Month: December 2014

A new year and hopefully an end to our childhood.

As 2014 comes to an end & we open the first pages of the new year stop for a few minutes reflect how far we have come. It’s only about six or seven thousand years since humans put the first pen to parchment or chisel to stone. We have a written history now digitized that spans only a few thousand years & cave paintings only a hundred thousand years.

We have sent spacecraft to Mars & even out of our solar system our potential is unlimited. We maybe the only intelligent life in the universe with billions of Earth like planets to explore. We are like teenagers full of potential but unaware of the risks we will face.

As we mature we must learn to live within our means, knowing that greed could destroy our destiny. We must develop a sustainable economy that provides enough for all to reach their full potential. We must protect the biodiversity that has nurtured our evolution.

If we can overcome this challenge our future will be rich beyond our dreams. We must leave our childhood behind & become adults. Sharing & fantastic universe with all lifeforms we will encounter on our journeys.

Climate Change 2014: What Do We Do Now?

GarryRogers Nature Conservation

We must not just reduce carbon emissions; we must also remove pollution already in the atmosphere.

Source: www.truth-out.org

GR:  The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says that we are past the point where cutting CO2 emissions is all we need to worry about.  Now we must somehow pull the CO2 out of the air.  And we need to act fast.

This article by Bruce Melton, Truthout, covers several additional critical elements of human-caused global climate change:  Importance of short-term cooling pollutants, dangers of natural gas, possibility of abrupt climate change, and the costs of removing CO2 from the air.  Very important reading if you want to know the tactics needed for our battle with climate change.  Please comment if you know of any progress on CO2 removal.

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Amazon deforestation obliterates soil biodiversity, with wider ecological implications

GarryRogers Nature Conservation

Deforestation in the Amazon leads to a substantial loss in microbial biodiversity potentially reducing the ecological resilience of affected areas, report researchers writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Source: news.mongabay.com

GR:  Soil microorganisms are essential for ecosystem stability and productivity.  They are subject to damage from deforestation, grazing, fire, and of course construction.  Recovery requires protection from further damage.

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