worth saving, it is only not being saved because most people simply are incapable of realizing that the solution to save it is the solution and that implementing this solution is as easy as baking vegan cherry pie... actually, easier.
Vox: You're a riot. Thanks for the laugh. Your neighbor Bruno sounds like my neighbor Mike (who thankfully only has one neanderthal son) who stores his TWO snowmobiles in my garage because I have no car and his garage is filled with his two SUVs, a boat, and every power tool ever invented. Also, when my house was broken into he, in his macho-guy-guy way (which he probably - and erroneously - thought was flattering to me) promised that he would "protect me" with the guns he keeps in both the house and garage.
Heavy sigh.
VOXCLAMANTIS
is that you? or are you doing a KEM PATRICK on us?
Progressives are frequently accused of being out of touch with reality. When I read the above solutions to the global catastrophe that is us, I note that many suggest we stop having babies, or stop eating meat, or become less greedy, or get in touch with our nurturing side and find our oneness with nature, or throw out the bums in Washington and put Nature Conservancy in charge of the world. These are nice fantasies, but they are also hippie nonsense. They do not take into account the nature of man, for example my neighbor Bruno and his three neanderthal sons. For every gentle one of you that plants a tree or rides a bicycle to work, there are a hundred Brunos taking their kids to the Fish and Game for hunting licenses and trashing the landscape with their ATVs and sending even worse people to Washington. We need to go with the flow.
So here is my solution. Cannibalism. I don't know why nobody has thought of it, it is so obvious. We are vicious, malicious and delicious. I just watched a dumb Will Smith movie where everybody turned into these man eating hyperzombies, and before you knew it we had all eaten each other and the streets of New York were again full of natural vegetation and gentle wildlife.
It is simple. Gravity is on our side. When we contrive wars we remove the taboo against killing, and our youngsters flock to sign up and join the fun. When the government removes the taboo against torture, we all go shopping for whips and chains. All we have to do is make cannibalism glamorous. Put some great recipes on the internet or in those holiday cookbooks. More ammo, more jumbo freezers, more freezer paper. The carnivores might save the planet after all.
ok. has anyone here made the connection that the "elite, illuminati, bilderburg, or CFR" or whathaveyou have an agenda in partnership with the un to REDUCE THE WORLD POPULATION. do you think us americans get to be exempt from mandatory sterilization and euthenization cuz were special? has anyone here made the connection that the WWF is a cover for part of a huge global network working on gaining ultimate control of the masses, wich are a vile people who are ruining everything. they want global cullung of us peasents, AND THEY WILL DO IT IN THE NAME OF SAVING THE EARTH! now, dont get me wrong...i love the earth. i eat organic. im car free. im child free, by choice. ask yourself. are you going to trust some corporation and fascist government to impose more regulations and statistics that says ALL HUMANS ARE NOT PART OF THE EARTH, and its us PEASENTS fault ? why not blame corporate pollution, cuz they are ALLOWED to pollute!! as long as they can pay the fine!! YOUR government says thats OK?!! or religion, cuz God said "go forth and multiply" so our govt ENCOURAGES multiple dependants with TAX CREDITS!! or modern medical science, which ensures all babies survive childbirth, and the populations EXPLODE! come on everyone. we, peasents of the usa, can solve this global crisis ourselvs. we dont need NEO NAZI ELITISTS TO TELL US WERE THE PROBLEM, CUZ THEY WILL ELIMINATE US TO SAVE THE EARTH and they think were too dumb to do it ourselves. AND SOME PEOPLE ARE DUMB AND WONT THINK OF THERE IMpACT ON THE EARTH, BUT. ive been trying to help in my own way, and im standing up for my race. dont let powerful people have the ultimate control of your individuality, and your part on the stage of earth. check out the WWF facts and who they stand for. youll have to dig deep. good luck.
I reccomend Jared Diamond's 'Collapse' highly. We are well on the way. Nitrate Fertilizers create 3 times the natural food...but when Oil becomes too expensive to make fertilizer, what then. Every living flora or fauna on the planet wants to procreate until they are the only thing left. Unfortunately, it seems that humans are the only beings on the planet actually capable. I am 63, I tried to get a vasectomy when I was 20....in those days it was certainly a chore when I finally succeeded at 26. I had such nasty things to say about the human race that the doctor gave up and did what I asked. My attitude has not really changed all that much. About half of ya are a waste of air. Problem is sorting out which half.
Veteran '66-68
The notion that humans can destroy the planet is an egotistical assumption. We cannot destroy the planet we can only render it unfit for human habitation. We can and probably will destroy ourselves but the planet will be just fine and will continue it's orbit around the sun as the the solar system speeds through space at an unbelieveable pace. The earth is gonna be fine. The human race, on the other hand, is in big trouble.
WTF
well i guess the homo sapiens are going to win. but it wasn't a fair competition was it? (the only saving grace is that homo sapiens won't win either in the long run.)
SIKWILLY
your website is wonderful. the pictures and content inspiring. how to get it through to the masses?????????????
"Civilizations collapse."
These are not 'civilizations' but 'chaos models', a definition that the rest of nature can surely substantiate.
And, civilizations do not appear to have fallen so much as migrated after the local region came environmentally undone... surely northern Africa is a good case in point.
And those who sit atop our current 'chaos order' clearly have connections to many former empires.
Conclusion, many former Chaos Orders have fused into a global corporate hierarchical structure with numerous military agencies, police agencies, commercial production and distribution agencies, cultural affairs centers, etc under their tactical control.... many of the 'collapses' perceived were 'not exactly' as perceived.
Military hierarchies are the antithesis of civilized! And that is the basis of this culture, uncivilized and chaos producing in the extreme!
it is selfish selfish SELFISH to birth kids when we have the opportunity of post-industrialized nations to buy birth control, adopt and get operations...
well, some people are trying to limit these options, unfortunately.
Civilizations collapse. It is what they do. It is when not if and it looks like sooner rather than later.
Solution:
1) Eat only plant foods.
2) Contribute to local sustainability by participating in an effort to grow most (or at least more) of what is consumed close to home and support others who are doing likewise.
3) Learn the facts about human ecology and spend more time in natural places without an 'agenda'... this is re-connection/listening time. It will change you but pre-conceived notions about 'what is out there' and 'what you should do' will block personal ecological growth.
4) Learn about the significance of an all plant-based diet on resolving water shortages, soil erosion, species losses, dying oceans, air pollution, disease (and the economics of a diseased society), human mental, emotional, physical and social health and well-being.
5) Try to share what you discover with others so that your personal growth can become part of another's ecological fast-track.
These measures alone will arrest most of the environmentally destructive paradigms facing the planet including those posed by the top heavy military/corporate control programs.
Then, there are all the things that you will learn in 'praxis'. Many of us will learn similar things, but unique we are and your personal contributions will be guided by your abilities and those potential of expression in your unique social and physical environment(s).
Finally, our social and political organizations are a direct outgrowth of our disassociation from nature and our own nature, beginning with the introduction of meat-eating to condition children (and desensitize them) for the role of warriors and keepers of the elite order of exclusive privilege (by virtue of violence or the threat of violence).
New social and political forms will arise naturally and spontaneously as we find our way back to ecological consciousness. And these forms will no longer emphasize 'might is right' or the 'competitive imperative'. These forms will be outgrowths of the realistic perception that life is a highly evolved and very complex partnership, and of our co-evolved place within that partnership.
Money, if it persists, will be redefined (Read 'Smart Money' http://allinharmony.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=browse&id=388250&pageid=91 ) as will many other things that we currently take for granted.
But, the process can be fun and it can be exciting, and it can feel good… really. It is just knowing what is essential to do and why it is essential… the rest is open to individual and community interpretation… creativity, and fun.
coco
We are now educated by parents, peers, media etc that eating meat is the norm, not the anomaly. Killing as a means to establish ones place in a clan has been replaced with salaries, McMansions, Porsches, trophy wives (and husbands!), Gucci, sporting trophies, etc. He who dies with the most toys wins is what western man aspires to.
IAMMYSELF
great, but how do we implement your theory/revelations?
"All animals die and none know or care why they die. Only we know and care."
Go to a slaughterhouse. Animals cry, they scream and sound like little children, especially the young ones. They are terrified. The pain they suffer is enormous.
"If slaughterhouses had glass walls, no one would eat meat." Paul McCartney
http://www.meat.org
During the Vietnam War, many people used to say that the Vietnamese did not have the same feelings about death as those of us in Western society. Then the AFSC did a movie to disprove this.
Squirrels scream when their mates die and the mourning is intense. Wolves will travel hundreds of miles to find a mate… and mate for life.
Cows will collapse with heartbreak when their young are taken. I have never met an animal that cared not about its own life and the lives of at least some others. Sometimes they even care about me…
How many times do we have to hear about the fall of the natural world before we change.
One Planet, One Life is a nonprofit organization working towards educating the general public about the current global-level environmental crisis humanity is causing and exploring ways in which an awakening spirit may change the course of mankind and Planet Earth.
If we are not the only nonprofit working on this issue, we're definately one of the few... This boggles my mind. Can we be SO dissociated with nature?
www.oneplanetonelife.com
"The good news is that people in those crowded parts of the world will probably be the first to come up with socially acceptable reasons for eating human flesh,"
The good news is that even in the most crowded places, people can have a very healthy diet once they are told the truth about their ecological niche without disturbing other animal life.
Preaching the importance of consuming meat to the world's poor is a terrible crime, to them and to the environments that surround them including the other animals who call these environments home.
This is also true in places like Argentina. We were there not long ago in a part of the Mendoza region. No animals.
It was not due so much to overpopulation (the region is considered under-populated) as to a culture of killing anything that moved. Men were taught to take pleasure in it... once again, as an affirmation of their power. (What vanquished the American buffalo? A. Sport! And the decision to eradicate them!)
Furthermore, the Mendoza region was parched. It is a naturally rich alluvial plain all turned to a desert by the control paradigms of one very ancient society, the Incas. Later conquerors simply continued to use the ecologically destructive systems that they found... and today, what would be one of the most populous bird sanctuaries; is almost silent, except a small protected area.
This is the story over and over again. Elite resource and population control paradigms (and not indigenous societies/populations) are the problem… and the cultural and environmental legacies they leave in their wake.
WTF
exactly. but where are the bragging points today by 'bringing home the bacon' by way of a macdonalds, mediocre, high cholesterol, anitbiotic, steroid, preservative, hormone infected lump of crap? (and you don't even have to get out of your suv to get it)
All animals die and none know or care why they die. Only we know and care. The loss of species is not important except to us. When humans die off, and they will if species keep disappearing, the earth will go on and recover. It may take along time but none will be there to know or care how long it takes. Don't worry about the earth, worry about yourself. The earth is not in danger, we are. Ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee...
"The good news is that people in those crowded parts of the world will probably be the first to come up with socially acceptable reasons for eating human flesh, (there is a sect of mystics in India who filch tidbits off cremation ghats for spiritual reasons - it's a start)and devise creative ways of cooking to diguise the origin of the mystery meat.'
Actually, the 'socially acceptable' way was introduced into India by the Brahmins (who both defined 'socially acceptable' by virtue of superior acts of violence, and introduced human and animal sacrifice as a confirmation of power and the 'right to rule' -- just like it was being practiced in all other temple-based societies) who invaded from the North and introduced meat-eating to India!
Furthermore, there are sufficient 'leaks' in the system and sufficient evidence to assume that cannibalism is being practiced (just as it was in earlier times) in many places around the world. The temple elite were always cannibals. I see no reason whatsoever to assume that this practice has entirely ended.
Actually we all have the luxury of living in a part of the world where there still are animals living around us. And we have the luxury of being able to feel empathy for other creatures.
In the most densely populated parts of the world there is none of that sympathy for animals. There are no pets or companion animals. Even India with it's sacred cows, treats them abominably. Hindus don't eat them, they just sell them to Muslims when they are worn out.
In other countries people eat every blessed thing that walks, crawls, flies or swims. All life is only food. That is it's only value. So they don't care, this news is irrelevant to more than two thirds of the people in this world.
I was paddling around in a wetland in India. It was deathly quiet, not a single bird or amphibian, not a splash or ripple. My guide was bemused, how could I expect ducks, people would eat them? People in large parts of the world have just gotten used to animals being gone forever.
There are two problems. One these people do need to eat, so they need access to crop foods sufficient that they don't have to eat every dam duck in the pond. And they need to know that the duck is important to their local ecology as more than a source of protein. This is about is about education. Big job.
The good news is that people in those crowded parts of the world will probably be the first to come up with socially acceptable reasons for eating human flesh, (there is a sect of mystics in India who filch tidbits off cremation ghats for spiritual reasons - it's a start)and devise creative ways of cooking to diguise the origin of the mystery meat.
grandma wrote: Wrong, humans are omnivores, not herbivores. If you don't believe it google for Neanderthal,food or Cro-magnon,food. They were great hunters and made a lot of clever tools to do it with. Or simply look at the Lescaux caves in France. Plenty of hunting going on there.
Valid point, but this does not diminish in any way the fact that man is a herbivore.
So why the cave paintings? Could it be that man enjoyed killing, so much so that like today's man, he needed a trophy to display? We know that Neanderthals were socially competitive, and the ultimate bragging rights were secured by "bringing home the bacon".
While we are undoubtedly losing species at an extremely rapid rate, and while I am as deeply concerned and distressed about the loss of biodiversity as it is possible to be, and while I understand the need to jolt humanity into action, this report is seriously disingenuous. At this point in our knowledge about life on Earth, science can not tell us with reasonable accuracy, even to within an order of magnitude, how many species exist on our planet. Individual trees in tropical rainforests can contain as many as 2000 insect species each, with 80% of those insects unknown to science. The total number of insect species in the world's tropical rainforests is TOTALLY unknown - and that's just talking about insects and tropical rainforests. What about microscopic forms of life, what about coral reefs? Before you can talk about the rate at which species are disappearing, you have to know how many species exist to start with, and we are still a LONG, LONG way from that point.
iammyself,
I agree. Thank you.
ITSANAZIWORLDORDER
perhaps i should have quatified what i meant when i said it's too far out of control to control. there are far too many people now to educate (and convince) about the benefits of living with the earth and its fauna and flora. trying to get over 6 billion of us to suddenly change our ways overnight is a feat that personally i believe to be unachievable. and that is what it will take to stop the ravaging of our planet. overnight change.
as for the meat eaters reaching puberty four or more years earlier than herbivores, there are recorded incidents in italy of children less than two years old developing genitalia and breasts from being fed canned baby foods that included meat from calves etc.
CYON
i would love to convince you that things will go differently, but we have to face reality. the text of this article suggests that homo sapiens are responsible for the mass extinction currently taking place. and peoples' ignorance of the insects/animals/birds/fish/plants/trees etc that contribute to our well-being. we have somewhere along the line lost our relationship with nature and now depend far too much on technology. and yes, i am guilty of using that technology by way of this communication. but i maintain a profound link to all other aspects of the natural world. if all we had on this planet by way of technology was the internet and computers to communicate, i think we would be in far better shape than we are now..............
"Wrong, humans are omnivores, not herbivores."
"but it's possible that humans developed further than they did because we ate meat and so provided our brains with protein, essential for a really smart brain."
ALL life has protein. We do not actually digest animal proteins completely and that contributes to a number of debilitating conditions such as acidification and osteoporosis.
Next, MOST people were primary or exclusive plant eaters up until the advent of refrigeration. So the theory of the 'smart brain' is completely unsupported by the evidence. Also, there are many reports of elite insanity (those who consumed most of the meat)... and, dementia is also scientifically correlated with meat-eating.
The fact is, we were herbivores (being a member of the monkey family) and we still are: http://youtube.com/watch?v=05zhL1YUd8Q (good comic video by Dan Piraro)
______
The Natural Human Diet
According to biologists and anthropologists who study our anatomy and our evolutionary history, humans are herbivores who are not well suited to eating meat.
Unlike natural carnivores, we are physically and psychologically unable to rip animals limb from limb and eat and digest their raw flesh. Even cooked meat is likely to cause human beings, but not natural carnivores, to suffer from food poisoning, heart disease, and other ailments.
People who pride themselves on being part of the human hunter tradition should take a second look at the story of human evolution. Prehistoric evidence indicates that humans developed hunting skills relatively recently and that most of our short, meat-eating past was spent scavenging and eating almost anything in order to survive; even then, meat was a tiny part of our caloric intake.
Humans lack both the physical characteristics of carnivores and the instinct that drives them to kill animals and devour their raw carcasses. Ask yourself: When you see dead animals on the side of the road, are you tempted to stop for a snack? Does the sight of a dead bird make you salivate? Do you daydream about killing cows with your bare hands and eating them raw? If you answered "no" to all of these questions, congratulations, you're a normal human herbivore, like it or not. Humans were simply not designed to eat meat.
The above discussion from http://www.goveg.com/naturalhumandiet.asp
"I think there is plenty to go around and the earth can easily support the current human population if we learn how to fit in. On the other hand, if we continue to cause other species to go extinct, then so too will be our fate because we our connected with these other species and we need them more than they need us."
Excellent point Buffalo Ken, and better than declaring all a lost cause and doing nothing.
The truth is, no one knows the Earth's real carrying capacity. I think we can safely guesstimate that it can't support much more of us at the current rate of resource usage and waste. However, bending over and kissing our asses goodbye is a bit premature, IMO.
Thing is, we don't have to reinvent the wheel. There are peoples who have lived a certain way for many thousands of years, and have done so in a sustainable manner. I think it behooves us to learn from them and stop the insanity of our war on nature.
There is a movement afoot to reintroduce local small farming, micro-farming, back-yard farming. This movement also knows that big is not only NOT better, but rather, big is what ails us. We must get back down to human scale, and there are people out there whom we can learn from. The corporate model and the model of competition in everything - especially food - is a dead end (literally). The time of totalitarian agriculture must end. It is feeding the growth of everything - especially people. If we want human population to stop growing, we must go local or nothing we do short of genocide will stop it. That's the way nature is.
SocratesNV: "It's hard to accept that we will be the cause of our own demise, while taking many other life forms along with us. How utterly stupid and unnecessary."
Sounds like a terrorist/suicide bomber. Maybe if the terrorists can remove enough humans they may save the planet?
"So absent political actions what have you done personally and consistently around your own home to reverse this decline?"
Since species loss is directly tied to human resource abuses and destructions, my focus is to explain the underlying fallacies that bind us into the systems whereby we feel powerless to avoid participating in these abuses.
I attack it on many fronts. One obviously is to provide as much understanding to as many people as is possible.
I also use myself as an example, living according to my understanding as best I can given the limitations of my circumstances and make myself open/available to those who surround me; sharing my choices and the reasons for them.
It is an opportunity to have influence that is open to all.
So, my focus is not political but educational. I have prepared a hard hitting leaflet and distributed it at universities. If you would like a copy, let me know, I will email it.
The facts of the leaflet lay bare the fundamental fallacy of our non-ecological society… and it is formulated to be posted in medical centers, parks, libraries, etc.
I have written a number of programs, non-profit and for profit in attempts to make it easier (actually painless and fun) for communities to embrace ecological understanding.
I have written songs with my husband that contribute to ecological understanding. We have painted, and I have designed any number of artifacts to help communicate the ecological reality that is scrubbed from our corporate military worldviews.
I have written over a thousand postings (on Common Dreams and elsewhere) to help others grasp the importance of understanding human ecology.
I have contacted professors in many fields, activists, non-profits, etc.
I let my intuition guide me. Sometimes it wakes me in the night… I write, or draw.. or whatever is demanded… then execute, focus, listen, act… and I do expect to arrive… where we must all arrive… a member of a humanity once again grounded in the most basic fact of its own ecology; humans are herbivores with their very own unique (and wonderful) place in the earthly biosphere.
To: it'sanaziworldorder and others -
Wrong, humans are omnivores, not herbivores. If you don't believe it google for Neanderthal,food or Cro-magnon,food. They were great hunters and made a lot of clever tools to do it with. Or simply look at the Lescaux caves in France. Plenty of hunting going on there.
It's true that most primates are herbivores, (although chimpanzees eat termites, which they catch with sticks),
but it's possible that humans developed further than they did because we ate meat and so provided our brains with protein, essential for a really smart brain.
(Although I won't insist that we're really smart -)
Sorry about that -
truth monger wrote: Life on Earth would thrive without man.
This is true, but it will be a different to what lives now, and has lived for millions of years. But frankly, I do not see why life on earth should regress to the level of complexity that existed on the Earth to say the Cambrian, or 400 million years ago.
"You'd have to go back to the extinction of the dinosaurs to see a decline as rapid as this - Jonathan Loh
Not mentioned in the article, but perhaps y'all know, is that the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event was 65 million years ago.
Not 15,000 years ago during the last climate warming event. Not during any other interglacial period since C-T. This global extinction event is a direct result of man's influence upon his environment, including climate. Tell that to a climate change denier.
This global extinction event will be a geological event. In millions of years time, geologists will know this time line because it will be expressed in the geology. This time line will be relatively thin, perhaps only a few inches thick, and it will not only show that many/most of Earth species died off in a very short (geologically speaking) period of time, maybe 10,000 years, but it will also be full of exotic radioactive isotopes and organic compounds that do not otherwise exist anywhere else in the geological record.
Hopefully, homo sapiens will be among the extinct.
Life on Earth would thrive without man.
So absent political actions what have you done personally and consistently around your own home to reverse this decline?
"Can anyone PLEASE convince me that things will go differently?"
I'm working on it... and the more you work on it, the better you will get at being able (and positioned) to turn the tide... believe it or not, each person is potentially the one that can precipitate a landslide of change... we are aided by the fact that our change is mandated (and supported) by nature and so much easier to accomplish than not making the change.
Don't despair, gird yourself for the last mile and run like your life (and mine) depends upon it! Failure is Not an option!
"A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step"
But, this is a race so just plant your feet and head out... what you will need to learn will be apparent as you make the approach (or so I have always counseled myself in times of greatest despair and darkness).
"Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little."
Edmund J Burke
itsaNaziworldorder: Thanks for the information about humans as natural herbivores. I was skeptical at first, but am convinced. It certainly makes sense given all of the health problems associated with eating dead animal flesh.
Fakedemocracy: Does it really matter whether Chief Seattle said it or not? The truth of an argument doesn't depend on who says it. It's beautiful and true, and that should be enough.
All: I don't believe that humans can change their behavior soon enough to save themselves and the other inhabitants of our planet. I don't believe that we will suddenly wise up and realize our behavior must change. Where in human history is there evidence of such an awakening? Change will come when there is no alternative. We'll start using less petroleum when we can't afford to binge on it any longer. We'll stop eating meat when it's unaffordable. So many problems in human history might have been resolved if people understood how the compounding on a mass scale of apparently innocent individual behavior spelled doom. But it simply hasn't happend that way--yet. What hope is there that it will happen now? Climate change is a fact that we will have to adjust to. Those with fewer resources to adjust to it will suffer the most. The wealthy will find ways to insulate themselves from the worst of it. Meanwhile, I will work on voluntarily reducing my environmental footprint, but with the knowledge that it probably won't do any good. Can anyone PLEASE convince me that things will go differently?
The public rarely enjoins the true issues or do the politicians the reasons are clear. Special interests and "free enterprise" capitalism it is what this country has devised as worth living and dying for. The basis for the consumer ideology is energy in association with an auto-centered economy closes the circle. It uses the media to direct the public flow of the so-called truth and we have a perfect example of it in this political campaign. It is why Exxon Mobile is out of control and the public is given platitudes rather than help.
The media is out of control this election has shown us just how far it has gone to dumb-down the public. The recent move by ABC to remove candidates from the debates who voiced radical dissent was outrageous. Media is determining the fate of the country and the world by being mouthpiece for special interests and the government and silencing dissent by marginalization.
Media censure is unheard, the FCC should rule for the public good but like the EPA its teeth are continually d