Eye on the Ball– #ClimateChange, #Biodiversity, #NatureConservation, & #SarahPalin

Posted on January 25, 2016 by GarryRogers

Nature Conservation

The excellent article introduced below is about nature conservation from the human viewpoint. The argument is that the current mass extinction of wild plants and animals has harmful consequences for the future of the human species. It most certainly has, but the author’s desire to inform his audience misses its target because it gives a biased view of the problem. The article does not consider the rights of other species. This “homocentric” view of nature assumes that disappearance of other creatures is only important if it endangers humans.

Aldo Leopold and other conservationists realized that this viewpoint is unsustainable. Unless we accept the equality of all Earth’s species, including our own, our conservation efforts will always fail. With its runaway enthusiasm for untested proposals, our species will take chances with the lives of other species. Experiments aimed only at benefiting our species, experiments that do not respect the rights of other species, experiments that will sometimes have unforeseen consequences, will gradually nibble away at nature until our ecosystems collapse and wash into the sea (carrying us with it).

Unless we begin to respect the rights of all species, we will exert constant damage on the Earth and ourselves.

Our real Sarah Palin nightmare: We debate sideshows and phony problems — while this very real threat looms undiscussed

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, right, endorses Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during a rally at the Iowa State University, Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2016, in Ames, Iowa. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

“It’s an amazing fact that the contemporary world is marked by a growing number of problems that are genuinely global in scope. Some of these problems even have existential implications for the survival of human civilization — yet instead we spend too much time discussing smaller threats, including North Korea, ISIS, Oregon militias and even Sarah Palin. One such problem is anthropogenic climate change — a catastrophe whose effects are anticipated to be “severe,” “pervasive” and “irreversible.”

“But climate change isn’t the only problem of this sort. In fact, for many who spend their lives studying environmental issues, it can be frustrating to see climate change — a highly contentious issue among non-experts, despite a scientific consensus about its reality and causes — dominate the public discussion. The fact is that biodiversity loss constitutes an equally worrisome (albeit related) threat to the future of humanity.

“Consider some cold hard facts. According to the 3rd Global Biodiversity Report (GBO-3), the total population of vertebrates — a broad category that includes mammals, birds, reptiles, sharks, rays and amphibians — living within the tropics declined by a shocking 59% from 1970 to 2006. Take a moment to let this sink in. In only 36 years, more than half of the vertebrate population between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Tropic of Cancer disappeared.”— Read More: Phil Torres, Salon.

Links:

Population

Conservation

Loss of Biodiversity and Extinctions — Global Issues

Posted on January 23, 2016 by GarryRogers

The loss of biodiversity is increasing. There is massive extinction from human activity. www.globalissues.org

GR: Here’s another good source of information.

Forest Services tries to cover its tracks on Wolf Creek

Posted on January 18, 2016 by GarryRogers

It is not surprising that the U. S. Forest Service sided with a wealthy developer rather than with the resource and the public. Are we angry yet?

Summit County Citizens Voice

A controversial plan to develop private real estate near Wolf Creek Ski Area is on hold for now.

Paper trail shows agency hid and likely destroyed records related to controversial development proposal in Colorado’s San Juan Mountains

Staff Report

Environmental and community activists opposed to a massive real estate development in southern Colorado say they have new evidence that the U.S. Forest Service tried to cover up how political influence tainted several steps of the approval process for the project.

A review of more than 60,000 pages documents obtained under a Freedom of Information Act request and a subsequent court order shows that the Forest Service deliberately concealed and destroyed records related to the Village at Wolf Creek development project.

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Five trends that will define the world’s forests in 2016

Posted on January 18, 2016 by GarryRogers

From drought to economic slowdown, 2016 promises a mixed bag for the world’s forests. theconversation.com

GR: Here are five important issues that set the stage for the future of our forests. I want to add two even more important issues. We must accept that the stage itself is changing as global warming continues and the growing human population’s demand for food increases. Perhaps it’s a passing mood, but today the outlook for our forests and all their creatures appears dark. Their demise is accelerating, and it just seems that too few people care enough to take action to reduce our population or its needs.

Balancing hydropower and biodiversity in the Amazon, Congo, and Mekong

Posted on January 13, 2016 by GarryRogers

Construction of Santo Antônio Dam in Brazil

GR: Why don’t conservationists give up their pleas for river ecosystems. After a century of effort, they should have learned that investors will do nothing that might jeopardize profits.

From Science Policy Forum: “The world’s most biodiverse river basins—the Amazon, Congo, and Mekong—are experiencing an unprecedented boom in hydropower dam construction. These projects address important energy needs, but advocates often overestimate economic benefits and underestimate far-reaching effects on biodiversity and critically important fisheries.

“We call for more sophisticated and holistic hydropower planning, including validation of technologies intended to mitigate environmental impacts.” –Authored by 38 scientists.

Brazil inflames forest fires with pro-deforestation laws

Posted on January 13, 2016 by GarryRogers

New laws under consideration will likely spark more tree-cutting − despite serious drought already contributing to a big increase in vast destructive fires.

Of last year’s fires, 8,000 occurred in the central region, where the states of Maranhão, Tocantins, Piauí and Bahia share borders. This area, which encroaches on the cerrado, a vast tropical savanna ecoregion that is one of Brazil’s most threatened biomes, has become a fast-developing new agricultural powerhouse, producing soy, maize and cotton. From: www.climatechangenews.com

GR: Toxic wastes, global warming, livestock grazing, and farming are eliminating forests, shrublands, grasslands, and soils. The losses are heartbreaking. The realization that instead of slowing or stopping the losses are accelerating is dumbfounding.

Numbers dwindle at Mexico’s mountain of butterflies

Posted on January 9, 2016 by GarryRogers

“The number of Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) wintering in Mexico plunged this year to its lowest level since studies began in 1993, leading experts to announce Wednesday that the insects’ annual migration from the United States and Canada is in danger of disappearing.

“A study released by the World Wildlife Fund, Mexico’s Environment Department and the Natural Protected Areas Commission blames the displacement of the milkweed the species feeds on by genetically modified crops and urban sprawl in the United States, as well as the dramatic reduction of the butterflies’ habitat in Mexico due to illegal logging of the trees they depend on for shelter.” From: www.theguardian.com

GR: This Guardian story is worth repeating. It covers the situation very well. It highlights the conservation failure of NAFTA and the disastrous consequences of Monsanto’s war on wildlife. Of course, the Monarch, like the Honey Bees, is just one of the many species being destroyed by pesticides and destructive harvest of the natural environment.

Deepwater Horizon On Land: Porter Ranch’s Neverending Gas Leak Prompts California State of Emergency

Posted on January 7, 2016 by GarryRogers

Dec. 12 demonstration at the SoCalGas Porter Ranch site (Alan Weiner, 350.org)

GR: Energy industry lies might be the most reprehensible in their consequences for the global environment and all its species. However, they resemble the lies told by the chemical industry about pesticides, the lies told by the financial institutions about economic affairs, the lies told by the arms industry about the need for weapons and military support in other countries, the lies told by the insurance industry in its efforts to collect premiums but not fulfill obligations, and the lies of our elected representatives who protect the corporations that fund their power and lifestyles. The cumulative effect of the lies by our major corporations (e.g., VW) is that people are losing respect for the industries they support through their labor and consumption. I don’t think “Made in America” means what it did when I was a beginning consumer. Here are a few stories on divesting as a means to limit the power of our untrustworthy industries (https://garryrogers.com/?s=divest&submit=Search).

robertscribbler

It’s the gas leak that just won’t end. One whose impacts have now become so wide-ranging that it has prompted California governor Brown to issue a declaration of emergency. But, even with vast state resources now in place to help deal with this disaster, the impacts are likely to be long-lasting and far-reaching. Serious impacts both to public health and to California’s contribution to global atmospheric, oceanic, and glacial warming.

A Dangerous Industry With Long-Lasting Impacts

(The Environmental Defense Fund issued this aerial infrared footage of a massive gas leak at Porter Ranch, California. In total, more than 250 million pounds of the gas has already leaked from the disaster site — increasing California’s greenhouse gas emissions by more than 25 percent, sickening hundreds of local residents, and forcing the evacuation of more than 2,000 homes. Video Source: The Environmental Defense Fund.)

Poking holes in the Earth or…

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