The environment movement is failing because of a dearth of truth telling and a profound lack of ambition. Apart from what sells, is compatible with public opinion, or may remain unknown at the time; ecological truth exists and matters deeply. These truths include the laws of the universe and requirements for existence of organic life. When Homo sapiens perceived themselves, and lived, as one with the Earth, there was no problem. But now the ever so pugnacious hairless ape has asserted mastery over nature, with dire consequences that remain to be fully realized. Shared survival depends critically upon first fully knowing and feeling eco-crises, and then formulating and implementing ecologically sufficient personal and social transformations. Let us be clear. We know of no life on Earth or...
Climate change, peak oil and all the other unfolding crises associated with pollution and resource depletion are all symptoms of one problem. There has been a fundamental change in the relationship between people and the Earth. We no longer have new frontiers to expand into when resources get scarce or our waste becomes intolerable. This change marks the maturity of the human species. Well-being now requires an equally fundamental change in how we manage our societies.
As long as the goal of expanding production and consumption is considered legitimate, we are in danger of overshooting planetary limits and collapsing. When sustainability gains legitimacy, as our primary goal, the possibility will emerge for evolving a mature social form, capable of long-term well-being. It is a...
And failure to know and act upon such truth threatens our shared survival and Gaia's
continued being
By Dr. Glen Barry, President, Ecological Internet; Editor,
New Earth Rising
The environment movement is failing because of a dearth of
truth telling and a profound lack of ambition. Apart from what sells and is compatible
with public opinion, and may even remain unknown at the time, ecological truth exists
and matters deeply. These truths include the laws of the universe, how things
work, and requirements for existence of organic life. When Homo sapiens
perceived themselves, and lived, as one with the Earth, there was no problem.
But now the ever so pugnacious hairless ape has asserted mastery over nature,
with dire consequences that remain to be fully realized.
Shared survival...
Arctic melting leading to methane release [ark | moreark] -- a major climate change feedback -- has kicked in again after an eight year hiatus, indicating a major quickening of the climate crisis. A global study in Geophysical Research Letters found a major increase in methane levels of about 28 million tonnes since mid-2006 due to release of gas in and near the Arctic. Methane is responsible for some 20% of global warming -- and Arctic warming is melting permafrost, leading to increased bacterial emissions from wetland areas. The finding comes as research published in Nature Geoscience found solid evidence that temperatures are rising in Antarctica [ark] as well, and that climate change there and in the Arctic was conclusively caused by human-induced emissions of greenhouse gas....
There is a whole Earth full of reasons for you to make a gift to Ecological Internet now. In a couple hundred years human populations have increased nearly seven fold and their resource use has led to wealth for some, while destroying the Earth and her ecosystems, which provide habitat for all. Any one of the crises of scarce water, dead oceans, chaotic atmosphere, degraded forests, disappearing species and incipient toxics could lead to more mass extinction and even the fall of civilization. Together they almost certainly will.
The root cause of this global ecological crisis is societies extracting too much natural capital while destroying global ecosystems, in combination with over-population and inequitable consumption. The biosphere, the very foundation of being, is failing; leading...
The converging mortgage, financial, food, fuel and climate crises are all symptoms of a massive global ecological bubble
Excerpt from "Earth Meanders" personal essay by Ecological Ecological 's President, Dr. Glen Barry: Ecological overshoot whereby humanity exceeds the Earth's carrying capacity is the mother of all "bubbles". Within the current sub-prime mortgage and financial bubbles, and food and energy price increases, we are witnessing the logical and inevitable economic consequences of over-population, resource scarcity, inequitable and unreasonable consumption, and unsustainable economic growth. Growth and livelihoods based upon unreasonable presumptions of continued resource outputs from dwindling ecosystems are a dangerous, unprecedented "ecological bubble" that threatens...
Given widespread failure to pursue policies sufficient to reverse deterioration of the biosphere and avoid ecological collapse, the best we can hope for may be that the growth-based economic system crashes sooner rather than later.Excerpt from Earth Meanders personal essays by Dr. Glen Barry: Humanity and the Earth are faced with an enormous conundrum -- sufficient climate policies enjoy political support only in times of rapid economic growth. Yet this growth is the primary factor driving greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental ills. The growth machine has pushed the planet well beyond its ecological carrying capacity, and unless constrained, can only lead to human extinction and an end to complex life...This essay explores the possibility that from a biocentric viewpoint of...
It is late, despair high; yet ambitious policies emphasizing sacrifice and preparation can keep the Earth from dying
Excerpt from Earth Meanders personal essay [full]: Human caused ecosystem destruction has progressed well beyond the Earth's carrying capacity -- its ability to provide goods and services, and to regenerate. Global heating is occurring at a rate and extent far exceeding expectations. There are too many people to meet basic needs for all based upon further habitat destruction for resources, much less making possible Western lifestyles. Ecological crises have progressed to the point where global ecological, economic and social upheavals are guaranteed. This is ecological fact, truth, knowledge -- it is what it is, and no value is gained by stating otherwise.
Yet it is...
Humanity is changing Earth's climate so fast and devouring resources so voraciously that it is poised to bequeath a ravaged planet to future generations [ark] -- so finds the fourth Global Environment Outlook (GEO-4). The report is published by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and was compiled by 390 experts using two decades of data. At over six billion, the human population is now so big that "the amount of resources needed to sustain it exceeds what is available". Regional predictions are equally grim [ark].Given "the world's scarce resources are being depleted at a wholly unsustainable rate despite urgent warnings sounded two decades ago," surely world governments will be meeting in emergency sessions throughout the night in coming weeks, I expect to hear shortly of...
Bottled water is deeply environmentally damaging [search] and purchasing bottled water faces a backlash [ark] from an increasingly ecologically literate public. Water bottles number in the billions -- using petroleum in their construction, and taking up landfill space. Water needs to come from somewhere, and too often tap water is merely bottled and then driven long distances. We need to be concerned with maintaining our regional watersheds -- making sure our own tap water is safe and clean [search] -- rather than thinking we can continue to exploit mythologically pure bottled water from exotic locales. After drinking bottled water for years, an acquired taste we thought healthful, my family and I have happily converted back to using tap water. We tested the water prior to doing so and it...
The population bomb has burst, the climate and biosphere are in tatters, and tyrannical, militaristic governments rule; yet there remains a path to global ecological sustainability
The Earth is a living organism, which some call Gaia. Humanity is taking apart Gaia's life support systems in an orgy of procreation and consumption. Only radical social change and profound spiritual transformation can save us now.
Radical is not a dirty word. It means markedly new opinions and actions far beyond the norm, often is response to dilemmas that stymie conventional wisdom. Many times in Western history radical political ideas expanded human dignity and opportunity.
In this era of resource gluttony, tyranny and militarism, and post population bomb explosion; the Earth and her humanity are crying...
And what an equitable, just and ecologically sustainable society will look like
Excerpt from recent Earth Meanders personal eco-essay: The Earth, human society and those species with who we share creation are on a crash course with global ecological collapse characterized by horrific death and destruction. Human populations have exploded and in sum have become a disease consuming the ecological systems which provide for their habitat and being. Environmentalism such as it is remains mostly bureaucratic greenwashing, seeking to defend practices such as ancient forest logging and excessive personal air travel, which are the very activities that have led to our fatal situation in the first place and continue to threaten the Earth. This meander attempts to pull together seemingly discordant...