Population // Current TV

Indigenous people can show us how to adapt to climate change-experts

Indigenous communities around the world are highly vulnerable to climate change but... more

JanforGore
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1 month ago
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28 comments

Last Call At The Oasis; The global water crisis

A new movie highlighting the importance of water to our lives and the global crisis we... more

JanforGore
added this
24 days ago
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14 comments

Chris Hedges and Michael Moore on Unfettered Capitalism

"Sadly I agree, we are no longer worthwhile Americans, we are simply a... more

KB723
added this
25 days ago
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70 comments

GPS Trackers Reveal Polar Bears Can Swim Non-Stop for 10 Days, 220 Miles

Polar bears are capable of swimming vast distances, with one endurance swimmer... more

rodstradamus
added this
27 days ago
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0 comments

Freedom

"Ha!!! I thought this was Cool as Hell and a Must Share!!! Kinda brought a Smile... more

KB723
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1 month ago
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37 comments

Article: Pollyannas of Population Growth: Fooled by the Culture Gap

we can't keep growing for every...

frankpatton
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1 month ago
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0 comments

Article: Getting the Market to Tell the Truth

it's about a true cost economy and how to get there.

frankpatton
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1 month ago
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0 comments

Article: Rio 20 overlooking population-maybe?

is population going to be off the table at Rio?

frankpatton
added this
2 months ago
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2 comments

Water Wars: Coming To A Country Near You?

http://www.policymic.com/articles/5872/water-wars-caused-by-scarcity-and-control-will-take-center-stage-in-21st-century

http://www.rt.com/news/water-conflict-terrorism-rivers-239/

A report surfaced Thursday which was discussed by the US State Dept. on World Water Day regarding what they say is a greater chance for conflict/terrorism in the 21st century due to water scarcity. Funny, I have been writing about this for years. Seems many of us are ahead of the curve on many issues. However, my views on the coming wars were based on them primarily coming also as a result of militarization of water as a political/economic weapon and a way to subjugate poor people through privatization, which is already occurring and the fact that US AID is part of this spells it all out.

As we have seen very recently in places like Iraq that is exactly what happened. The U.S. invaded Iraq thus facilitating the entrance of companies such as Bechtel to come in order to privatize the water system (they eventually pulled out.) Monsanto was also given access in order to push their GMO seeds on the farmers. Therefore, when I read a report put out by intelligence agencies or the military/government regarding this I don't see it as a report of warning for the people. I see it as a blueprint for them to use in the facilitation of their concentration of more power and control over the populace. Obviously, they know what is causing and contributing to much of the scarity of water in our world yet these same governments do nothing policywise to actually improve the lives of the poor being most affected by it before the worst of it hits.

snip

Therefore as the video above illustrates, this is an ongoing unsustainable cycle perpetuated by water waste...our waste and the waste of industry, agriculture and a world for the most part that does not connect the dots between consumption and waste being twice the rate of replenishment. Add to that a growing population and you see where this is going. The solution to this seems simple, but based on human nature is very complex. In another civilization where greed and selfishness would not come into play conservation would be such a no brainer that the inhabitants would more than likely not find themselves in this predicament of survival. However, we are human and we are here. The question now is, do we have the moral will it will take on an unprecedented scale to conserve this precious resource while doing all in our power to fight the forces who have already predicted our fate? If we wish to survive, we have no other choice.
More at the linkhttp://www.policymic.com/articles/5872/water-wars-caused-by-scarcity-and-control-will-t... more

JanforGore
added this
2 months ago
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30 comments

Article: The Vatican's infiltration and cooptation of American population organizations

how religion works undercover in the US political system

frankpatton
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2 months ago
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0 comments

Potpourri of GOP/TP Madness

I’m listing just a few proofs today, of why we all now know, beyond a shadow of... more

thinkingblue
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2 months ago
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0 comments

Libya: Tawergha, city of former slaves, no longer exists - Ethnic cleansing and genocide

The northeast Libyan town of Tawergha, formerly home to about 40,000 people, is now a... more

worrg
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3 months ago
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0 comments

A glimpse of Debating Matters

The prestigious Institute of Ideas Debating Matters Competition runs this national... more

worldwrite
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4 months ago
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2 comments

World lacks enough food, fuel as population soars: U.N.

We have a long way to go to solve this.... more

11dim
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4 months ago
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1 comment

Ecological kings of the jungle being toppled by drought, pests, and disease

The biggest trees in the world, known as the true ecological kings of the jungle, are dying off rapidly as roads, farms and settlements fragment forests and they come under prolonged attack from severe droughts and new pests and diseases.

Big trees may comprise less than 2% of the trees in any forest but they can contain 25% of the total biomass and are vital for the health of the whole forest. Credit: us-parks.com

Long-term studies in Amazonia, Africa and Central America show that while these botanical behemoths may have adapted successfully to centuries of storms, pests and short-term climatic extremes, they are counter-intuitively more vulnerable than other trees to today's threats.

"Fragmentation of the forests is now disproportionately affecting the big trees," said William Laurance, a research professor at James Cook University in Cairns, Australia. "Not only do many more trees die near forest edges, but a higher proportion of the trees dying were the big trees.

"Their tall stature and relatively thick, inflexible trunks, may make them especially prone to uprooting and breakage near forest edges where wind turbulence is increased," Laurance said in this week's New Scientist magazine.

Big trees may comprise less than 2% of the trees in any forest but they can contain 25% of the total biomass and are vital for the health of whole forests because they seed large areas. "With their tall canopies basking in the sun, big trees capture vast amounts of energy. This allows them to produce massive crops of fruits, flowers and foliage that sustain much of animal life in the forests. Their canopies help moderate the local forest environment while their understory creates a unique habitat for other plants and animals," Laurance said.

"Only a small number of tree species have the genetic capacity to grow really big. To grow into giants, trees need good growing conditions, lots of time and the right place to establish their seedlings. Disrupt any one of these and you lose them."

In some parts of the world, Laurance said, populations of big trees are dwindling because their seedlings cannot survive or grow. "In southern India an aggressive shrub is invading the understorey of many forests, preventing seedlings from dropping on the floor. With no young trees to replace them, it's only a matter of time before most of the big trees disappear."

According to Laurance, it is not just the biggest trees in the world that are suffering, but also the biggest in their communities. Dutch elm disease killed off many of the stateliest trees in Britain in the 1960s and 70s, and new exotic organisms and bacterial infections, often brought in from other continents via garden centers, are threatening oak, ash and other species.

Longer lasting and more intense droughts, which are becoming more frequent in many tropical areas with climate change, are also taking their toll. Studies in Puerto Rico and Costa Rica suggest that big trees also suffer more in droughts than most other organisms.

"In rainforests droughts promote surface fires that burn through leaf litter on the forest floor. Larger trees were initially thought to survive these fires but, in fact, many die two to three years later. In cloud forests, big trees use their branches and crowns to rake the mist and capture water droplets. Global warming could push clouds up to higher elevations depriving them of sources of moisture," Laurance said.

"The danger is that the oldest, largest trees will progressively die off and not be replaced. Alarmingly, this might trigger a 'positive feedback' that could destabilize the climate: as older trees die, forests would release their stored carbon, prompting a vicious circle of further warming and forest shrinkage."
more at the linkThe biggest trees in the world, known as the true ecological kings of the jungle, are... more

JanforGore
added this
4 months ago
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12 comments

Southwest Turns Anxious Eye to Shrinking Lake Mead

In a dramatic reversal of fortune compared to last year, an unusually dry winter is... more

JanforGore
added this
4 months ago
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26 comments

Article: To: News editors Raising news awareness on driving forces behind failing states

"Below I give some interesting and generally unreported facts that give important... more

frankpatton
added this
5 months ago
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0 comments

NY Times gets blunt: Climate action requires a fundamental remaking of the sinews of modern life

John Broder had this remarkable sentence in his Sunday New York Times dispatch from Durban:

Effectively addressing climate change will require over the coming decades a fundamental remaking of energy production, transportation and agriculture around the world — the sinews of modern life.

This is uncharacteristically blunt for the Times. It reflects a worldview that is generally not reflected in their overall coverage, as I discussed in “The New York Times Abandons the Story of the Century and Joins the Energy and Climate Ignorati.”

Broder’s point is that the UN process is simply not up to the task of addressing the climate problem:

It is simply too big a job for those who have gathered for these talks under the 1992 United Nations treaty that began this grinding process.

“There is a fundamental disconnect in having environment ministers negotiating geopolitics and macroeconomics,” said Nick Robins, an energy and climate change analyst at HSBC, the London-based global bank.

Unfortunately, most economics ministers are pretty clueless about the subject. That said, I’ve never been a big fan of the current process, which requires near-unanimous consent by nearly 200 countries.

What’s most blocking action, from my perspective, isn’t the process so much as the failure of the media and policymakers here and around the globe to realize that failing to address climate change will lead to an even bigger remaking of what’s left of modern life in a world of 10°F warming (see An Illustrated Guide to the Science of Global Warming Impacts: How We Know Inaction Is the Gravest Threat Humanity Faces“).

Inaction will create the almost impossible task of feeding 9+ billion in “the face of a rapidly worsening climate.” And avoiding mass starvation and general chaos will certainly require a fundamental remaking of the world. The NYT‘s science reporter Justin Gillis gets this, as you see in articles like “Food Supply Under Strain on a Warming Planet” and “Global Warming Hinders Crop Yields, Study Finds.”

We cannot escape fundamentally remaking the sinews of modern life over the coming decades — in a sustainable way if we act on climate and in a catastrophic way if we don’t. Now is the time for major media outlets like the New York Times to remake their coverage to inform the public of this far more clearly and unambiguously.

More at the linkJohn Broder had this remarkable sentence in his Sunday New York Times dispatch from... more

JanforGore
added this
6 months ago
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20 comments

The greatest water crisis in the history of civilization: coming to the American West?

Consider it a taste of the future: the fire, smoke, drought, dust, and heat that have... more

JanforGore
added this
6 months ago
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24 comments

Family Planning as adaptation to climate change

Contraception, for those who want it, can be a helpful tool to deal with resource... more

acsberringer
added this
6 months ago
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0 comments

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