The ocean is dead; a yachtsman’s tale
By Birding-Aus, on October 22nd, 2013
I am sick and tired of hearing about Climate Change. The climate has been changing forever and will continue to do so. It is POLLUTION (the reduction of) that the Climate Change experts should be calling out for. Carbon is one of them, but plastic will kill us and all the creatures first. This is not a scientific observation it is a personal observation. Sadly Geoff Hutchinson =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) to: birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au http://birding-aus.org ===============================
This is true. Control of consumption is even more paramount, at least in the next 5 decades. Tim Flannery in The Weather Makers pointed out that the carbon footprint of a modern Chinese family, 2 adults and one child living in a concrete apartment block with a plasma TV, air conditioner and car in the basement is vastly higher than the traditional family with 3 or 4 generations under 1 roof and the pigs and chooks under the floor. He also pointed out, re the original Kyoto protocol target of a 5% reduction in CO2 vs. 1990 levels, that if everyone in the world was emitting at 5% below the per capita emissions of the United States in 1990, the total emissions would be 12 times what they were in 1990. At the moment, with industrialisation accelerating in China, India and even Africa now, that seems to be where we’re headed. —–Original Message—– Sent: Sunday, October 27, 2013 3:31 AM Cc: Birding Aus Morning all Population control is paramount to climate change. But so is control of consumption. As people enter middle class they adopt an ever-increasing desire for the trappings that signify their membership of this group. They have fewer children but they consume more meat and dairy products, and they buy more imported goods, cars etc. And millions more have adopted such a life style over the past couple of decades. People increasingly live in cities, and those cities are often constructed for cars. Take Palmerston near Darwin – there are whole suburbs without a supermarket. Public transport? It doesn’t really work well with low density housing which is basically what exists in most of that fast-growing city. “5 km an hour” architecture? I’ve not met one politician or developer, indeed anyone else, who’s even heard of it. And on food security: a 1994 book “Who Will Feed China?” was an eye-opener for me. Where once our Asian neighbours such as Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, and China, were self-sufficient in food, that is no longer the case, and a major reason is that cities tend to be built on agricultural land. Here in Australia the issue of food security often arises in the form of a debate over agricultural land being sold to overseas interests. However, again a much bigger issue should be the amount of agricultural land being swallowed up by development. And the amount destroyed by overgrazing – particularly problematic in times of drought – or by weeds such as Gamba Grass. Denise Lawungkurr Goodfellow PO Box 71, Darwin River, NT 0841 043 8650 835 On 26/10/13 9:10 PM, “Graeme Stevens” < gestev45@hotmail.com> wrote: =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org =============================== =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org ===============================
Morning all Population control is paramount to climate change. But so is control of consumption. As people enter middle class they adopt an ever-increasing desire for the trappings that signify their membership of this group. They have fewer children but they consume more meat and dairy products, and they buy more imported goods, cars etc. And millions more have adopted such a life style over the past couple of decades. People increasingly live in cities, and those cities are often constructed for cars. Take Palmerston near Darwin – there are whole suburbs without a supermarket. Public transport? It doesn’t really work well with low density housing which is basically what exists in most of that fast-growing city. “5 km an hour” architecture? I’ve not met one politician or developer, indeed anyone else, who’s even heard of it. And on food security: a 1994 book “Who Will Feed China?” was an eye-opener for me. Where once our Asian neighbours such as Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, and China, were self-sufficient in food, that is no longer the case, and a major reason is that cities tend to be built on agricultural land. Here in Australia the issue of food security often arises in the form of a debate over agricultural land being sold to overseas interests. However, again a much bigger issue should be the amount of agricultural land being swallowed up by development. And the amount destroyed by overgrazing – particularly problematic in times of drought – or by weeds such as Gamba Grass. Denise Lawungkurr Goodfellow PO Box 71, Darwin River, NT 0841 043 8650 835 On 26/10/13 9:10 PM, “Graeme Stevens” < gestev45@hotmail.com> wrote: =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org ===============================
I can but agree with Greg. While we should all do our best wherever we can with conservation issues etc, I do not understand the lack of focus on human populations and demographics (global overpopulation that is). Once it was an often discussed topical issue. Ref Paul Ehrlich’s “The Population Bomb” 1971. “limits to Growth” etc What happened? Who killed the debate? Did it become too politically incorrect, or are these views now considered irrelevant and dated? When a politician talks about food security, or the problems of increasing “illegal immigration” around the world in response to conflicts (often over resources), please give them a quick lesson on root cause analysis and chat about what the world will look like when the projected additional 2 billion mouths are added in the coming decades. Graeme Stevens =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org ===============================
Whatever. That’s just semantics. The point is that we should all do what we can to make them uncomfortable. Sent from my iPhone =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org ===============================
The main problem is that politicians are allowed into Government. As far as I am concerned, the deviant practice known as politics, should only be allowed in private, between consenting adults. On 23/10/2013, at 11:34, Andrew Hobbs < pardalote@iinet.net.au> wrote: =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org ===============================
It is not a lot of good blaming the politicians. We (collectively) get the politicians we (collectively) deserve. To a large extent they simply reflect community values. Sure, some, probably even a majority, are rather gullible and/or are not very good at critical appraisal of what is actually happening in the world, the looming crises. Education and publicity might help but I doubt it. I suspect a much more important reason is that most choose to ignore those problems. And I think they choose to ignore the situation because to admit it would mean that they would then have to do something about it, and that would threaten their comfortable way of life. As one person recently observed, “most people would be lining up to shovel baby fur seals into the furnace if it meant they could maintain their lifestyle just that little bit longer.” Andrew On 22/10/2013 7:25 PM, Tim Jones wrote: — *********************************************************** Andrew Hobbs pardalote@iinet.net.au *********************************************************** =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org ===============================
A few years back I attended a conference in Sydney run by the Society of Conservation Biology. As one speaker had cancelled an impromptu talk was arranged and it dealt with the taboo subject of ‘population’. Until the earth has a sustainable population we will continue to increase the effects of climate disruption, pollution of all types, loss of biodiversity due to habitat loss etc. This issue has to be addressed but if people won’t even discuss it then nothing can happen. I agree that we should all individually do our bit to reduce our footprint and to help repair natural ecosystems as to wait for leadership from the politicians is futile. The number of people out there who live in a world divorced from the reality of what is happening to us all, including them, is scary. Instead of accepting that climate disruption is contributing to more frequent and more sever natural disasters they choose to blame the authorities for not doing more hazard reduction burning (in respect to the current bushfires in NSW). Ignorance is bliss!!! Regards Greg Dr Greg. P. Clancy Ecologist and Birding-wildlife Guide | PO Box 63 Coutts Crossing NSW 2460 | 02 6649 3153 | 0429 601 960 http://www.gregclancyecologistguide.com —–Original Message—– Sent: Tuesday, October 22, 2013 10:25 PM Cc: birding-aus@vicnet.net.au I tend to agree and whilst the skeptics annoy me and I am certain man-made climate change is a reality, it’s just a symptom of the ever increasing recklessness with which we are treating our earth. However the constant debate about it has been exploited to obscure what we really need to do, which is to protect our environment and its diversity. I fear it’s way too late, but anyone with any interest in the future of our planet should be doing what they feasibly can, whether it’s voting green, donating to conservation or simply carrying out voluntary work. Our politicians must be brought to account for the insanity of what they are allowing to happen while others get on with whatever else can be achieved. We can’t save everything, but there must be a point at which some kind of equilibrium is reached, maybe even some improvement. And the point should be made, in any discussion, at any level. Sent from my iPad =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org =============================== =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org ===============================
I tend to agree and whilst the skeptics annoy me and I am certain man-made climate change is a reality, it’s just a symptom of the ever increasing recklessness with which we are treating our earth. However the constant debate about it has been exploited to obscure what we really need to do, which is to protect our environment and its diversity. I fear it’s way too late, but anyone with any interest in the future of our planet should be doing what they feasibly can, whether it’s voting green, donating to conservation or simply carrying out voluntary work. Our politicians must be brought to account for the insanity of what they are allowing to happen while others get on with whatever else can be achieved. We can’t save everything, but there must be a point at which some kind of equilibrium is reached, maybe even some improvement. And the point should be made, in any discussion, at any level. Sent from my iPad =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org ===============================
I don’t want to open up a big debate, but climate change has never occurred at this pace, and when it has been significant it has had a devastating effect on life. It is considerably more of a threat than plastic. And there are plenty of scientists and others warning about plastic as well. Eric Jeffrey Falls Church VA USA Sent from my iPhone =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org ===============================