Planet Earth

[desiderata]

I listened to a discussion on NPR Radio that to slow our carbon footprint we should not bring children into this world. Makes sense as long as its not my children or possible grandchildren. What was said after that shocked me and should be taken in context, and that is to totally stop our own carbon footprint would be to take our own life. Quite a bit drastic. However, if you think of our planet without mankind, it would heal itself relatively quickly. I think the key is coexistence with everything in the natural world. To eradicate a species, harm the air and water, even ourselves is not the answer. That is up to the fate of our planet and evolution, which is out of our control.

 

[Daniel E.]

Personally, I have never been a big fan of mother nature entirely. So much suffering out there in wildlife, e.g. many predators die of starvation.

I listened to a discussion on NPR Radio that to slow our carbon footprint we should not bring children into this world. Makes sense as long as its not my children or possible grandchildren. What was said after that shocked me and should be taken in context, and that is to totally stop our own carbon footprint would be to take our own life. Quite a bit drastic.

Yes, very drastic. Seems like we need more people/brains so we have better scientists This is a point made by John Stossel and others.

Arguably, any individual can have a positive impact on the environment overall, such as by investing in pro-climate stocks ("green investing") or having children who will invent new technologies. On a smaller scale, I have a debit card that gives the extra change for each purchase to growing trees.

Some scientists are already working on colonizing Mars. There is the SpaceX research, and there is a biodome in my state of Arizona to research aspects of colonization like growing our own food on Mars or anywhere else off-planet.

In the very, very, very long term, we will need as a species to leave Earth eventually.

Climate change mitigation - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Biosphere 2 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

SpaceX

SpaceX designs, manufactures and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft.

www.spacex.com

Space colonization - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[David Baxter PhD]

There are a LOT of things we can do without stopping reproduction.

And in fact here in Canada, without immigration, our birth rate isn't high enough to replenish the population.

 

[Daniel E.]

A similar idea for the US:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082ZR6827/?tag=psychlinks05-20

BTW, my hope for future generations 🚀

 

[desiderata]

I just came away from listening to the author that over a human lifetime, the average person will take and harm the planet more than help it. It saddened me that there is truth to this.

 

[Daniel E.]

What has depressed me the most about climate change is wildlife being on fire, such as in Australia and California.

Bill Gates is going to be on 60 Minutes this Sunday about his hopes for climate mitigation. His new book is coming out on Tuesday:



https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07YRY461Y/?tag=psychlinks05-20

 

[David Baxter PhD]

I just came away from listening to the author that over a human lifetime, the average person will take and harm the planet more than help it. It saddened me that there is truth to this.

We have a choice, though. None of us has to be that average person.

I'm at an age where not only are my children grown but my first grandchild has come along and is now 2 1/2. I am more aware than ever now about the question of what type of world will he grow up ion? What type of world are we as a species leaving for him and his peers?

 

[Daniel E.]

Animals: Climate Change’s Other Victims

Animals: Climate Change’s Other Victims by Bruce Roney, President & CEO, Ottawa Humane Society Aug 27, 2020 Lately, I find the news exceedingly depressing: so many stories of illness, death and destruction. Adding to the long list of heartbreaking news...

forum.psychlinks.ca

 

[Daniel E.]

 

[Daniel E.]

Nine Reasons We’re Grateful to Live on Earth - NASA

Earth can sometimes feel like the last place you’d want to be. Indeed, a number of explorers have devised inventive ways to move civilization off this planet.

www.nasa.gov

With more than 4,000 planets discovered so far outside our solar system, called “exoplanets,” we don’t know of any that offers the comforts of Earthly living — and many would be downright nightmares.

 

[Daniel E.]

I think the key is coexistence with everything in the natural world. To eradicate a species, harm the air and water, even ourselves is not the answer. That is up to the fate of our planet and evolution, which is out of our control.

On that note:

“Nature is part our humanity, and without some awareness and experience of that divine mystery man ceases to be man. When the Pleiades and the wind in the grass are no longer a part of the human spirit, a part of very flesh and bone, man becomes, as it were, a kind of cosmic outlaw, having neither the completeness and integrity of the animal nor the birthright of a true humanity.”

― Henry Beston, The Outermost House: A Year of Life on the Great Beach of Cape Cod

 

[Daniel E.]

The rare spots of good news on climate change

It looks increasingly clear that we'll at least sidestep the worst-case scenarios.

www.technologyreview.com

It looks increasingly clear that we'll at least sidestep the worst-case scenarios....

The grimmest scenarios that many fretted about just a few years ago look increasingly unlikely. That includes the 4 or 5 °C of warming this century that I and others previously highlighted as a possibility...

And here’s an important and counterintuitive finding: While dangerous, extreme weather events are becoming increasingly common or severe, the world seems to be getting a lot better at keeping people safer from them. The average number of deaths from natural disasters has generally dropped sharply in recent decades...

With the right investments into climate adaption measures like seawalls and community cooling centers, we’ll be able to manage some of the increased risks we’ll face. Rich nations that have emitted the most greenhouse gases, however, must provide financial assistance to help poor countries bolster their defenses...

A 3 °C warmer world is a much more livable place than a 5 °C warmer one, and a far more promising starting line for getting to 2 °C...

It’s a cruel and dangerous fantasy that we’ll ever halt climate change by counting on or forcing people to live impoverished lives, forgoing food, medicine, heating, or air conditioning in an increasingly erratic and menacing world.

We need more activist pressure and more aggressive climate policies to confront the threats of climate change. But ultimately, we must invent and build our way out of the problem. And the rare bright spot of good news is that we’re beginning to see evidence that we can.

 

[Daniel E.]

Celebrity lifestyle increases global warming: New study flight-shames Bill Gates and Paris Hilton

While Greta Thunberg and the kids are out marching for climate change to be taken seriously, celebrities like Bill Gates and Paris Hilton continue flying like the world has no limits.

sciencenorway.no

"Around 50 people own as much as half of the Earth's inhabitants."

"Some of them have so much money that they single handedly could set up a system for producing flight fuel that was sustainable. But they don’t. They choose to live within the current system."

 

[Daniel E.]

To be fully human, we must also be fully embodied animal | Aeon Essays

Human exceptionalism is dead: for the sake of our own happiness and the planet we should embrace our true animal nature

aeon.co

Our planet’s biomass of mammals now breaks down into a mere 4 per cent wild species, around 30 per cent humans, and the rest are animals we produce for food.