The Conference Debrief
Ok…that’s a wrap for the conference. Now I feel the need to Debrief. So, for anyone who reads this, if you haven’t
read the prior two posts, it won’t make a lot of sense, but here goes.
What I
Learned
This conference was really fantastic; so worth the trip to
Minnesota to attend. I learned lots and
lots of facts, all of which you can garner for yourself through the links to
the presentations.
But in the big scope of things, what I learned is that if we
don’t change our ways….FAST….the Ocean is doomed. And of course, once we kill the Ocean we have
in fact killed our Planet, because life on our Planet cannot exist without a
healthy, thriving Ocean.
What I learned at this conference and through reading Bill
Bryson’s book, “The History of Almost Everything” is that life balances on a
finely tuned teeter totter. In other
words, there are very tightly framed margins within which life can exist, and
we have taken life to the very edges of those margins and are about to push
past them. When we do, there will be no
turning back.
I expect eyes to roll and readers to shrug their shoulders
and say, “We’ve heard this before, it won’t happen”….but it will. We are doing it right now and if you don’t
believe it, then watch the presentations!!!
My Forecast
for the Future
Unfortunately for readers I have to fess up and embrace the
fact that I am a Cynic. I have no hope,
whatsoever, that the course of human action will change from its current
direction. I do in fact think that
eventually, in the not so distant future, we will annihilate life on
Earth. What we are up against is ….. Ourselves, and what we are Unwilling to Change or Accept.
So, specifically, what are we up against?
Ignorance – On the
grandest scale and at so many levels it is ignorance that is leading us into
the abyss. The masses have no
comprehension of the impact of our species on the planet. And even those who are well educated tend to
ignore the facts and information because it is way too inconvenient.
Then
there is the group who proclaims that the earth is too big for our species have
that kind of impact, to so radically change the biology and chemistry of
Earth. I say back, the Earth was never
intended to support the billions of humans who now inhabit it and that the
evidence is everywhere that we are having that kind of impact. As Dave Gallo said in his presentation, we
have become a virus on this planet.
Example after example is out there if we just
open our eyes to them.
§
Recently I stopped for a visit with family at their
campsite. During the course of the visit
I saw them throw plastic spoons and forks into their campfire. When I made a comment their response was,
“Yes, we know we should recycle, but we don’t.”
We have known for a long time about air pollution and what we are doing
to our air, and yet there they were, ignoring the very information that will
help keep them alive.
Every
time we light a campfire, every time we don’t recycle, every time we use
pesticides or herbicides and all the other ‘cides’ that we have created, we are
impacting the quality of life on this earth.
§
The news account of moving the space shuttle to its
final resting place in California and along the way cutting down 400 trees to
get it there is another simple example.
We have known for ions the role trees play in our air quality, and yet
400 are cut down for the sake of moving a space shuttle. These decisions are made because decision
makers think that cutting down just these few trees won’t make a difference…but
it does.
·
Government – Our
government and all the world’s governments have the information they need to
make the tough decisions that must be made.
And yet over and over again we hear they must have more information or the
information they have is conveniently ignored.
It is the governments that have the resources and power to make the
changes that must be made on the largest scales that we must have to reverse
our trajectory…and yet they don’t. And
we as voters, place the issue of ecology and conservation on the very lowest
rung of the hierarchy of issues, so that no matter who we vote into office, our
path does not change.
·
Wealth - It is
the individual wealth that we have in this country and in other developed
countries around the world that will block our road to sustainability. As a people, if we can afford a nice home
with all the amenities, most of us are not willing to give up that luxury and
take steps to reduce our individual carbon footprint on the planet. It is a tough decision to make when you have
worked so long for what you want to then acknowledge that the very lifestyle
you embrace is leading us to a dead planet.
If we could take the wealth of the top 50 wealthiest
people in just our country and apply that wealth to building sustainable
communities that function off the grid….we might begin to make an impact.
·
Poverty – Poverty
plays as much of a role as Wealth. When
we look at it from the highest level, we see how developing countries have
suffered too long in environments that are debilitating to its citizens. And yet as countries such as China and India
move forward in economic wealth they are repeating the same mistakes that all
developed countries have made since the rise of industrialism. We cannot blame them for wanting what we have
taken for granted so long…and yet it is another piece of the matrix that dooms
us.
·
Greed – Greed
comes in many forms, but the one I want to focus on is the greed of
corporations on this planet.
Since the rise of industrialism we have seen
corporations become more and more powerful.
They have an overwhelming presence in our national government, they seek
ever larger profits that warp their perspective of what is ethical and moral
behavior and their decisions rarely take into account their impact on the
sustainability of life. All you need to
do is walk through the isle ways of Wal-Mart to see the most visible signs of
their impact.
The shelves of every major retail outlet are filled
with so many products that serve little to no purpose in the quality of our
lives and most of that product ends in landfills, landfills that have already
become a burden to the planet.
And that is simply the most visible impact of big
business. Beyond that visibility is an
entire big business structure that is almost impossible to stop. Consider the years and years of cigarette
production which evidence now indicates the industry knew exactly the
implications of their product on human health.
And yet for years they continued to strengthen the levels of nicotine in
their product to ensure continued usage by addicted smokers.
Another example is concisely spelled out in a book I
am currently reading; The Quiet World:
Saving Alaska’s Wilderness Kingdom 1879-1960 by Douglas Brinkley. In this book chapter after chapter describes
the efforts of the forestry industry, fishing industry, mining, oil, etc., etc.
to strip Alaska of the very wilderness that has through the centuries, defined
it. The battles that have been waged by
John Muir and those who came after him have been battles of monumental
proportions, most, over time, have been lost.
And it isn’t just big business that wants to strip all
of Alaska of its natural resources. It
is also the mentality, off again and on again, toward the wildlife of the
region; the overwhelming mindset of so many to annihilate the wolves through
not just ‘fair’ hunting practices, but by plane and cyanide baits and bombs, bombs
that kill not only wolves but caribou, Dall sheep, other animals and
plants. There were men in their time who
bragged over killing 300+ wolves, just from shear hatred. Men who took pride in their knowledge of how
to track down a wolf den and decimate an entire pack.
Our crime toward nature and life on this planet knows
no end.
Yes, I know, that what I write above has little to say
about our Ocean, but if you are tuned in nature and her role on this planet,
you know that every piece of her is connected.
If you want examples and facts regarding the Ocean, click on the links
to the presentations in my first two posts.
Next Steps
What was interesting to me regarding each of the 8
presentations is that each presenter, while they presented in some instances,
facts that are frightening, they all seemed filled with hope and confidence
that we would respond to the crisis that is unfolding as you read this. Most of the presenters ended their Q&A
period with a comment regarding what each of us can do to turn the tide…so to
speak. The answer was simple….find your
gift and use it for the saving of our Ocean.
So…I consider my gift the art of communication. I know that just a few people will read this
blog, but if a few read it and that empowers them to identify their gift and
aim it toward saving the Ocean, then we are moving in the right direction.
Specifically, what can be done…
·
First – spend one hour a day for the next 8 days
watching each of the presentations. (You
can skip the first chemist…his is too hard to understand, so that cuts it down
to 7 days!!!) GET INFORMED!! If it is not the Ocean for you, find an
environmental issue and make it your own.
·
To press home our impact on the earth, I think I will
start researching and blogging on the species that we have caused to go
extinct, focusing on our impact on those animals and pushing the fact that life
as a whole can go extinct on this planet if we don’t change our ways. It would also be easy to do likewise with
animals that are in danger of going extinct.
Maybe that information will start people to think a little more.
·
Join an environmental organization…there are hundreds
out there and one will appeal to you when you find the right one. Whether it is the Sierra Club, The Wilderness
Society, Greenspeace, whatever…find a group you can learn from and who can use
your talents….it is time for all of us to step forward and let the world know
we are concerned!
·
Learn, learn, learn….never stop learning. Gather every fact you can and make sure it is
a fact.
·
Support our scientists. Another
interesting learning at the conference was from Christopher Sabine, presenter
#5. He commented how the typical role
for scientists is to research and gather facts, present those facts and then
start all over again.
He was very pleased with the results of NOAA Pacific
Marine Environmental Laboratory when its team of scientist began working with
the fishing industries of the Oregon and Washington coasts. What they learned from this effort was when
the scientist presented the scientific facts to the fishing industries they in
turn began using that information to alter their processes for their catches
thereby increasing the population of the fish they were catching. Want more information? Watch his presentation. We need to support our scientists to move
them out of the labs and into partnerships with big business to make the changes
we need to make to save our Ocean and our Planet.
These are
just a few ideas that come immediately to mind for me. What are your ideas?
So…will I
go back next year?? You betcha!!! The 49th
Nobel Conference topic was announced at this year’s conference. Topic next year is “The Universe At Its Limits”.
Dates are set for October 1 & 2, 2013. For more information, follow this link….
posted by Sue's Ramblings @ 11:52 AM
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