Apocalypse Now!

I know it’s old news now but a few weeks ago a chunk of the Arctic circle, 3 times the size of Manhattan fell into the sea, some 100 square miles of glacier couldn’t hang on any longer! This piece fell off the Petermann Glacier near Greenland and it is feared may be heading into the shipping lanes of the North Atlantic.

Bizarrely this coincided with my son Lewis (8) and I watching the disaster flick ‘ The Day After Tomorrow’. I decided best not to tell Lewis about this development, as he was quite uptight after watching the film.

You may recall the film explains how a rapid ice age may occur, the fresh water from the melting ice caps, desalinizing the Atlantic Ocean and preventing the circulation of the warming tropical currents which regulate the Earths temperate climate. I love the movie as it tackles some of the biggest climate puzzles and offers some reasonable answers, and just like the movie itself many scientists rubbish the films theories on global warming and climate change. What we must remember is that many scientists aren’t independent and receive funding from political organisations!

Lewis asked me if it was going to happen like the movie, to which i replied no-one really knows, I then explained to him the that the planet is getting hotter because of greenhouse gases and the importance of saving energy.

The debate rages on about whether global warming is fact or fiction, but there’s no doubt in my mind at all, it all makes perfect sense to me and the signs are there for us all to see; if we care to look!

Pakistan and China are witnessing disastrous amounts of rainfall, the ice caps are thinning and breaking up, Russia is suffering one of the driest summers on record, which is severely damaging their crops. The weather is changing and who knows where it’s heading?

In the film only one scientist understands the signs and makes his predictions for climate change, his warning is ignored and the disaster unfolds. The key word here is ignorance. Many scientists argue that global warming is real and happening, yet an equal amount argue that the opposite is true! Therefore many people don’t know who to believe and so choose to do nothing, placing their trust and hope in their governments; who really have the environment too far down on their agendas.

Ignorance is Bliss: Ignore the lot of em I say!

I know that our behavior, as a species, is detrimental to the planet and I don’t need a scientist to tell me why it’s bad to chop down the Amazon or pollute the air / sea / soil / outer space, because it’s bloody obvious! Come on surely we all understand this??

There’s a famous saying in my country ” You don’t bite the hand that feeds you!”  Well I’m afraid we are and pretty soon the planet will struggle to support human life!!! More and more famine will occur and in parts of the world that aren’t accustomed to it too! This will see migration of people and civil unrest will follow, wars over soil – not oil will ensue.

We mustn’t wait for the scientists to agree on this we must take this upon us to do our bit at home and work now, we must pressure our leaders into doing more! Insisting on more public transport, tax breaks for non car families, free cycles for people to ride in towns and cities, lobbying for more green energy (solar being a preference please). Etc Etc Etc.

I hate it when lazy bastards throw rubbish on the streets, rather than finding a dustbin! (think about how much energy we waste just picking up other peoples filth!!) Not to mention the horrid effect on our environment!

I haven’t seen Al Gore’s film the ‘An Inconvenient Truth’, why? I don’t think I need to see it because I’ve already accepted this truth and I fear it may upset me watching it…… maybe that’s the whole point of it? Well I think I’ll get a copy all the same……….

Good Luck wherever you are and I hope the weather is kind to you!

Respect and Peace!

@dam

Carbon Neutral

Carbon Neutrality is one of the top priorities of the world right now. What does that mean? Well as i understand it, countries/companies/communities/citizens are all trying to reduce their carbon footprints to zero, their emissions are zilch.

In my opinion, it would be easier for citizens (albeit wealthy ones) to change their lifestyles to attain this magical status of carbon neutral, as opposed to businesses, who generally, consume much more energy.

But upon a little digging, I’ve found that companies can offset their consumptions or footprint by purchasing carbon credits. That means that a company which cannot reduce its impact any further, can buy carbon credits to attain carbon neutrality. Game on, sounds good so far, innovative solution to a problem and it’s got to be better than doing nothing!

Wind Turbines - Common practice

The most commonly employed method of producing renewable energy is harnessing the winds energy with wind turbines, these projects are also used to generate carbon credits; which can then be traded.

Another popular method of offsetting carbon is the planting of trees, again these trees generate credits which are bought by companies in their bid to reduce their impact.

At the Kyoto summit it was agreed that this carbon credit practice was the best way forward for countries and companies to reduce their emissions. Credits may be cheaper or more convenient alternatives to reducing one’s own fossil-fuel consumption, if it’s easier to do, then it should mean higher participation.

There are over 200 types of projects suitable for generating carbon offsets, which are grouped into broad categories. These project types include renewable energy, methane abatement, energy efficiency, reforestation and fuel switching.

I know that in the UK, Sky television have just ran a ‘Save the Amazon’ week, in partnership with the WWF, hence my new membership of the WWF. As part of their project they aimed to buy and protect an area of the Amazon from deforestation. This really does seem like the best possible carbon credit project you could imagine. Surely the place to be right now in our fight against global warming and all things ecological, is the saving of our beautiful rainforest’s.

The South American economies would benefit greatly, as custodians of the largest reserve of carbon credits on the planet and they should be encouraged to make this their industry. Guardians of the planets future should pay handsomely enough, the rest of the worlds richest countries should encourage this practice so that they are the preferred suppliers of carbon credits. This new found wealth should far outweigh the gains from cattle farming, mining, logging, and drilling for oil.

Nothing is simple and there are many considerations, but this makes sense to me :

We, the first world, should pay ecologically rich countries to look after our planets future, supporting their economies will reduce poverty and intolerable damage to the planet!

What are your thoughts on this matter? Am I missing something? (i usually am, lol)

Respect and Peace!

@dam

Seeking Knowledge

It never stops surprising me, just how clever and dedicated some people are! In my quest for knowledge regarding Bioremediation, i stumbled upon a fantastic and somewhat technical presentation about this subject. It was given by, who i now know to be one of the worlds leading experts in this field, Terry Hazen.

Terry Hazen - Earth Champion!

Now this guys knows his potatoes! Hearing his presentation really helped me understand 1: the process, 2: how amazing nature really is 3: how dedicated this fella is, it’s very humbling.

Anyway, me being me, i fired him an email on Sunday, asking him if he was aware of the mess that Texaco left Ecuador in (see previous posts). Also what his thoughts are on Paul Stamets claims about the use of Mycelium in the bioremediation process.

In a moment i’ll share with you his reply, but i want you to understand something, i know i’m quite cheeky in asking this extremely busy man for some of his time; yet he still saw to reply first thing Monday morning! Now that’s the mark of a classy fella in my book. I explained that i wasn’t part of any organisation or business and that i was just a concerned citizen. I find that remarkable dedication and people like Terry are inspirational to me, not at all  concerned with what was in it for him.

Terry’s Email:

Adam,

Thank you for your email.  Several years ago Chevron did talk to me about their Ecuador problems; however, as they became more involved with litigation they stopped all contact with us!!!  I have followed remotely some of the activities in Ecuador and I must say I am amazed at all of the problems they are having with the cleanup.  Having lived in the tropics  (Puerto Rico) and studied petroleum biodegradation, it should degrade quite readily, unless there is some other limiting parameter.  Attached is a recent study in Nigeria.  The fight between the Ecuador government and Chevron does not seem to allow the scientific community or even rational minds to get involved!!  Our current work in the Tropics suggest that bacteria are dominant in soil communities and that they can break anything down (even lignin) at the fastest rates known (see our recent paper attached).

Best regards,

Terry

So he’s even sent me to 2 PDFs to help me understand the work he and his team is doing, i only had a chance for a glance at the moment, but i’m looking forward to reading them fully; although there’s some heavy chemical names in there, phew!

You’ll notice his remarks about the legal bullshit that’s preventing a proper clean-up operation – how frustrating and senseless, just think of the locals being poisoned by these pits!!

So what’s the point of this post, other than to remark how amazing some people are to me, well i think it’s this: If you don’t ask you don’t get! If you’re polite, friendly and a little cheeky, you’d be surprised where it can take you.

I’d like to say a very big thank you to Terry for making my day special – Thank You Sir!!

Respect and Peace!

@dam

Eco Warrior…….Why not?

Today I joined the WWF

I’ve been considering this for a little while, but watching the ‘Ross Kemp in the Amazon’ documentaries was ‘the straw’ so to speak.

I’ve been doing some research into Bioremediation and I’m going to contact the WWF and Greenpeace to find out what they know about this interesting field of science.

Interestingly, we have just up the road a mushroom farm, who very shortly will be getting a visit from this newly formed ‘Eco – Warrior’……lol.

The way I see it, if we don’t get involved now, then before long it’ll be TOO late!!!

Children will look at their parents and wonder why we didn’t love them enough to protect their world for their future!!

It appals me to see what we have done to this beautiful planet! There is a very real risk that the planet may become so polluted and toxic; that it cannot actually support human life. Now that I have kids, I understand how important it is to get involved and at least try to be part of the solution and stop being part of the problem!

Respect and Peace!

@dam

Warning!!

Disturbing Images of the human Blight of this Planet!

Deforestation

Gorilla Hunting!

Whaling

Elephant Tusks

Oil Spill

Seal Kills

Desert in the making!

Mining

Japanese river of Blood

Melting ice caps

What are we doing!!!!

Mushrooms in Ecuador?

After watching ‘Ross Kemp in the Amazon’ last night, which i have to say, was so upsetting, i had a flash of lateral inspiration! Eureka maybe a little early to claim, but you never know.

Ross traveled to the Amazon and showed the world the hideous  ravages of commerce; on the garden of Eden. I don’t for one minute blame these poor South America countries for the state of the Amazon rainforest’s, i blame the western world for the blatant exploitation and disregard for the environment and welfare of the local populations.

Tragedy in paradise!

The first story was filmed in Ecuador, where Texaco cashed in on their abundant oil reserves, bulldozing rain forest and then leaving huge toxic pits of unusable oil and water; apparently acceptable by-products of the crude industry. Crude in more ways than one!

These pits are a major health hazard, which contaminate the water table and therefore poison all life in these areas; a truly obscene legacy if ever there was one. Good work Texaco, you greedy bastards!!

Immediately when i saw this i thought of the Paul Stamets film i posted the other week, you remember the mushroom guy, he may just help save our beautiful planet.

Toxic pits in Ecuador

His experiments with mycelium have shown us that fungi has the ability to breakdown hydrocarbons (oils) and change the into life giving carbohydrates (fungal sugars).

So you see where this is going right, I’ve contacted him, asking his opinion on whether his amazing mushrooms can help Ecuador’s oil pit problem.

Wouldn’t it be amazing if he said yes…..i’ll keep you posted.

Respect and Peace ( except  to Texaco)

@dam.