Is the planet better off without us?

Posted on by Opher

There are many who are wonder that with the terrible damage we are presently doing to the planet, whether the place wouldn’t be better off without us.

There are so many disasters. I reckon the major ones are:

Overpopulation
Global Warming
Species extinctions
Extreme pollution

Presently I think we are in grave danger of totally upsetting the ecological balance of the planet and doing permanent damage.

Would the planet be better off without us? That is debateable but if there is nothing left that is sentient to appreciate it would it matter?

I have a few thoughts.

Well certainly the richness of life and abundance would be better without us.

And certainly there are a number of other creatures who are sentient (and intelligent) who might well prosper without us (gorillas, chimps, elephants, whales to name but four).

I certainly appreciate nature and have a great love for animals and plants. I would like to see them flourish and it distresses me to see them treated so badly and suffering so much.

Then, of course, evolution would work to fill in the gaps. There could well be a new highly intelligent species that would eventually replace us and prove to be more compassionate and a better manager of the planet. So that could be good.

But I have a fondness for humanity. I think we are a bit Jekyll and Hyde. Perhaps there is hope for us? Perhaps we can learn to care for the other life we share the planet with? Perhaps we will learn to be less cruel? Perhaps we will learn to manage the natural world a lot better and learn from our mistakes?
I’d like to think so.
You don’t value what you’ve got until its gone, do you?
And the cruel, vicious side of our nature is really our worst side!
But there are many people who do care for nature. That gives me hope!

USA and Brazil – idiotic blindness or gross irresponsibility?

Posted on by Opher

 

Nearly 200 countries came together to produce a comprehensive plan to tackle climate warming at the 24th UN Climate Summit. Only the stupidity of a few climate warming deniers, such as the USA and Brazil, are refusing to participate. Trump and Bolsonaro both, for political reasons, choose to believe the tiny minority of climate warming deniers. For economic and political reasons, they want to support the coal, oil and gas industry.

Trump was voted in by the blue-collar workers whose old technology industries were being shut down. Rather than move on to the new alternative energy industries he promised to keep their old polluting technologies going. There is nothing intelligent about this decision. It is merely a cynical ploy to gain votes. It requires ignoring all the warnings about climate warming. It is short-termist thinking. Instead of promoting the technologies of the future they are stuck in the technologies of the past. In the long run these old industries are doomed. America could be at the forefront of the new technologies but is allowing other countries to leave them in their wake.

Bolsonaro is similar but even worse. He was elected for the same reasons as Trump – so many are being left behind in extreme poverty by this globalisation that is lining the pockets of a small elite at the expense of the vast majority. They wanted someone to represent them and chose an extreme right-wing popularist. He promised to deal with their poverty by bulldozing the rainforest and stimulating the economy. Without regard for the future he wants to remove all environmental considerations. Building roads and motorways through the Amazon he plans to give free-rein to the logging and mining companies with no thought for the wildlife or pollution. All that matters is short-term gain.

This is capitalism gone mad. All that matters is profit. The mantra is growth. The result is huge profits for the few. They leave the vast majority of people in squalor as the inequality grows.

Surely somehow, we have to get out of this crazy cycle?

The world does not have infinite resources. It is necessary for us to both limit our numbers and live sustainable. The natural world is precious. We have to protect it.

So well-done the responsible 200! Time to wake up to the real world Trump and Bolsonaro!

Mother Nature is a myth just like Father Christmas.

Posted on by Opher

There is no such thing as Mother Nature – it’s a human construct like Father Christmas. There is no automatic super mother stepping in to sort things out. There is just an exceedingly complex ecosystem that has taken billions of years to evolve and we are fucking it up in no time at all.

Yes it is possible that a virus will mutate but there is no certainty of that. I hope it does. Wiping out 99% of humans would not be a bad thing for the planet – even if it did kill off me and my family.

A far better solution is for us to use our intelligence and sort the problems we have created out for ourselves.

Overpopulation, pollution, species extinction, deforestation, global warming, habitat destruction – they are all in our remit to fix.

Do Plants live? Think? And Dream?

Posted on by Opher

Plants live. Plants think. Plants dream.

 

We have a tendency to anthropomorphize. We imbue creatures that are most like us with feelings but creatures that are less like us are not gifted with such characteristics. We greatly value brains. The brain is the peak of evolution in our eyes. Creatures with big brains are seen as of more importance.

I suggest that this is a false premise.

Plants, being very unlike us, not being able to move or even visibly react, and not being endowed with a brain, are not afforded any great gifts. We accept that they are alive but we do not afford them intelligence, nor even consciousness. They merely exist and we can chop them up, cut them back and ill-treat them with impunity.

Science is beginning to demonstrate that this view is false. The more we find about plants the more it becomes apparent that plants are conscious, they have memories and they communicate. They are aware of their environment and react when things happen around them. They register people approaching. They react when attacked by insects or diseases. They can even count and hear.

They hear water moving underground and move towards it. They respond to stimuli and communicate through chemicals. Their language is nuanced. They pass on information about the approach of animals or attack from diseases or insect pests. They respond dramatically with electrical shrieks when they are damaged.

How is this possible?

We do not yet know.

Brain cells communicate via electrochemical transmissions through a huge interconnecting network of cells. Plants cells interact in the same way. Perhaps the whole plant operates as one huge brain?

Plants like in communities and families and support one another. But we isolate them from their communities. We chop them down and treat them as inanimate objects.

What if trees are indeed conscious, wise and sensitive? What if all plants are conscious and really do feel pain every bit as much as us but are unable to show us that they are feeling pain? Do plants fear us? Do they dream? Are we their greatest nightmare?

Think of the implications for how we treat them?

Mowing the grass takes on a whole new dimension. Cutting down a tree is of a far greater significance.

Would you be quite so comfortable eating a salad?

David Attenborough?? Is he right??

Posted on by Opher

Is David Attenborough a shill for the global elite?

Is he simply misguided?

Or does he, after spending a lifetime working with nature, know what he’s talking about?

David says that we are facing the greatest threat for thousands of years. He states that the planet is warming. That this warming is so extreme that it will lead to the collapse of civilisation and the extinction of the natural world.

There will stronger and stronger storms. Droughts, floods, heatwaves, changes in air and sea currents, extreme weather and freezing winters.

Ice caps will melt leading to the rising of sea levels by tens of metres that will put our cities and fertile land under water. Low-lying countries will disappear altogether. Wildlife will be decimated. It will lead to mass migrations, starvation and the breakdown of civilisation.

https://www.theguardian.com/global/video/2018/dec/03/continuation-of-civilisation-is-in-your-hands-attenborough-tells-world-leaders-video

NASA provides an excellent course module on the science of global warming.

climate change
(Source: NASA)

climate change

CO2 is now the highest it has been for 3 million years.

According to the UN report we now have just 12 years to get these carbon dioxide levels down or we face catastrophe.

Are the UN being alarmist?

So is NASA lying?

Is Attenborough a dupe?

Or is global warming a real and terrible threat?

Mowing the bloody grass! Global warming is a pain!

Posted on by Opher

It used to be a problem with the lawnmower. When you laid it up for winter it would never start in the Spring. We had to lug it to the shop and get it fixed. We don’t have that problem now. It never gets much of a lay off at all!

I’m mowing the bloody grass through into December! I start again in March!

This is what happens with global warming! And the fools say it isn’t happening! They should come and see my garden!

But at least I don’t have the lawnmower maintenance costs! I just wear it out quicker!

Overpopulation – The biggest problem for everyone!

Posted on by Opher

As the world population heads to a staggering 8 billion, we are destroying more forests than ever and producing more CO2 which promotes more climate change.

We are killing off wildlife in ever increasing numbers.

I think people are afraid to address the issue. It is not PC. So I will. There certainly is a problem with the size of third world families. It is madness. I was just watching a report from Yemen yesterday in which a father (who looked pretty well-nourished himself) was talking about the fact that he could not get enough food for all his eight children. They were starving. Babies were dying like flies.

Then the next item went to the 7000 refugees fleeing Honduras because there is no work – too many people not enough jobs. They were starving. They had no prospects. I could make a few connections.

a. If he only had 2 kids he might have enough food and they wouldn’t starve.

b. If there were less people the unemployment wouldn’t be so high and they would not be mass migrating everywhere.

c. With less people there is less pollution, less climate change and less of the environment destroyed.

It seems to be in everybody’s interest to get the overpopulation under control.

I would suggest some carefully thought out strategies are necessary:

a. Access to birth control.

b. Education.

c. Welfare.

d. Pensions.

e. Inducements.

Of course it is in the capitalists interest to have a large, desperate population to exploit.

It is in the various religious groups interest to increase their numbers and power!

A letter to a denier of environmental disaster.

Posted on by Opher

Dear Denier,

you seem to live in your own little world where you can forget what is happening elsewhere and claim firstly to have no knowledge of it (that everyone is lying) and secondly to be ignorant of the impact you do have.

I presume that you do consume energy, have possessions and do some travelling. You do have a carbon footprint and utilise materials. What you don’t care about is the ethics of how all this is being done in your name and the impact it is having on nature all round the globe.

What you don’t seem to care about is the impact of the rest of the 8 billion people on the other creatures that live here on this planet with us.

And what you are in denial over is the impact all that is going to be having on your life and particularly the lives of your descendants. You don’t seem at all bothered.

Who cares if there are no elephants, chimps or hedgehogs? Doesn’t bother you. You’re not killing them (directly). But you are.

You won’t be bothered until such time that the impact arrives in your house.

The fact that the mass immigration is already affecting you does not seem to register.

What happens at a distance will come home to roost.

The palm oil in your shampoo is killing orangutans.

The CO2 from your electricity is changing the climate.

But you simply deny all the evidence, call the scientists liars.

Stephen Hawking – Parting shots for Brexit and Trump

Posted on by Opher

Stephen Hawking – the greatest mind of modern times – gave a speech that he had recorded shortly before his death in which he lambasted both Brexit and Trump, which he saw as great dangers to the future of mankind.

In the final speech, which was aired yesterday at the launch of his last book he pulled no punches.

He warned that both Brexit and Trump were fuelling a global revolt against experts.

He enumerated his greatest concerns for mankind which included the following:

Climate change

Soaring global population

The rapid extinction of other species

The need to develop renewable energy sources

The degradation of the oceans

Deforestation

and Epidemic diseases.

I don’t think I would have made a list that was much different to that myself.

The world has lost a huge mind who recognised the dangers we face. Unfortunately we are being lied to and led by selfish, greedy, ideological morons.

Stephen Hawking entreated us to ‘Look at the stars and not our feet!’

He warned that both science and technology research was in the greatest danger and that we were in danger of becoming more culturally isolated and insular.

He said that both Brexit and Trump were leading a global revolt against experts and scientists with dire consequences.

Thank you Stephen. We’ll all miss your intelligence and perceptiveness!!

Meanwhile we’re left behind here with the moronic, fear-ridden lies of May and Trump. A plague upon the two of them!

Global Warming is real and threatens us severely.

Posted on by Opher

Science is based on accurate observation followed by hypothesis and testing.

As is obvious with testing we do not have a control group for the planet.

We have observed the heating of the planet very accurately. It is heating up.

We have looked for reasons.

In previous tropical ages there were natural phenomena. In ice ages there were natural phenomena.

These changes were brought about by things outside our control – solar output variations or volcanic activity.

We have not observed any such activity.

What we have observed is that the greenhouse gas CO2 is building up in high levels due to human activity through burning fossil fuels. This correlates.

The greenhouse effect of CO2 has been verified using scientific method, with controls.

The global warming is having a marked effect on weather patterns and rises in sea level. If the temperatures rise much more those changes will increase dramatically.

Intelligence says that if you have a problem you look for a way of fixing it. Global warming is a hell of a problem.

We could put mirrors in space to reflect heat.

We could put my water into the air to form cloud to reflect heat.

We could reduce CO2 levels.

You know what – I think CO2 reduction is the easiest and best way to solve the problem.