tagged w/ Blog Action Day
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It is a tragic scenario we see playing out on our only home. With new predictions from scientists that Arctic glaciers may be gone within 30-40 years and other glaciers around the world melting three times faster than worse case scenarios what are we going to do to preserve the dwindling freshwater resources we are certain to see strained in the next fifteen to twenty years even more than they are now? These glaciers are the water source for over two billion people on our planet and they are shrinking faster every year not only through glacier melt but a melting will to do the right thing and to face this crisis head on.
One-third of the world’s population is now in need of potable water which was a scenario not predicted to happen until around 2025 and which is now predicted to get worse unless things change drastically. There are 2.6 billion people on our planet without even basic sanitation! What does that say about our moral conscience and our priorities? We are nearly twenty years ahead of predictions on the effects of this crisis and yet we are woefully unprepared for the consequences. There is no other way to state this: unless we work to solve this global water crisis now in an equitable way, many of the poor and malnourished in our world where this crisis is most dire will die.
We are reaching the breaking point in many areas of our world due to waste, pollution, mismanagement, lack of water infrastructure, dams, inadequate water infrastructure and privitization which is an inhumane abridgement of global human rights. And now, the ever encroaching spectre of climate change threatens our very relationship to the planet we call home in ways we could not have imagined just thirty years ago. So what accounts for the lack of will in taking this on fully? Apart from political/ideological rancor, I believe it is basic misunderstanding by people (especially in America) that water is an infinite resource that we can continue to use without any concern for tomorrow.
It isn't. And we can't.
Therefore, areas where the poor are looking for a way to not only lift themselves out of poverty but also have a chance at survival must be shown ways to conserve water such as rain catchement, rain agriculture, and effective conservation. This also then ties into people in these areas having information about the climate crisis and its effects and how they can best deal with those effects. The Yellow River basin in China which feeds literally millions of people is just one example of resources exhausted to the point where they can no longer sustain life. Where would those millions of people go?
Just what are we doing?
Is it really that hard to bring better agricultural techniques to farmers in these countries? Is it really that hard to teach them how to deal with the effects of climate change? Is it really that hard to actually do as we say must be done?
* rain water agriculture- cheap, efficient, and saves water.
* rain water catchment (off houses and roads)- cheap, efficient, and saves water. And of course, the health and safety of those using it must also be taken into consideration.
* less water intensive crops farmed sustainably that yield more to give farmers more for their planting.
* pressure bought to bear on governments to shore up water infrastructure and work to eliminate corruption and mismanagement.
* planting trees in the most deforested areas to bring water to the source and provide sustinence.
* also providing information and services for women and men in third world countries regarding birth control and health and basic sanitation.
* and one very important goal, to include water and this crisis in any global climate negotiations!
These are just some ways to begin which are all possible, but like with anything else those involved in it must also feel hope for the future.
As to how that should happen, we need a "Global Water Marshall Plan" (reference to the Honorable Al Gore's term from his book Earth In The Balance) in our world where that truly holds polluters accountable and where we also work to bring water saving energy sources to areas that are parched, drought stricken and in need of water to grow food and live. This brings me to the subject of dam projects which are increasing exponentially in many developing countries in an effort to provide energy, only all they are doing in the process in many instances is taking away water sources from those who need it most to live and displacing millions of people from their homes and cultural centers.
Renewable energy (solar, wind, geothermal) and sustainable agriculture could go hand in hand in saving many people from starvation and death in these areas, but dams are not always the answer nor are they "green." Instead of simply jumping to this as a solution in order to make governments and contractors profit, we need to assess more accurately the true needs of the areas in question and work with the people of these areas taking their imput into account. There is too much emphasis on profit and not enough emphasis on caring about life.
The climate/water crisis will change our relationship to the planet and action must begin now or the need for water globally will far exceed capacity to provide it. By doing the moral thing we could actually decrease global demand by half. And part of this is in declaring water a GLOBAL human right which we are getting closer to as seen just recently in Geneva. That is crucial to equitable access and keeping scarce resources out of the hands of greedy corporations looking to make a profit off the hardship of others.
NO ONE in this world should have to die due to a lack of clean potable water!
However, before we can accomplish this we must admit to our human frailty, take responsibility for it, and work together as a global community in understanding that when our water resources are polluted, toxified, misused and used in violation of the rights of others that is in direct antithesis to our purpose on this planet. As I look out on the future of water even with the crisis we see before us, I do see countless people who revere it, cherish it, respect it and work diligently to preserve it. In this age we live in now where those forces making profit from doing the opposite become stronger, we must stand firm against them. We are being given a choice and we are at a crossroads as a species.
I think the choice is clear, and it is a choice we all have to make.
Water is sacred
Water is the lifeblood of our Earth
Water is life!It is a tragic scenario we see playing out on our only home. With new predictions from... more
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Today on the Water Is Life Group I will be participating in Blog Action Day and featuring entries that tell the story of water. The documentary, Flow For The Love Of Water will also be featured so if you have not seen this important documentary about what is happening to our water through privitization please try to make a point of doing so today.
There will be no more important a topic in our future than water. Energy is run by water. Agriculture is run by water. Our lives would not be liveable without water. Yet, so many people today in the 21st century still do not have this basic resource to sustain their lives and health with climate change now bringing new challenges.
So I hope that at least for today you will take some time to reconnect with the water that makes your life enjoyable, also respecting its awesome power, grace, and beauty. The lifeblood of our planet is a reflection of our morality and as it stands now it shows a species weak on that score. In order to preserve this planet for our future generations and all other species, we must begin to pay more attention to what sustains it.
Thanks.Today on the Water Is Life Group I will be participating in Blog Action Day and... more
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October 15, this Friday is Blog Action Day when thousands of voices across the Internet speak out for one important issue affecting us all. This year the issue is water, and it could not be a more important and crucial issue. From climate change, pollution, to privitization water is quickly becoming a resource we will have less of if we continue to ignore this defining issue of our future and that will leave us without a future. My blog will be participating in this and I hope if you have one you will sign up as well.October 15, this Friday is Blog Action Day when thousands of voices across the... more
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In honor of Blog Action Day, Current Green is featuring news and opinion pieces on Current’s Green channel, and featuring art and poetry on our blog. All Day long. The following poetry/powerpoint was submitted by Evangeline Alagabre.
Submitted by Annemieke of Mindstructures.
Tomorrow gone
The world is silent
No sound is heard
But the everlasting wind
The roads are long
No easy going
Struggle in a daily grind
Going down
Is less exhausting
Time to look around
Nothing certain
Just two feet
That toneless hit the ground
Forget to breath
So overwhelming
Is the view
Was it like that
The whole time
Or is the feeling new
Where does it stop
Or will it go
Forever on
Is it the same tomorrow
Or is it all
Tomorrow gone
Related content:
Miami Eco Art: (Video)
Exiled for Poems (video)
Erotic Poetry Group on CurrentIn honor of Blog Action Day, Current Green is featuring news and opinion pieces on... more
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In honor of Blog Action Day, Current Green is featuring news and opinion pieces on Current's Green channel, and featuring art and poetry on our blog. All Day long. The following poetry/powerpoint was submitted by Evangeline Alagabre.
Submitted by the thepoetryman.
In the throb of atmosphere
a rumbling has begun in the home,
the sanctuary of family and air
for exhaling away an aching world,
it's pressing in too tightly now
without kindness or acquittal.
Echoing behind our anxious eyes,
a wobble of fear; over the sky, over the fierce hue of time,
no break, no dawn. A vicious flailing- kindness, hope
joy, laughter, sold for days, minutes, seconds more;
bartered for an nth of miserable anger.
Humankind anon will scrape its lust with
the common shroud of coldness- the children
and their laughter, their dance and their patter,
the moon and stars and intercourse,
all a whisper, one god-awful unspoken bereavement.
No more sunrises or sunsets seen through fist-split eyes.
No more joy and laughter.
Here every lawn is trimmed, groomed like a preacher’s beard.
Trees replaced by tool sheds, garden plots shrunken, dead.
Shiny green pools, television screens as life-sized as bloodshed.
Everything is lighting our path away from home,
Away from blue skies, hummingbirds, eagles, peace.
The grand soaring birds of our story, screaming and plummeting
through the rooftops of our unspoken dreams...
In the throb of our air, a rumbling.
Related content:
Miami Eco Art: (Video)
Exiled for Poems (video)
Erotic Poetry Group on CurrentIn honor of Blog Action Day, Current Green is featuring news and opinion pieces on... more
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leahl
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In honor of Blog Action Day, Current Green is featuring news and opinion pieces on Current's Green channel, and featuring art and poetry on our blog. All Day long. The following poetry/powerpoint was submitted by Evangeline Alagabre.
This poem is written in Filipino and is about the aftermath of two killer typhoons in the Philippines.
Related content:
Miami Eco Art: (Video)
Exiled for Poems (video)
Erotic Poetry Group on Current
In honor of Blog Action Day, Current Green is featuring news and opinion pieces on... more
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leahl
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In honor of Blog Action Day, Current Green is featuring news and opinion pieces on Current's Green channel, and featuring art and poetry on our blog. All Day long. The following was commentary and poetry was submitted by Wolf e boy.
So, apparently it’s ‘blog action day’ all over the world on 15th October, an effort inspired by climate change campaigners to raise awareness of the ‘alleged’ impending doom befalling our supposedly stricken planet. I have to say, straight off the bat, I’ve long considered humans to be the worst disease this planet has to combat, so I’m tempted to view this whole climate change battle as more of a, ‘shit, what’s gonna happen to us’ debate really, while having the opinion that anything which wipes out the human race would, on the whole, be better for all other living creatures residing here.
The situation the human race now finds itself in is entirely man made, and while we’d all like to be able to point the finger, screaming with some kind of righteous indignation at the corporate super powers of industry, like British Petroleum, Tesco’s, Mac Donalds, Aviation industries, or even Starbucks, we conveniently neglect to mention that they’re all operated by human beings in the very ‘dog eat dog’ world of business.
So let’s consider that perhaps the millions of farm reared cattle can actually fart us out of existence, or that the billions of cars, trains, planes, motor bikes, and power stations will poison our air, land, and seas, so that the jet streams can then deliver these deadly toxins around the planet, or the Gulf stream ceases to flow, bringing on another ice age, maybe the opposite and global warming baking half of us to death in waves of ‘nucleur summers’. This planet has already had the global warming and ice age scenarios, before even we came along, and there’s a reasonable chance they’ll happen again, with or without our assistance.
One of the biggest problems we as a race have had to confront has been as a direct result of our so called ‘progress’. Going from a nomadic existence, where you lived off an area without decimating it, moving on to greener pastures, and allowing that area to recover, to a heavily populated city/town society based around industry and mass production to satiate all the needs of that ever increasing population.
Somewhere down the line it might occur to enough governments to send out the message not to have so many bloody children, and that some places on this planet were never supposed to have been populated in the first place. You can bet your boots that the nomadic African tribes, pre European interference, wouldn’t be hanging around during drought times, or floods. Much like the American plains Indians knew when to move on, and where best to go, before they were all but wiped out by the plague of Europeans ‘settling’ with their own style of population, shortly followed by industry. And think about the kind of people most likely to succeed in industry, opportunist, cut throat, self serving, and mainly avaricious
I don’t consider myself to be the problem, but I can’t escape the fact that, as a human being, I’m at least a part of it, so ought to try in my own way to limit what damage I do during my time here. And if that alone was the message for others, to just ‘do what you can’, then those that follow that way of thinking could at least sleep with a slightly easier conscience, whether it made a difference or not.
As it happens I have a ‘rant’ I’d written about this subject a few years back, so here it is below:-
Pay the price (written 02-11-2K)
Global warming’s cast its vote
So ditch the car and get a boat
Heed the warnings, read the signs
Of Mother earths new worry lines
Petty quarrels, status quo
You just won’t let your comforts go
Mudslides, floods, trees on the line
See it now, things aint just fine
Cars and chimneys billow smoke
And make this ailing planet choke
Then think about when we’re not here
As earth recovers year by year
From the human made disease
Which poisons air, and land, and seas
We’re the ones earth doesn’t need
Our self indulgent endless greed
We’ve turned into a selfish race
The natives now all but replaced
Once knew nomads how to live
And how much Mother earth could give
Take for need and not for greed
Reap then sow another seed
We’ve had our time but if we’ve failed
Get ready next to learn to SAIL
Related content:
Miami Eco Art: (Video)
Exiled for Poems (video)
Erotic Poetry Group on CurrentIn honor of Blog Action Day, Current Green is featuring news and opinion pieces on... more
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leahl
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I admit, it feels a little weird to say, "We're featuring posts on climate change on Thursday!" since after all...we feature content on climate change every day...but we are inspired by the theme, and are looking forward to participating in Blog Action Day!
There are 2 ways to participate:
1. Opinion/News Blog posts on our www.current.com/green
Goto current.com/green, go to the top right corner and hit "add something"
Add your blog post (a link to your original post will automatically be generated)
Don't forget to add a photo
Title your piece: "your title: Blog Action Day" for example, if the title of my piece is "wiser earth" I would title it, "Wiser Earth: Blog Action Day"
2. Poetry and Art will be featured on the Current Green blog
We are dedicating the Current Green blog to artistic expressions inspired by climate change
Email your post (WITH LINKS if there are any) to llamb@current.com with"blog action" in the subject headline
Looking forward to an extra inspired day with all of you~
Need a reminder about Blog Action Day?
Blog Action Day is an annual event that unites the world's bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day on their own blogs with the aim of sparking discussion around an issue of global importance. Blog Action Day 2009 will be the largest-ever social change event on the web. One day. One issue. Thousands of voices.
Climate change affects us all and it threatens more than the environment. It threatens to cause famine, flooding, war, and millions of refugees.
Given the urgency of the issue of climate change and the upcoming international climate negotiations in Copenhagen this December, we think the blogosphere has the unique opportunity to mobilize millions of people around expressing support for finding a sustainable solution to the climate crisis.I admit, it feels a little weird to say, "We're featuring posts on climate... more
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leahl
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As many of you know there is this great online event called Blog Action Day.
In case you didn't already know:
Blog Action Day is an annual event that unites the world's bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day on their own blogs with the aim of sparking discussion around an issue of global importance. Blog Action Day 2009 will be the largest-ever social change event on the web. One day. One issue. Thousands of voices.
So... we talk about climate change all day every day on Current Green, but in the spirit of joining together, discovering new voices, and sparking discussion, here is what we will do: If you are a blogger blogging in honor of Blog Action Day, AND you add your post to Current Green, we will feature your post on Blog Action Day.
That's right: you heard it here: Current Green will feature NOTHING but blog posts written in honor of Blog Action Day on October 15th. So, um...they better be good.
How do you participate? On October 15th, add your climate change post to www.current.com/green. Make that when you post you add it to the "green group." To help discover you, please use the following format for your title: Blog Action Day: (and your title).
Can't wait!As many of you know there is this great online event called Blog Action Day.
In... more
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leahl
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Fictional story written for Blog Action Day 2009 (in English and Spanish)
... Some years ago during springtime a female ostrich layed a couple of eggs on a notebook that a writer forgot on a building terrace and a male ostrich decided to nest them right there.
Nobody knows exactly how the birds reached the eleven floor´s terrace of that first building...Fictional story written for Blog Action Day 2009 (in English and Spanish)
... Some... more
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We have the ability, the one good thing to take from our industrial evolution is NOW we know what we are capable of.
...could it be our next step in evolution, to come to the realization that we not only have the ability but also the desire to plaster the earth
with her own natural living materials.We have the ability, the one good thing to take from our industrial evolution is NOW... more
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I believe in our ability to 'create our day' or 'create our world'. A simple concept: if we focus on the negative, we bring about more negative. If we set our intentions toward a positive change, we generate positive results.I believe in our ability to 'create our day' or 'create our... more
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Movies entertain but also contribute to the climate change problem around the world. This post is an observation of the practices in film that can be adjusted to improve the state of our climate along with solutions on how to do so and still be able to make great movies.Movies entertain but also contribute to the climate change problem around the world.... more
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How my art helped plant 1,000 trees in Senegal, Africa
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Beginner, intermediate and advanced resources for the climate-curious. Plus, find out what greyhounds think about climate change!Beginner, intermediate and advanced resources for the climate-curious. Plus, find out... more
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So the title of this post is a bit grandiose, but we're talking about climate change here today, because it's Blog Action Day 2009. Think thousands of bloggers sitting in front of their computers can't change the world? Well.... you're probably right — but! That won't stop us from trying. My goal here today is not to convince you climate change is real and caused by human activity (it is), or to lecture you about the evils of modern consumer-based society and why a market system based on consumption will never, truly actively support a reduce-reuse-recycle model (it won't). My goal here today, friends, is to give you an excuse.
Actually, seven. Seven excuses, seven reasons to give up meat, to go vegetarian; seven excuses to save the world. You see, according to current studies on global warming and its major contributors, one of the most effective and easiest ways for ordinary individuals to fight global warming and help the environment is to reduce their consumption of animal products. Steve Pavlina notes in an article earlier this year:
"A 2006 United Nations report found that the meat industry produces more greenhouse gases than all the SUVs, cars, trucks, planes, and ships in the world combined. [...] In terms of greenhouse gas emissions, eating one pound of meat is equivalent to driving an SUV 40 miles."
Reducing our reliance on and support of the environmentally-devastating meat industry by cutting meat and dairy out of our diets has more impact than switching to that hybrid car or buying those energy-efficient light bulbs. Eating a vegetarian or vegan diet, especially one of mostly locally-grown organic foods, might just be the single best thing you can do to help restore the natural ecosystems of this planet, ecosystems human life evolved within and on which we depend for our future survival. And you can make the change immediately, starting today, at your very next meal. That's your first excuse.
But if that's not enough, I have six more. Vegetarianism isn't just about the environment, though that is an essential pillar in support of this lifestyle. At every level of our personal and social existence, we find compelling reasons why a vegetarian diet is not only a good idea, but a deeply meaningful choice to live with respect and gratitude as part of the natural world. The seven pillars that support this view are: biological, historical, environmental, political, ethical, psychological and spiritual. And each pillar has tied to it a strawman argument against the vegetarian diet, set up like a scarecrow to frighten people away from examining their choices too carefully. Well, consider this post a kind of Bad Wolf essay, panting and prowling through the temple, ready to blow those strawmen down.
...Follow the link to Meadowsweet & Myrrh to read more!So the title of this post is a bit grandiose, but we're talking about climate... more
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We probably all have friends or family who don’t respond well to change, and when faced with the need to change experience extreme discomfort. And we probably also know people who thrive on change. Which one are you? For me, I’m comfortable with change, but don’t necessarily thrive on it. I understand and accept it’s inevitability, but others fear and combat change of any kind. They seek stability, permanence, and prefer the status-quo. But doing so is a denial of reality.We probably all have friends or family who don’t respond well to change, and... more
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Let's see. In climate news today, we have Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) announcing that you can get a climate bill through the Senate--so long as you include billions in loan guarantees for nuclear plants (because, well, the market thinks they're lousy investments and won't finance them. Safety issues aside.). Meanwhile Big Ag becomes the latest industry to launch a campaign to kill what measly climate legislation is on the table (never mind that farmers in general, and the heartland in particular, are likely to see some of global warming's worst effects). The Freakonomics guys muddle the issue with junk science. We're headed for a potential debacle during the global climate talks in Copenhagen, and virtually no one in Washington can really be bothered to pay attention to the issue anyway because health care reform is sucking up all the oxygen. Great!
So what is it going to take to get action on this issue? You know the answer--we all do: It's going to take popular pressure, aka politicians feeling that they have to produce something on this issue to get reelected. And that, in turn, takes convincing Americans that something we care about is actually at risk here.
And of course something is is. Climate change poses the greatest danger not to polar bears, not to glaciers or beaches, but to our kids. Their world, if you read the scientific predictions, is one where the Southwest is a dust bowl; 30 percent of the planet's species go extinct; 200 million people become climate refugees. And those are the relatively moderate scenarios--there are also the scientists who, looking back over millions of years' worth of geologic evidence, suggest that the last time we had carbon levels like those we're headed for now, sea levels were 80 to 130 feet higher than they are today.
That's grim stuff, which is why, most of the time, our reaction is "quick, give me something else to think about!" But the love of our children is a powerful force, and it has motivated enormous change in the past. It hasn't become a real factor on this issue--but what if it did? As Clara and I write in our editors' note for the upcoming issue of Mother Jones, which is almost entirely devoted to this topic:
"We still have the power to shape their future. Just for perspective: The entire sum required to buy off Third World opposition to carbon caps is around what we spent to bail out Fannie, Freddie, and AIG. And hey, Europe's on the hook for at least half. Our kids will measure us by how long we tarried. What will we tell them?"
To dramatize this point, we did something unusual for this special issue: We printed four different covers, featuring four different children and four different headlines. Now it's your turn. Next week, on the eve of International Day of Climate Action, we'll debut an app that lets you put your own picture (of your kid, yourself, your cat, your pet lizard) on our cover, and share the image with your friends and your members of Congress. There's also a contest to create new headlines for the climate cover--we'll feature the best on our home page.
Meanwhile, today is Blog Action Day, which means that nearly 8,000 blogs from all around the world are posting climate-change content today. One of the first entries comes from British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. What's he got to say?
Like every parent, I want to leave a safe and secure world for my children. And I want to be able to look them in the eye because our generation stood up for their future.
Hint, hint, White House Blog: President Obama, no doubt, would agree.Let's see. In climate news today, we have Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) announcing... more
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Blog Action Day post from Through a Green Lens:
I’ve said before that climate change is not just an environmental issue, but it turns out that a famous tree hugger cause has a big role in global warming. Deforestation is responsible for about 20 percent of global GHG pollution — more than all the world’s cars, trucks, planes, and ships combined.
There is some good news on this front, though.Blog Action Day post from Through a Green Lens:
I’ve said before that... more
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