By: Stewart Brennan
Is it just me, or does anyone else get sick to their stomachs when American President George Bush or Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper open their foul mouths about being World leaders in the battle against Global Warming and Climate Change? They never address the real issues such as growing pollution, deforestation, or realistic planning on energy requirements. Given their poor records in other humanitarian areas, I would say that they do not really care about the fate of humanity at all.
Global Warming and Climate change are Important Questions to discuss but what are the REAL Underlying culprits and or causes?
There are a lot of arguments that point to the symptoms of “Climate Change” with just as many conflicting opinions against. Many people argue on statements from points of knowledge while others argue from positions of strong belief.
I think we need to look at this topic from a different perspective. If we are to take things seriously, we need to be logical in our approach and ask the right questions. The questions we should be asking are; does an increasing World Population have an increasing demand for consumer products? Are we creating more waste, garbage and pollution because of our increasing demands? What is happening to the waste we are creating? Will the demands on our resources decline? What happens if our natural resources, such as oil, if they decline considerably from demand? Can we organize and change?
To some, more garbage means more jobs, to others; more garbage means more air, soil and water pollution. Are we in a hurry to profit while overlooking the impact our demands are having on the environment, or should we regulate our production in an environmental direction. The issues should not create division between us, but bring us together to solve the problems. Cooperation and progress starts with agreement and a blank sheet.
Population:
We are about 6.5 Billion people in the World today and rising. Global population numbers cannot increase forever. To the free market capitalists and Imperialists that means more money from the products they sell. But for the planet, it means, increased demand for food, water, living space, and energy. There needs to be an equal amount of energy put into planning to offset the demand. The estimated population for 2050 is 9.1 billion, unless a major die off happens, or people abstain from procreation...the last example is of course a joke.
There are so many accelerated demands on our planets finite resources. I don’t know if we have passed a tipping point under the current world economic schemes and drivers or not, but I do know however, that if we continue on this wasteful path, we will ultimately destroy our environment and ourselves in the process. Our economic society with its corporate profit drivers will push our planet to the very brink of calamity if we do not agree to act on changing our habits.
The recent demand for material in the heavily populated nations of Asia are accelerating our Planet to a critical point. What is the root cause of this problem? Is it human demand, governing economic systems, Corporate Imperialism, or a combination of these things? Let’s not look at pointing fingers. Instead, lets look at solutions by working together.
Did I leave out oxygen?
Our planets oxygen supply is a process from our plants and vegetation in our forests and oceans that remove the carbon element from CO2 to create O2. If we continue to cut our forests down and poison our oceans to sustain our growing needs, something is going to give. What it boils down to is that there will be less oxygen in the atmosphere and more gases such as methane and CO2. Our symbiotic relationship with nature has become industrial and corrosive. The continued reduction of our forests and poisoning of our oceans along with increased CO2 and methane gases from decay are what we need to focus on. We need to reverse our destruction of nature or mankind will drive head first into a massive “Extinction Event”.
We are no longer able to maintain a steady supply of materials to the growing demand without grave consequences to the supply area. We are going to have to change our habits and give up some of the luxuries we enjoy if we are to make a significant lasting change to our continued survival. At some point in the near future, areas of the World will no longer be able to sustain themselves with even the basic fundamentals for survival, “Food, and Water”. Many people choose to ignore this fact but it is already happening in parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
China has recently moved into the Industrial age from an agricultural society. In 30 short years, the demand for food has begun outstripping their domestic ability to supply itself. China and many countries including the United States, import a large portion of food to sustain its demand.
Growing areas on the Planet must increase to match the increase in population, which means more deforestation. The burden on our oceans also poses problems from over fishing and bottom dredging.
Solutions:
The real solutions will come from people like you! People show a willingness to tackle menacing problems together, but right now the American, and Canadian Governments are stopping us from solving these problems by procrastinating and pretending they have a plan.
Making society efficient is up to all of us. We need to take an active role in maintaining and improving our recycling systems. It isn’t enough however for just you and I to make these changes. We need strict laws to regulate corporate waste plans and a Research Institution for structural planning with research results turned into reality. The goal is zero waste or as close to zero waste as you can possibly get. I think we need to TELL our governments to create this institution where our best and brightest gather to tackle these important issues. Call it a concrete address for us to send ideas to or visit with a garage built contraption. Are you with me?
Stewart
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
This is a reply to: The Climate Change Peril that Insurers See – Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/26/AR2007092602070.html