The Death of a Sea

The death of a sea. Is this now commonplace?
I'd post this on Facebook, and not get a like.
We are killing the planet, and not little by little.
I'd learned about the Aral Sea., when I was a young boy.
Now there is no Aral Sea.
Is this ok?
What do I do with the feeling of sickness in my stomach?
Feeling that we are doing things terribly wrong, see terrible things happen that we are putting into motion. And for those of us who care, who feel the sickness, who act, knowing there are several for each one of us who just page down, superficially letting the news gloss over them and look for a story that resonates with their ego, or searching for a snarky comment that can let other superficial people think they get what's going on, but are too shallow and hip to care.
Is this ok?

Here 

Global wildlife populations down by half since 1970

Oh man. Can this be? In my lifetime, "GENEVA - The world populations of fish, birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles fell overall by 52 per cent between 1970 and 2010, far faster than previously thought, the World Wildlife Fund said on Tuesday."
Here
"Preserving nature was not just about protecting wild places but also about safeguarding the future of humanity, "indeed, our very survival."
"The report also measured how close the planet is to nine so-called "planetary boundaries", thresholds of "potentially catastrophic changes to life as we know it".

Three such thresholds have already been crossed - biodiversity, carbon dioxide levels and nitrogen pollution from fertilisers. Two more were in danger of being breached - ocean acidification and phosphorus levels in freshwater. "Given the pace and scale of change, we can no longer exclude the possibility of reaching critical tipping points that could abruptly and irreversibly change living conditions on Earth," the report said.

Here

Rockefellers, Heirs to an Oil Fortune, Will Divest Charity of Fossil Fuels

Progress. Here

U.S. Creates Largest Protected Area in the World, 3X Larger Than California

Great stuff Here

"The expanded monument will help ensure that "there are some places that are as pristine as possible for as long as possible," Norse said. "I think a hundred years from now, people will be praising Barack Obama for having the vision to protect the Pacific remote islands."

"A Big Step"

Obama's Democratic administration is building on a national monument that was first created by his predecessor, Republican President George W. Bush, suggesting that "ocean protection may be one of the last bipartisan issues"

3 Key Takeaways From This Week's UN Climate Summit

A few points from National Geographic Here

A Mother's Tribute to Her Baby, in the Marshall Islands

"Dear Matafele Peinem" - YouTube  

If intellect alone cannot sway some, perhaps this can. Beautiful.

And the Hard Reality

Obama Presses Chinese to Move to Curb Warming - NYTimes.com 

And the hard reality... last three paragraphs of the story.

"If strong carbon-cutting policies are not enacted quickly, scientists
warn, the current trajectory of fossil fuel emissions will raise
temperature of the global atmosphere by two degrees Celsius, a tipping
point that is projected to lead to a future of rising sea levels,
extreme droughts and food shortages, floods, deluges and more powerful
storms.

To reach a deal by the end of 2015, United Nations officials said
countries must unveil concrete plans by April 1 that are to specify how
they will cut their energy-related fossil fuel pollution after 2020. To
be taken seriously, the plans must show how the governments will enforce
disruptive shifts to their economies, transitioning away from the
fossil fuels that have powered their homes and vehicles for a century.

Scientists said they were encouraged by the prospect of new climate policies, but
warned that for now, the efforts under discussion will not be enough to
prevent the first ravages of climate change.

“In the world that we live in, this is probably the best we can do right
now,” said Michael Oppenheimer, a climate scientist at Princeton
University. “It’s worth the effort. But it’s not going to solve the
problem. It’s not going to get us to two degrees. It‘s not even enough
to stave off three degrees.”

Scientists Lead Huge Climate Change March in NYC

Scientists Lead Huge Climate Change March in NYC 



This good essential stuff too. "We are the 97 percent consensus," "Science is not a liberal conspiracy" and "Friends don't let friends deny reality."

Mike Greene, a professor of ecology at the University
of Colorado, Denver, said it's important for science to inform the
policy decisions made in the future, and the only way that will happen
is if scientists take a more active role.

Obama Presses Chinese to Move to Curb Warming - NYTimes.com

Obama Presses Chinese to Move to Curb Warming - NYTimes.com 



"Mr.
Obama pointed to his E.P.A. regulation to cut carbon pollution from
coal-fired power plants, the No. 1 source of greenhouse gases.

“There
should be no question that the United States of America is stepping up
to the plate,” he said. “We recognize our role in creating this problem;
we embrace our responsibility to combat it.” 

"Reciting a litany of record-setting temperatures and natural disasters,
from hurricanes and wildfires to droughts and floods, Mr. Obama warned
that the climate was changing faster than the world’s response to it.
Recent efforts to curb the problem, he said, would fail without more
cooperation from countries around the world."

The U.S. May Not Be Leading on Climate, but California Is - Businessweek

The U.S. May Not Be Leading on Climate, but California Is - Businessweek 

This is the right stuff. "Passed in 2006, Assembly Bill 32
committed California to reduce its emissions of heat-trapping
greenhouse gases to 1990 levels by the year 2020 and to reduce them
85 percent by 2050. Eight years later, the state is on track to meet
these goals, said Matt Rodriguez, California’s secretary for
environmental protection, citing in particular its Renewable Portfolio
Standard. The RPS requires that California generate 33 percent of its
electricity from solar, wind, and other renewable sources by 2020."

“Some so-called experts said our economy would crash if we passed AB
32,” recalled Schwarzenegger. “In fact, it’s been the opposite.
California’s economy has outpaced the nation’s economic growth. We
attract more than half of the investment capital in the country.”

Obama Urges Action on Climate ‘While We Still Can’ - Businessweek

Obama Urges Action on Climate ‘While We Still Can’ - Businessweek 

Let's hope so. Acting when it's too late would suck.

Companies Join Investors to Pledge Climate Action

One of the better, more detailed articles. Covers many facets of climate change issues, carbon, investing, and action.

Here

LA Times: Climate change fears spur divestment on fossil fuels

Here

“John D. Rockefeller, the founder of Standard Oil, moved America out of whale oil and into petroleum,” said Stephen Heintz, president of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, which currently has about 7% of its assets invested in fossil fuels. “We are quite convinced that if he were alive today, as an astute businessman looking out to the future, he would be moving out of fossil fuels and investing in clean, renewable energy.”

Separately, almost 350 global institutional investors representing more than $24 trillion in assets have called on governments to put a price on carbon dioxide emissions and phase out subsidies to fossil-fuel industries. The signatories to the carbon-price statement include the California Public Employees' Retirement System, or CalPERS, BlackRock and major investors from Europe, Asia and Australia.

Climate March Global, September 21, 2014

Awesome. Many post and stories to come. Some info here
Hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people across the globe.

World population set to peak at 11 BILLION in. 2100, not 9 Billion

Here  Researchers say the models were off by 2 billion. Shit.
They still think population will peak around 2050 in Asia, and then taper down, which is good news.
But that extra 2 billion is going to stress the carrying capacity, resources, and ecosystem in a bad way. Shit.

Search for population and other keywords on this site for more info.

Bill Murray, 7 Ways to Be Like Him

Here

Funny, sweet guy. One of my favorites. Must do a lot of yoga.

Defeat of campaign finance amendment especially bruising for Bernie Sanders - The Washington Post

Defeat of campaign finance amendment especially bruising for Bernie Sanders - The Washington Post 

Heartbreaking this try was not bigger nationally.

"In an interview Wednesday, Sanders admitted that the amendment was
likely to fail. But he said Congress and a grassroots movement of
concerned Americans need to continue working to overturn the Citizens
United ruling, which he considers "one of the worst in American
history."

"The most important domestic issue facing the country is turning over Citizens United," Sanders said, because the court ruling "creates an open door … to pour unlimited sums of money into the political process."

"It’s a real undermining of American democracy and will undermine every
aspect of our lives, because the candidates they support will help the
rich and powerful and will ignore the needs of the middle class and
working families," he added later."

TerraPass | Fight climate change, reduce your carbon footprint

TerraPass | Fight climate change, reduce your carbon footprint 

Just bought carbon offsets for myself and my girlfriend's plane travel in 2014. 18,000 miles for about $47.

They capture gas from landfills, erect wind turbines (to replace the need for fossil fuel energy), etc.

It's $5.95 for 1000 lbs of offsets.

For example, a cross country, non-stop flight: Los Angeles, CA ↔ New York, NY

Round trip (4,936 miles)

Direct flight

Details

1,925 lbs CO₂

So for $11.90 you offset the pollution for one person from the jet (2000 lbs of offsets).

I just bought a gift of offsets for 10 friends going from LAX to Dallas for the UCLA - Texas game.

This is pretty cool. Ought to be worked in the price of tickets on the front end.

No Aspens? Hotter Climate Endangers Rocky Mountain Forests: Study - NBC News.com

No Aspens? Hotter Climate Endangers Rocky Mountain Forests: Study - NBC News.com 

Ouch. I'm going to Colorado this fall. My buddy has moved back to Idaho.

The report said whitebark pines, pinon pines and quaking aspens will be
especially hard-hit. Aspens could lose 77 percent of their habitat in
the Rockies by 2060... with Idaho losing 97 percent of
its aspen range.

Ozone Layer Shows Signs of Recovery

Here Good news.

Internet Neutrality: Do You See It as a Rorschach Test or Rubik's Cube?

Today's generic news article in Time here 

Sign one of the petitions to the FCC and Senators here
http://www.savetheinternet.com/sti-home  
http://www.alfranken.com/landing/w140504/  


I thought about net neutrality this morning, and the anecdote seemed simple.

People look at something, like a Rorschach test, and see what they want, or what their subconscious wants them to see.
It's nothing. It's a bat. It's a sexual organ. It's my phone bill. It's Wile E. Coyote from a couple of different angles. I don't care what it is.



 Ok, so we've been reminded of that.

News is similar. Syria, ISIS, climate change, net neutrality.

Some people react similarly to the Rorschach test.
I don't really see myself in that. It's not a bat, or a sexual organ. It's more like a bat. It's ugly, I don't really fully understand what it is, and I'm inclined to page down and pretend I did not see it.

Ok. Other people see some of these things too, and more quickly see there are are manipulable facets in there, that need to be arranged properly. Things difficult to ignore. Not really chaos, but a situation with logical aspects. Moreover, that things will be unbalanced and result in worse things if some good moves aren't made. Like a Rubik's Cube with potential for some harmony and symmetry much worth affirming.



ISIS needs containment. Climate change needs to be decelerated, and reversed.

Net neutrality needs to remain neutral.

Certain powers are spinning their pieces of the Rubik's Cube furiously.

Big business wants a fast lane in the internet.

They want the cube to come up all AT&T, or Coca-Cola, or Facebook.
Even if you are looking for a new band's webpage, or your friend's blog, or some pictures on a site that is remote but precious and gives you hope and enjoyment that the world is ok. But will take forever to load, or even find, in search queues.

Don't let Big Business rig the internet, with slow loading speeds, more pop up ads, and the like.

Underneath this seemingly uninteresting tag 'net neutrality' are really some of the fundamentals of fairness and equality. That content, and free speech, should remain fair and free.

Please help and support the notions of keeping the *internet* *neutral* -- so we can all communicate freely and happily in this multi-cultural, 6-billion-person, strongly (or not) opinionated junkanoo band of modern society.

It seems the dark forces are there.

We bring the color, we bring the antidote. Each of us.