Posted by edro on June 8, 2014
UDCCpf’s daily ‘podcasts’ are available to CJ Members, selected CASF members and authorized individuals only.
The Channel will be operated jointly by EDRO and FIRE-EARTH.
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Posted in energy, environment, future | Tagged: 8 June 2014, CJ Members, Disaster Forecast, FIRE-EARTH, Information, News, Super Secure Channel, UDCC | Leave a Comment »
Posted by edro on November 25, 2008
Severely degraded land. Photo: Unesco. Image may be subject to copyright.
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Posted in climate change, energy, future, lifestyle, Loss of topsoil | Tagged: 286W, desertification, First Wave of Collapsing Cities, Food Crisis, land degradation | Leave a Comment »
Posted by edro on November 17, 2008
The night skyline of Hong Kong, Victoria Harbour and Kowloon, as seen from Victoria Peak, the tallest mountain on Hong Kong Island. With a population of more than 7 million, HK is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. Author: Diliff. Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
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Posted in energy, environment, future, lifestyle, pollution | Tagged: dynamics of collapse, First Wave of Collapse, Hong Kong, large scale collapse, Megapolis | Leave a Comment »
Posted by feww on September 16, 2008
Volunteers from Transition Forest Row in East Sussex cut grass and weed around gooseberry bushes in a field loaned to them by a nearby college. (Courtesy of Mike Grenville). Source: Christian Science Monitor.
Christian Science Monitor published the following report about the “Transition Movement,” which apparently started in England and is becoming popular here in the US. (www.transitiontowns.org)
“Transition Towns (or districts, or islands) designate places where local groups have organized to embrace the challenge of adapting to a low-oil economy.” CSM reports. More …
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Posted in climate change, energy, environment, future, lifestyle | Tagged: 286W, First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities, Intelligent Communities, Transition Movement | Leave a Comment »
Posted by edro on September 16, 2008
Submitted by CASF Members Committee – edited for brevity
1. How much CO2 pollution did humans produce last year?
The 2007 total for anthropogenic CO2 pollution was 38,058.66 MMT [38,058,660,000,000 kg]
2. How much CO2 does my dollar make?
Each dollar you earned, or spent in 2007 produced about 1.3lb (584g) of CO2.
3. What’s the total value of the world’s financial assets, population and income?
4. Who was the largest single producer of CO2 pollution in the world?
Mr. Warren Buffett, aka the Sage of Omaha [Nebraska.] He, by way of his wealth, was responsible for producing at least 12,618,000 tons of CO2 [12.62 MMT of CO2] in 2007. Mr. Buffett’s pollution account balance put a new slant on “filthy rich.”
5. What group of people accounted for the highest per capita emission of CO2 in the World?
The world’s billionaires. The world had 1,125 billionaires in the 2007/2008 financial year, with the total assets of about $4.38 trillion. They produced a total 891.43 MMT of CO2 in 2007.
[Note: “The above figure is an abstraction. In reality, however, the world’s richest people are responsible for the bulk of CO2 pollution because as Praetorian Guards of the exponential growth economy they disallow and suppress any change to a sustainable system stifling all initiatives toward an eco-centered, low-carbon, ‘oikonomia,’ or economics for community.”]
6. What about the corporations?
The global 2000 companies and therefore their shareholders accounted for $30 trillion in revenues, $2.4 trillion in profits, $119 trillion in assets and $39 trillion in market value in 2007. [Source: Forbes.]
Therefore the world largest 2000 corporations were responsible for at least 65 percent of all man-made CO2 emissions in 2007—total CO2 emissions of about 24,738.13 MMT [24,738,129,000,000kg]
7. Can we meaningfully reduce our CO2 emissions?
Not without a complete change in our system of political economy [aka, exponential growth economy] and therefore the structure of government.
8. What is the role of government in all this?
The world governments are best described as mostly organized mercenary forces whose first priority is to protect the wealthy [who, for all intents and purposes, appoint them to office] against rest of the population. By extension, the governments’ protection of the wealthy and their money fetishism perpetuates the political economy and their illegitimate offsprings, the corporations, behind whose Alice-in-Wonderland legal defense mechanism the rich comfortably hide.
9. How could the world function without governments?
There is no reason why the governments must be elected from among the thugs and criminal elements. Instead, volunteer candidates could be elected to run the government, much in the same way as the NGO’s operate.
10. How do they make their decisions?
They don’t; the entire nations do. In the age of Internet there’s no reason why each issue of public interest cannot be put to a referendum. The job of volunteer governments is to ensure fair play. They, in turn, are supervised by other volunteers to prevent potential abuse.
11. Where would the corporations and all of their employees go?
In the absence of mercenary governments protecting the predatory corporate system, and in a healthy economic environment, where a system of economy working for the life communities has outmoded the prevailing political economy, most of the world’s corporations will end up in the dustbin of history. And rightly so!
Business that are beneficial to the life communities and do not cause any additional impact on the environment by way of their size, nature or scale of operation can re-organize as co-operatives and non-profit entities
12. What about our national security?
In a world savaged by human-induced climate catastrophes and human-enhanced natural ‘disasters,’ and in the absence of any foreign military threat to the United States, our leaders have proposed to spend our tax dollars (2009) as follows
Total Outlays (Federal Funds): $2,650 billion
MILITARY: 54% and $1,449 billion
NON-MILITARY: 46% and $1,210 billion [Source: War Resisters http://www.warresisters.org/pages/piechart.htm%5D
The United States transformed its economy into a permanent military economy after WWII with a lion’s share of its resources committed to military spending.
Here’s the dilemma:
A sane foreign policy would entail avoiding violence, rather than stirring chaos and starting wars so that the US can then intervene to end them. A peaceable United States, however, couldn’t justify an ever-growing military machine if there were no wars.
For the sake of protecting the military machine [and continue with the empire-building,] wars have become a permanent feature of world events.
As the overall size of the political economy grows, so does the need for creating more chaos and starting new wars through political deception and false-flag operations. Instead of ensuring national security and protecting the citizens, the military machine does its utmost to achieve the opposite result by endangering the country through creating wars and provoking violence throughout the world, simply to justify its own existence. Here is the classic example of “tail wagging the dog!”
To decrease the level of violence, the United States must undertake political and military decentralization. “Decentralization of the United States would also add to the security of other nations.” Say Herman E. Daly and John B. Cobb, Jr. in for the common good: redirecting the economy toward community, the environment, and a sustainable future.
“The United States has developed into a highly centralized society that could be virtually halted in its tracks by a few relatively small acts of sabotage. For example, the electrical grid on which the entire nation depends could be put out of commission [easily, by a determined saboteur.] A blackout would not stop the planes in the air or the tanks in the field, but the backup systems of communication, supply, and management would be disastrously disrupted. Yet defense planning pays little attention to these matters.” Say Daly and Cobb.
Aside from rare acts of sabotage, the disastrous impact of hurricane Ike on the power grid last week, which left up to 5 million people without power, should be a stark remainder and a wake-up call to how vulnerable our centralized power grid is to seasonal acts of nature, especially the natural phenomena enhanced by climate change.
Why isn’t decentralization happening? Daly and Cobb identify two major obstacles: “The first is the political power of groups that profit from military spending. The second is extreme difficulty of dealing in a humane way with the rapid shift in the whole economy.”
At least one of the two obstacles could be overcome, however. “If the United States makes a clean environment, human health, and community stability its goals, alone with a commitment to becoming more self-sufficient economically, the transition from a military economy to a civilian one may be affected without enormous pain.”
But how does more economic self-sufficiency help national security?
“… where there is economic self-sufficiency, national security need not involve fighting wars with distant enemies. It does not require the ability to conquer external powers. It requires only the ability to resist aggression against itself. Would the federation all 50 states be a likely victim of conquest? Would these states be in danger from Mexico or Canada?”
How do we protect ourselves and stabilize our world? What would it take to fight a war of aggression waged against us?
In a stable, demilitarized world, we would need only a small civil defense force to protect us against any aggression. Kirkpatrick Sale in Human Scale says: “The long human record suggests that the problem of defense and warfare is exacerbated, not solved, by the large state, and that smaller societies … tend to engage in fighting less and less violent consequences. Indicating that a world of human scale politics would not be a world without its conflicts and disputations, but would likely be a world of comparative stability.”
13. What sort of reduction in energy consumption and therefore the CO2 emission levels could we expect if we created all of the above changes?
The Committee Members of Creating A Sustainable Future [what’s left of the future, AAR,] believe that if we the people
If our energy abuse ends, the world demand for energy could fall by as much as 80-90 percent, resulting in CO2 emission levels approaching zero.
Posted in economy, energy, environment, future, lifestyle | Tagged: CO2 pollution, corporations, government, money, Sustainable Models | 25 Comments »
Posted by edro on September 14, 2008
The following image relates to a comment made by Cynthia Beal on The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
Ike was here! (Matt Slocum / Associated Press). Image may be subject to copyright.
Floodwaters brought by Hurricane Ike cover a cemetery in Orange, Texas. September 14, 2008. (Smiley N. Pool/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images). Image may be subject to copyright.
George Levias, 75, moves a cross from an exposed casket as he looks for a headstone at the Hollywood Cemetery in Orange, Texas. Several caskets were exposed after Hurricane Ike caused flooding in the area. September 15, 2008 (Eric Gay/Associated Press). Image may be subject to copyright.
Posted in climate change, energy, environment, future, lifestyle | Tagged: First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities, flooding, huricane ike, Nightmare Scenario, rick parry | Leave a Comment »
Posted by edro on September 11, 2008
Within the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a nearby and irregularly-shaped galaxy seen in the Southern Hemisphere, lies a star-forming region heavily obscured by interstellar dust. NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope has used its infrared eyes to poke through the cosmic veil to reveal a striking nebula where the entire lifecycle of stars is seen in splendid detail.
The LMC is a small satellite galaxy gravitationally bound to our own Milky Way. Yet the gravitational effects are tearing the companion to shreds in a long-playing drama of ‘intergalactic cannibalism.’ These disruptions lead to a recurring cycle of star birth and star death. (Source)
Image Details
Object Name: Henize 206
Object Type: Star formation region in an emission nebula
Position (J2000): RA: 05h31m15.2s Dec: -71d03m58s
Distance: 163,000 light-years (50 kiloparsecs)
Constellation: Dorado (the Dolphinfish)
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/V. Gorjian (JPL)
NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope has captured these infrared images of the “Whirlpool Galaxy,” revealing strange structures bridging the gaps between the dust-rich spiral arms, and tracing the dust, gas and stellar populations in both the bright spiral galaxy and its companion. (Source)
Image Details
Object Name: Messier 51
Object Type: Galaxy Pair
Position (J2000): RA: 13h29m55.7s Dec: +47d13m53s
Distance: 37,000,000 light-years or 11 Mpc
Magnitude: 8.4
Constellation: Canes Venatici
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Kennicutt (Univ. of Arizona)
Posted in 286W, big bang, Cosmic Scheme, energy, environment, future | Tagged: altruistic, ethical, Henize, Spiral galaxy M51, the cosmos | 1 Comment »
Posted by edro on September 5, 2008
The most highly sought after technology in the next 12 – 24 months could be VLS accelerated hydroponics. That is the know-how to produce large amounts of food in confined (or semi-confined) environments within a short time cycle and without the need for soil.
VLS: Very Large Scale
Posted in atmosphere, climate change, economy, energy, environment, future, lifestyle, pollution, soil, war | Tagged: Environmental Chaos, food production, hydroponics, topsoil, VLS accelerated hydroponics | Leave a Comment »
Posted by edro on September 5, 2008
Haiti’s second city, Gonaives, was deluged by Hurricane Hanna. Image: Matthew Marek/American Red Cross. Source:BBC. Image may be subject to copyright.
Haiti – Two hurricanes, Gustav and Hanna, struck the Caribbean’s poorest nation in little over 4 days, just two weeks after tropical storm Fay had already drenched the country. the hurricanes left at least 200 people dead. The death toll could still climb substantially as thousands of people who escaped to rooftops to avoid rising floodwaters continue to starve. See: Hungry Haitian Flood Victims Stranded on Rooftops.
In 2004, after Hurricane Jeanne struck the city of Gonaïves causing widespread floods and mudslides, more than than 3000 people died.
People seek refuge from flood waters in east Nepal August 24, 2008. Twenty-four bodies have been discovered washed away by Koshi River at the Nepal-India border according to local media. More than 20,000 thousand people have been displaced due to a flooding after a dam burst. REUTERS/Nepal Army 11 Brigade/Handout (NEPAL). FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS.
Nepal – An appeal for assistance for Koshi flood affected people in eastern Nepal has been made by: WFP, FAO, UNICEF, WHO, OCHA, and OXFAM for a total of US$10,102,485.
[Note: The more experienced agencies never publish the required aid money in figures that are rounded to nearest thousands—,000.]
India – The flooding in the Bihar state of India has affected an estimated three million people. Without clean water, food, medicines and shelter many of them will perish.
A flood-affected man takes a nap outside a flood relief camp in Jankinagar village of Purniya district in the eastern Indian state of Bihar, September 3, 2008. REUTERS/Rupak De Chowdhuri. Image may be subject to copyright.
People walk past a destroyed car as Hurricane Gustav passes in Los Palacios, 100 km (62 miles) west of Havana August 30, 2008. The Category 4 storm swept across Cuba in a matter of hours and now poses a threat to Gulf oil fields on a projected path that could take it ashore near New Orleans, still recovering from Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. REUTERS/Claudia Daut (CUBA)
Cuba – Hurricane Gustav destroyed or damaged about 100,000 homes in Cuba. Pinar del Río province was the hardest hit with its share of 70,000, and a total of about 500 damaged schools. In the municipality of Isla de la Juventud about half of the houses were damaged. In the municipality of Los Palacios 80 percent of the 13,000 homes were damaged, some 6,000 were completely destroyed.
A man rows a boat in a flooded street of Puerto Saavedra town in southern Chile September 3, 2008. Hundreds of people were forced to leave their homes during the storms that hit parts of Chile, according to local media. REUTERS/Victor Ruiz Caballero. Image may be subject to copyright.
Chile – About 100,000 people have been affected by torrential rains in Chile, the worst in living memory; four people drowned.
In Araucania region, 700 km south of Santiago, rain has damaged about 10,000 homes, flooded rivers and canals, blocked roadways, destroyed bridges and inundated more than 200,000 hectares of farmland.
President Michelle Bachelet designated the region as a “catastrophe zone” on Wednesday.
Two hurricanes, Gustav and Hanna, struck the Caribbean’s poorest nation in little over 4 days, about two weeks after tropical storm Fay had already drenched the country.
Posted in atmosphere, climate change, economy, energy, environment, future, lifestyle, soil, war | Tagged: Araucania, Chile, Cuba, FAO, floodwaters, haiti, India Bihar state, Isla de la Juventud, natural disasters, Nepal, OCHA, OXFAM, UNICEF, WFP, WHO | Leave a Comment »
Posted by edro on August 21, 2008
Yet, our top scientists want to preserve the economic system, instead of sustaining life on Earth!
Instead of urging an immediate end to the exponential growth economy and demanding a zero-growth, low carbon, waste-free oikonomia for managing the environment, welfare of humans and other living species, and a system of ‘housekeeping’ for the planet’s natural resources to sustain life on Earth, the country’s top scientists are looking for ways of serving the economic Titanic.
Read Original Entry: Protect Economy from Climate??!
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Posted in atmosphere, climate change, economy, energy, environment, future, lifestyle, pollution, soil, war | Tagged: carbon dioxide emissions, carbon footprint only, Environmental Cost of US Economy, exponential growth economy, failing ecosystems, low carbon, Mass Extinction, okonomia, US GDP, Virtual CO2 content of US dollar, waste-free, water, zero-growth | Leave a Comment »
Posted by msrb on August 18, 2008
Irrigating urban agricultural land with untreated wastewater!
A new 53-city study conducted by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) reveals that about 80 percent of the cities studied use untreated or partially diluted wastewater for agriculture. At least 50 percent of the urban agricultural land in those cities is irrigated with raw or diluted wastewater.
“Irrigating with wastewater isn’t a rare practice limited to a few of the poorest countries. It’s a widespread phenomenon, occurring on 20 million hectares across the developing world, especially in Asian countries, like China, India and Vietnam, but also around nearly every city of sub-Saharan Africa and in many Latin American cities as well,” said IWMI researcher Liqa Raschid-Sally.
“It’s a widespread phenomenon, occurring on 20 million hectares (50 million acres) across the developing world, especially in Asian countries, like China, India and Vietnam, but also around nearly every city of sub-Saharan Africa and in many Latin American cities as well.”
Wastewater is most commonly used to produce vegetables and cereals, especially rice, pose a health threat to the farmers as well as the consumers.
“The negative and positive implications of wastewater agriculture have only recently received attention. This study offers the first comprehensive, cross-country analysis of the conditions that account for the practice and the difficult tradeoffs that arise from it,” said Colin Chartres, director general of IWMI.
About 200,000 people in Accra, 10 percent of the urban population of Ghana’s capital city, consume vegetables produced on just 100 hectares of urban agricultural land, which is irrigated with wastewater, according to the IWMI report. “That gives you an idea of the large potential of wastewater agriculture for both helping and hurting great numbers of urban consumers.” Raschid-Sally said.
“And it isn’t just affluent consumers of exotic vegetables whose welfare is at stake. Poor consumers of inexpensive street food also depend on urban agriculture.” She reported.
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Posted in 286W, Accra, climate change, economy, energy, environment, future, ghana, lifestyle, pollution, soil | Tagged: cereals, china, Cities Collapse Engine, collapsing cities, First Wave of Collapse, India, IWMI, Japan, large scale collapse, Latin America, Liqa Raschid-Sally, Quick Fix, raw vegetables, rice, Spread of pandemic diseases, sub-Saharan Africa, untreated wastewater, urban agriculture, urban population, Vietnam, Water Cycle, water scarcity | 1 Comment »
Posted by edro on August 13, 2008
Original Entry:
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Posted in atmosphere, climate change, economy, energy, future, lifestyle, pollution, soil, war | Tagged: air pollution, CO2, food scarcity, freshwater, GHG, Global Warming, health, rising sea level, shelter, Tuvalu | Leave a Comment »
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