Sunday, April 27, 2014

While the USA political rightwing finds environmental laws a burden,...

...their origins began with the understanding that extinction of one species would ultimately lead to extinction of all species, including human beings.

One fascinating thing I learned from The Sixth Extinction (click here) is that this isn't the first time climate change has caused a mass extinction. Some of the causes of these events are still pretty obscure, but it seems the best explanation for the first mass extinction seems to be very severe climate change in the opposite direction from the way we're changing the climate. A cold event. And the best explanation for the worst mass extinction of all time was a very, very severe episode of global warming, ocean acidification, and ocean anoxia, too, which is where the oceans have no oxygen in various layers. They become very stratified, and a lot of the oceans would just be what we call "Dead Zones." That's a very sobering parallel. Anyone who doesn't find that sobering really ought to think again, because that is what we're doing. We're putting a lot of CO2 up there, and it seems pretty clear that event was at least associated with CO2....

There was always the understanding that human qualities could be found in many species in the world, including the capacity for love and empathy. 

At one time in recent history human arrogance and deceit would never interfere with our understanding of our place on Earth. I strongly believe the political hubris of wealth and crony politics has put our very species in peril that is already witnessed in climate events killing tens of thousands of human beings in a matter of days.

The humility of humanity is a far greater virtue than the wealth of Wall Street. 

The deaths are adding up tonight, aren't they? So, what exactly are we facing another day in paradise or the climate crisis scientists have warned about for decades? 

How does the USA calculate 'acceptable deaths' of the climate crisis? Ten is not too bad. Collateral damage to the wealth of 0.1 percent and the political coffers. When does the 'acceptable deaths' become unacceptable? 100. 1000. 10,000. Where does the USA finally draw the line to the deaths of the climate crisis? Never. All deaths are acceptable as the price for control of wealth? Really?

What will the cost of the climate crisis be? October 7, 2012 : 6:02 PM (click here)
 
Extreme:
“More than 100 million people will die and global economic growth will be cut by 3.2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030 if the world fails to tackle climate change, a report commissioned by 20 governments said on Wednesday.”

“As global average temperatures rise due to greenhouse gas emissions, the effects on the planet, such as melting ice caps, extreme weather, drought and rising sea levels, will threaten populations and livelihoods, said the report conducted by humanitarian organization DARA. “

Wealth? To whom? Because the USA's treasury reflects growing amounts of funding spent to recover Americans from devastation. The unfortunate thing is that the USA treasury hasn't perfected the science of reviving the dead completely.

by Barbara J. King
In the Atlantic forest of Brazil, (click here) a female marmoset monkey — a small, arboreal primate — fell from a tree to the ground, striking her head. This female, known to observing scientists as F1B and as dominant to other females in her group, was severely injured and died two-and-a-half hours later.

Of F1B's 11 group mates, only one approached her closely as she lay in evident pain: M1B, her mate of over three years. What M1B did next was captured on video, and is the subject of by Bruna Martins Bezerra, Matthew Philip Keasey, Nicola Schiel and Antonio da Silva Souto, published in the journal Primates....