Monday, March 8, 2010

Climate change


In an ideal world we wouldn't use more enerygy or resources than was necessary to survive. But since we're not native indians living in an Amazon rainforest surviving off the land we must face the reality that we will produce waste and use a goodly share of the worlds energy. Some countries more than others, well okay the U.S. uses more energy than any other on the planet. Even when we're asleep we use energy with all appliances on standby. With those little glowing LEDs on everything from DVD players to the recharger on the shaver the energy vampires are keeping the energy companies in the green. And now we have developing countries looking with envious eyes at our wonderously wasteful lifestyle. Has it really made life better in the grand scheme of things? I think not. Our lust for 'things' has created nothing more than a sick symptom of OCD, but as they say "those with the most toys wins". But no having the most toys will only be a lasting legacy rotting in some landfill for some archeologist to dig up at some date in the far future
The short sighted few who deny that the earth's climate isn't changing are so without empathy that they'd poison their own food if they thought they could make a profit on it. They're the ones who talk of passing debt to their children and their children's children but what will their children say when they inherit a poisoned and dying world?
It's not just the rising of temperatures that we need to worry about. That could be the least of our worrys. It's the dying of our oceans that needs focus. When the oceans die your talking about the food chain and we're dependent on that for survival.

Dead oceans

Sign on Dr's readerboard: If your body wears out where will you live?
Let me change that to: If your planet wears out where will you go?

16 comments:

BBC said...

Oh, I've got lots of stuff myself, but most of it is stuff I saved from going to the landfill. Some gets fixed and passed on to others again, some gets recycled after I remove useful things from them. Some get turned into something else useful.

Riding mowers with bad decks still make decent little tractors and can plow snow and such.

We don't put garbage in our landfill anymore, we ship it to Oregon. I have no idea why Oregon wants our garbage, money I guess, we pay them to take it.

I keep my electrical items and usage to a minimum and what isn't used much isn't plugged in.

Let me change that to: If your planet wears out where will you go?

Unless you are part of the omnipresent spirit why care?

Heck is where people go that don't believe in gosh.

jmsjoin said...

That is a shame! The fresh water and much of the land is so screwed up, There are monstrous dead spots and miles long 50 foot deep garbage swirls all over the ocean. I will stop!

Tom Harper said...

I don't know why Christians (the real ones) aren't concerned about this. When the Bible talks about stewardship of the Earth, what the F$%# do those people think that means?

MRMacrum said...

I'd add my two cents, but you pretty much covered it. We deserve what we are experiencing now and will deserve what is coming.

Anonymous said...

Because YOU'RE the only one who noticed I haven't been around, I'm writing a post for tomorrow and it's ALL about "STUFF". Stuff that is not needed and never was, but we keep it and add to it.

The Blog Fodder said...

The climate is changing...as it has since the beginning. In cycles we are only now starting to learn about. Humans didn't cause it and we can't stop it, we can only learn to live with it. Or die from it, I suppose, but it didn't kill our ancestors 1000 years ago when it last warmed up, nor 500 years ago when it last cooled down.
I agree we all have too much stuff but that is human nature. Do not allow climate change to be hijacked by people who want to use it as an excuse to control us in order to build a better human race. The Communists tried to force it; every other religion and belief system tries to force it if they have political power and if not uses what persuasive methods are available. All to no avail.
Pollution we MUST deal with. CO2 is NOT pollution.

S.W. Anderson said...

You're absolutely right. But be careful. You've heard of compassion fatigue — people getting maxed out on worthy causes and their cries for help? I think in our current situation a whole lot of people are getting maxed out on ominous warnings about huge calamities in store for us if we don't do this or quit doing that.

Too much of this in a relatively short span of time and people throw up their hands and say what the hell, looks like we're doomed one way or another no matter what we do or stop doing.

Seriously.

Demeur said...

Oh no this isn't about some simple save the whales campaign. This is really about survival. We have about ten to twenty years to really change things. Like it or not to ignore this would be like sitting in your livingroom while your house burned and there you sat and did nothing. The amount of CO2 we're pumping into the air is not natural and cutting down the rain forests isn't helping either. Can you live in a room filled with CO2? Didn't think so.
So face it this will be the beginning of the next tech revolution. We have the technology. It's just a matter of getting busy producing it. And I value the day that I will be replaced by a robot because it will mean that some poor slob won't have to do what I did for the last twenty years. It'll mean that we've advanced just a little bit in the grand scheme of things.

Demeur said...

SW - It really doesn't take a whole lot to change things. When I started in haz mat and demolition we used to just throw everything into a dumpster and it went to a land fill. Now nearly all of that material is recycled. They can now even process asbestos for reuse in road material! Throw up my hands? Never!

Randal Graves said...

Now we just need to find a way to process toxic runoff into fish food flakes.

BBC said...

They can now even process asbestos for reuse in road material!

I prefer going back to gravel roads and much slower speed limits. Drove on a lot of dirt roads in my youth and loved it.

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Kentucky Rain said...

Curiously the serious Jesus Jumpers, the Evangelicals, are starting to accept climate change and some of the preachers are urging their "flock" to do something about it.

DILLIGAF said...

Blackpool.

What the hell? I can eat the best fish and chips in England just before we go.

(Always assuming Carol doesn't want 'one for the road')...;-)

S.W. Anderson said...

Demeur, all you say is right. I hope people will play it smart, knowing as you do it's mandatory. I'm just saying that right now, in my reading of them, people are at or near the point where any more dire warnings will just generate resignation, stoicism, blank stares and shrugs.

I hope in a couple of years, the situation will be improved, and with that people will be ready to tune in and support the necessary changes and innovations.

S.W. Anderson said...

BBC, you can have my share of dirt roads, especially when they become mud wallows. ;)