Harel B's blog
Africa SOS: need forPermaculture, sustainable practices/population,
Submitted by Harel B on March 30, 2006 - 2:00pm.'Barren future' for Africa's soil
Africa's farmland is rapidly becoming barren and incapable of sustaining the continent's already hungry population, according to a report.
The report shows that more than 80% of the farmland in Sub-Saharan Africa is plagued by severe degradation.
This is a major cause of poverty and hunger in sub-Saharan Africa, where one in three people is undernourished.
Population growth is leading to the overexploitation of farmland, depleting soil of nutrients, the report says.
Farmers' inability to afford fertiliser is a major contributing factor, it adds. Deforestation, use of marginal lands, and poor agricultural practices also play a role.
Mainstream UK Media considers end of "perpetual growth" economics!?
Submitted by Harel B on March 28, 2006 - 6:43am.Don't hold your breath on all of this
being done but just talking about it
is a positive development..and
in the fairly mainstream London Independent
no less. Quote: "He points out that the Government's policies, which are well-meant, are indeed lowering the carbon intensity of the economy. But the
phenomenon of economic growth means that there are more and more plants, and the cuts are swamped by the growth. It is that growth which
must be addressed.
"'No amount of economic growth is going to pay for the cost of the damage caused by a new and unstable climate,' he said.
"He says that the pursuit of growth, which essentially has not changed since Victorian times, is misleading, and the terms need to be
The PROBLEM with all our online activism..!
Submitted by Harel B on March 15, 2006 - 7:21pm.Though I've been involved in online activism
since the 80s, I will be mercifully brief this time. And
there's no need for an overview of the evolution of
internet activism or the internet here, since I'd
just like to accomplish the modest task of pointing out
a few obvious things.
I hope this observation brings light-bulbs, of the
"flash of the blindingly obvious" variety that is, to
our discussions on PCI:
One of the limiting factors for online activism (and thus
limiting carbon neutral de-centralized globally/nationally/regionally coordinated activism) is
the limited number of tools for collaboration.
Gaiaoo ??
Submitted by Harel B on March 11, 2006 - 5:20pm.If you have been following peakoil.com or if you used news.google.com to search
for "global warming" you may have come across the press release at
http://www.newswiretoday.com/news/4162/
which states,
NewswireToday - /newswire/ - London, UK, 03/10/2006 - Gaiaoo’s objective is to help the environment by reducing the amount of distance people, food and goods need to travel through communicating local alternatives.
<p>
A seemingly innocuous website called Gaiaoo could be part of the answer to help resolve the Global Warming and the Energy Crisis. The site is deliberately named after the Gaia theory which has been making people realise that changes in our environment are taking place as a result of human activity.<P>
Gaiaoo’s objective is to reduce the amount of distance people, food and goods need to travel. It is a resource which enables members of the public to publish information and news relating to their town and the local area in which they live, such as car sharing, locally sourced food from farmers, second hand goods available locally and recycling.<p>
It is generally accepted that we are a wasteful society and this is partly due to lack of choice. What Gaiaoo does is provides the technology which will enable individuals to be informed of a local alternative. If you have access to the Internet then this service is free.<p>
There have been various proposals put forward to the Gaia issue by leading academics from increasing the number of nuclear power stations to colonisation of the moon , all of which require huge investments and will take a long time to implement. Gaiaoo is a solution that is available now and accessible to all that is easy to use and has the potential, if widely adopted, to help achieve a sustainable future.<P>
The savings that Gaiaoo would make to the environment cannot be calculated. But we can predict that if we all reduce the distance travelled for products, services and food it will make a significant contribution.<P>
What you can do to help the environment is to visit Gaiaoo and register your interest in supporting this initiative. This will cost you nothing but a few minutes of your time.
Climate Scientists Issue Dire Warning
Submitted by Harel B on February 28, 2006 - 10:41pm.[I have several themes and essays planned for this blog, yet her eis anotherarticle; why? Because major news keeps happening with cliamte; if you are NOT among Peaksters who underestimate climate chaos, my plea is simple: let's try to integrate more seamlessly into our plans for mitigation and "lifeboats" things which will help address the climate-chaos based social disruptions, alongwide mitigating the peak oil based ones. Two for the price of one social activism and organizing, if you will... Peace, HB]
Climate Scientists Issue Dire Warning
The Earth's temperature could rise under the impact of global warming to levels far higher than previously predicted, according to the United Nations' team of climate experts.
Greenhouse now Rises 30x faster than during Thermal Maximum 55m yrs ago
Submitted by Harel B on February 18, 2006 - 10:35am.By probing sediments on the ocean floor [scientists found] that about 4.5 trillion tonnes of carbon entered the atmosphere over a period of 10,000 years [55 million years ago] Burning fossil fuels is likely to release the same amount over the next three centuries, the scientists claim.
Temperatures shot up by 5C (9F) during this episode, driven by a massive release of carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere.
***
Greenhouse gases are being released 30 times faster than the rate of emissions that triggered a period of extreme global warming in the Earth's past.
CO2 Rise & Global Warming Under-Estimated due to Bacteria Action
Submitted by Harel B on February 17, 2006 - 5:08pm."Current estimates on global temperature rise have been based on the amount of CO2 discharged by industrial activity. Changes caused by rising temperatures in plant photosynthesis or the activity of bacteria will also increase CO2 density, which had not been previously factored in.
"[Based on]..piecing together the results of 11 research teams [it] found that discharged CO2 from organic material such as
leaves and animal bodies broken down by bacteria is *larger* than the absorbed CO2 from plant photosynthesis. In addition, *less* CO2 will be absorbed by the ocean due to rises in water temperature."
The madness of M. Hydrates
Submitted by Harel B on February 16, 2006 - 8:22am.They are not the answer to peak oil. Latest:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4720104.stm
The worst-case scenario would see global and regional warming, raising the world's average surface temperature by 15C and lifting sea levels by more than 11m.
Even in the "business as usual", middle scenario, increased emissions would probably precipitate abrupt climate change events, such as the weakening and shifting of currents in the Atlantic Ocean.
Sea water acidity would also increase dramatically, posing a major threat to marine organisms.
Dr Tim Lenton, the UEA lead author on the paper and a climate change modeller, said: "If we follow business-as-usual then we will commit future generations to dangerous climate change, and if we exploit unconventional fossil fuels we could return the Earth to a hot state it hasn't seen since 55 million years ago.
Open letter to BBC
Submitted by Harel B on February 14, 2006 - 7:09pm.I don't mean to pick on Richard Black, who
writes an important story on an important topic,
and who is merely following the convention of
mainstream journalism -- albeit a convention that
is both unfortunate and *inaccurate* (or perhaps
it is not Mr. Black but someone else who does the pictures and captions to stories on BBC?)
The image: A smiling protester holds a sign
saying, "wake up USA"
BBC's caption?
"Anti-US sentiment was evident in protests"!
What on earth is remotely "anti" the US
in a sign that asks us in the US to wake
up and take action that is for the
survival of our OWN planet, not just for
Please Join New Climate Project
Submitted by Harel B on February 14, 2006 - 8:24am.Should all of us sign up for this screensaver? See http://bbc.cpdn.org/ per the BBC article below:
Join New Climate Project
Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2006 08:19:26 -0800
BBC links to huge climate project
The BBC is inviting viewers to join the world's biggest online climate
prediction project.
Climateprediction.net has already been running for two years and has
generated forecasts on the likely extent of climate change.
Participants download software onto their personal computers which run
the program when the machine is idle.
Its newest, most sophisticated computer model is being launched on
