To Our Children's Children's Children
The “7th generation” principle taught by Native Americans says that in every major decision, we must consider how it will affect our descendants, seven generations into the future. So that the pristine sky, fields and mountains will still be here for them. The Lakota Nation considers one generation to be 100 years. https://mollylarkin.com/what-is-the-7th-generation-principle-and-why-do-you-need-to-know-about-it-3/
What Is The Future Of Life On Earth?
We cannot tell the future of life on earth with a crystal ball. The future of life on earth is ours to decide. https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/804455552160278175/
We Have One Last 50/50 Chance To Leave Our Children A Livable World
The Future Of Life On Earth Is Ours To Decide
We have two choices:
Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations now exceed 400 ppm and are racing toward 450 ppm, levels not seen in over 3 million years - when sea levels were as much as 80 feet higher than today. https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/carbon-dioxide-hits-level-not-seen-3-million-years-here-ncna1005231
If we continue down our current path, burning billions of tons of greenhouse gases each year into the world's slim 60-mile high atmosphere, earth's life support systems will continue to destabilize, spiraling out of control: Apocalyptic fires, endless heat waves, century-long megadroughts, increasingly destructive typhoons, hurricanes, tornadoes, and derechos, massive flooding, rising sea levels, all driving merciless wars, desperate and terrified immigrants and refugees. All these things ARE happening already, with increasing frequency and intensity, while we continue to pump billions of tons of greenhouse gases each year into the world's slender life-giving atmosphere. Food supplies are increasingly endangered. Water reserves are shrinking rapidly, in many places already gone.
The Scientific Realities of Climate Change
We Have One Last 50/50 Chance To Leave Our Children A Livable World
Speaking on behalf of future generations at the U.N. climate summit COP 25 in Madrid, Spain in December 2019, 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg addressed world leaders, hours after she was named Time magazine’s Person of the Year. In her address, Thunberg warned that the planet’s carbon budget was down to just eight years. She implored for bold decisive action.
The young activist spelled out the most critical facts on climate change - that many climate scientists do not dare to cite - and risk the loss of their funding and livelihoods:
“In chapter two, on page 108 in the SR 1.5 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report that came out last year says that if we are to have a 67% chance of limiting the global temperature rise to below 1.5 degrees Celsius, we had, on January 1st, 2018, 420 gigatons of CO2 left to emit in that budget.”
From the IPCC Report:
Cumulative CO2 emissions are kept within a budget by reducing global annual CO2 emissions to net zero. This assessment suggests a remaining budget of about 420 GtCO2 for a two-thirds chance of limiting warming to 1.5°C, and of about 580 GtCO2 for an even chance (medium confidence). The remaining carbon budget is defined here as cumulative CO2 emissions from the start of 2018 until the time of net zero global emissions for global warming defined as a change in global near-surface air temperatures. Remaining budgets applicable to 2100 would be approximately 100 GtCO2 lower than this to account for permafrost thawing and potential methane release from wetlands in the future, and more thereafter. These estimates come with an additional geophysical uncertainty of at least ±400 GtCO2, related to non-CO2 response and TCRE distribution. Uncertainties in the level of historic warming contribute ±250 GtCO2. In addition, these estimates can vary by ±250 GtCO2 depending on non-CO2 mitigation strategies as found in available pathways. {2.2.2, 2.6.1}
Staying within a remaining carbon budget of 580 GtCO2 implies that CO2 emissions reach carbon neutrality in about 30 years, reduced to 20 years for a 420 GtCO2 remaining carbon budget (high confidence). https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/chapter/chapter-2/
“Of course, that number is much lower today as we emit about 42 gigatons of CO2 every year, including land use. With today’s emissions levels, that remaining budget will be gone within about eight years..”
“I still believe that the biggest danger is not inaction. The real danger is when politicians and CEOs are making it look like real action is happening when in fact almost nothing is being done apart from clever accounting and creative PR,” Thunberg said.
Also at the COP 25 in 2019, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said that with current trends, there will be global heating of between 3.5 °C and 3.9 °C degrees by the end of the century. “The impact on all life on the planet, including ours, would be catastrophic,” he said.
“Catastrophic” Scenarios:
Global Emissions of Fossil Fuels &
CO2 PPM / Global Temperature Rise,
1980 - 2100
Trump Administration Reverses Nearly 100 Environmental Rules.
Trump Administration Eases Obama-Era Rules On Coal Pollution https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2019-11-04/trump-administration-eases-obama-era-rules-on-coal-pollution
Over four years in office, the Trump administration has dismantled major climate policies and rolled back many more rules governing clean air, water, wildlife and toxic chemicals. Rollbacks carried out by the Environmental Protection Agency have weakened limits on planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and from cars and trucks; removed protections from more than half the nation's wetlands; and withdrawn the legal justification for restricting mercury emissions from power plants.
At the same time, the Interior Department has worked to open up more land for oil and gas leasing by limiting wildlife protections and weakening environmental requirements for projects.
All told, the Trump administration’s environmental rollbacks could significantly increase greenhouse gas emissions over the next decade and lead to thousands of extra deaths from poor air quality each year, according to energy and legal analysts. At the link below, we have summarized each rule that has been targeted for reversal.
California milestone: Over 4 million acres burned in wildfires
SAN FRANCISCO CA -- Over 4 million acres have burned this year by wildfires, that killed 30 people and incinerated hundreds of homes in the worst fire season on record. Flames have scorched an area larger than Connecticut and fire crews at a blaze in the wine country north of San Francisco were on high alert as forecasters warned of red flag conditions of extreme fire danger into Saturday morning. Winds up to 30 mph were forecast to push through the hills of Napa and Sonoma counties as the Glass Fire, which exploded in size earlier in the week, continued to threaten more than 28,000 homes and other buildings...
Colorado firefighters battle the state's largest wildfires in history
Colorado's governor said the historic wildfire burning this morning in Rocky Mountain National Park was most likely caused by human activity. Making matters worse: the East Troublesome Fire is not the biggest fire burning in the state right now, and there remains the possibility it could merge with the nearby Cameron Peak Fire.
More than 700 firefighters are now battling the East Troublesome Fire in northern Colorado and additional help is on the way. The fire has already burned over 188,000 acres, an area larger than the city of Chicago. Firefighters only have 4% of it contained, according to the fire information website InciWeb. Meanwhile, the Cameron Peak Fire, the largest blaze in the state, has burned more than 206,000 acres and is 60% contained.
Governor Jared Polis activated the state's National Guard and met with evacuees and first responders, who have also been victimized by the wildfires. "Can you describe what it looks like?" CBS News asked Christopher Joyner, a spokesperson for the East Troublesome Fire. "I've been in and around wildfire for almost 10 years and I've never seen anything like what we experienced two nights ago where we had 100,000 acres of growth in the matter of a night," said Joyner. The streets in downtown Estes Park are nearly empty, save for fire crews heading in and out of the fight. The resort town at the gateway to the Rocky Mountain National Park is evacuated.
As Climate Heats Up -
At Some Point Missouri's Spectacular Forests Will Burn
When droughts in Missouri return, as they did in 2012 when 93 percent of Missouri was in an extreme to exceptional drought, the risk to Missouri forests will intensify. At some point, when the forests become dry enough, Missouri’s spectacular forests will burn. Ongoing cuts to state services will accelerate the dangers.
Our Last 50/50 Chance
We do have one other option. Since we have waited until the last minute, this will take humanity's total effort and commitment - To work with nature, restore our dying oceans, wildlife, and ecosystems. The rewards will be vast and bountiful. Nature is designed to work with man, to grow and transform the seeds of myriad life forms into complex wonderlands of rich biodiversity.
The Age of Nature
WATCH PBS: Bhutan's River Shores, Where Towns and Farms Flourish - The Age of Nature https://www.pbs.org/video/changing-r9tiq7/?fbclid=IwAR2MFO1vUlPwLA0Q-kwHcEUJh5HkfkXQprns6-jxtxiQLzWpFUVei2uYRno
Former Prime Minister of Bhutan, Tshering Tobgay explains, "The fact that we are carbon negative today, may be an example for the rest of the world. It's important that we realize and acknowledge that this is the result of decades of implementation, of enlightened, but courageous policies. By law we are required to maintain a minimum of 60 percent forest coverage. But in reality a little more than seventy percent of our country is under forest cover. Why is the forest so important? For many reasons, but two very important reasons, one everybody knows, is it helps to fight climate change. The forests are a vast reserve of carbon, a carbon sink. The second reason is that our forests are largely pristine, they're naturally a safe haven for a rich biodiversity. It is very important that we protect the forests..
"We've always had a very strong association with water. In terms of agriculture it's obviously very important. As you can see, the rice paddy fields require water, and for centuries, we've been cultivating rice in these valleys." The Bhutanese also harness the power of their rivers to create renewable energy. It contributes to their carbon negative status. The Himalayan region is the world's third largest repository of ice, after the North and South poles. Global warming and climate change are affecting the ecology of the Himalayas, just as they are affecting all over the world.
- The Age of Nature https://www.pbs.org/video/changing-r9tiq7/?fbclid=IwAR2MFO1vUlPwLA0Q-kwHcEUJh5HkfkXQprns6-jxtxiQLzWpFUVei2uYRno
NATIONS & CITIES WORLDWIDE DECLARE
CLIMATE EMERGENCIES
Bonn, Germany (28 October 2020) – Daring Cities 2020, the virtual forum co-designed by ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability and the City of Bonn, brought together more than 4500 participants from over 150 countries to engage in nearly 100 technical and interactive workshops, setting out an action plan to tackle the climate emergency during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Speakers included United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, seven UN agency chiefs, eight national ministers and more than 150 Mayors, Governors, Councilors and other urban leaders.
“Urban areas are at ground zero. As urban leaders, you are on the front lines of these solutions. As we embark on this vital year before COP26, I count on you to raise your ambition and bring concrete commitments to COP26.” said Guterres in a special address. “I am grateful to ICLEI for its continued leadership on climate action.”
ICLEI’s Secretary General, Gino Van Begin, continued, “Nearly 1,000 cities and regions have taken at least one of four critical actions: declaring the climate emergency, committing to carbon neutrality, divesting from fossil fuels or committing to 100% renewable energy. Daring Cities 2020 showed many more cities can move in this direction and turn their commitments into action.”
Climate Emergency Declarations: How Cities Are Leading The Charge
What do places like Shropshire (United Kingdom), Hawkes Bay (New Zealand), Sydney (Australia), New York (USA), and Krakow (Poland) have in common? They are just some of the 822 (and counting) cities, councils and jurisdictions worldwide to have declared a climate emergency. With record temperatures gripping Europe, widespread drought in South America, and ever-decreasing ice coverage in Greenland, the effects of climate change are being felt globally. As some nations drag their feet on enacting environmental policies or are slowed down by politics, some cities worldwide are taking matters in their own hands... “We are acknowledging we are in an emergency situation. The national government needs to declare an emergency and put resources in place to enable councils to help reduce carbon emissions. It's the first step to strategic action.” Six months after Bristol made its initial declaration, the United Kingdom became the first country to announce a climate emergency and pledged to dedicate more resources towards mitigating climate change.
Hurricane Zeta Is Fifth Named Storm to Strike Louisiana During Record 2020 Season
OCT 29, 2020
On the Gulf Coast, at least two people were killed Wednesday after Hurricane Zeta made landfall south of New Orleans as a Category 2 storm. Zeta moved rapidly inland, leaving more than 1.7 million customers without power between Louisiana and the Carolinas.
It was the fifth named storm to make landfall in Louisiana this year, the strongest hurricane since 1899 to hit the U.S. this late in the year, and the 27th named storm of 2020’s unprecedented Atlantic hurricane season. https://www.democracynow.org/2020/10/29/headlines
Tropical Storm Eta forms in Caribbean, ties record for most named storms in season
October 31, 2020
A new tropical storm named Eta is forming in the Caribbean, headed for Central America. The newly-formed storm is bringing showers and thunderstorms to Jamaica, Nicaragua, Honduras and to northern Colombia. This is the first time that name "Eta" has been used and ties the historic 2005 Atlantic Hurricane Season for most named tropical or subtropical storms in a season. This storm we'll be watching in the week ahead as it may move closer to home.
11/18/2020 UPDATES:
'We will never forget this year': Hurricane Iota roars through Caribbean coast just devastated by Eta
Iota, the strongest hurricane ever recorded this late in a year, tore a devastating path through Nicaraguan and into Honduras. The storm could bring one of the worst floods the region has had in a thousand years or more.
“We are facing an incredible emergency,” Wood said. “There is no food. There is no water.”
https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/hurricane-iota-bashes-nicaragua-honduras-after-eta-floods/
‘IN THE HANDS OF GOD’
98% of the infrastructure on Providencia island, part of Colombia’s Caribbean archipelago near the coast of Central America - home to some 6,000 people - has been destroyed.
“We could die,” said Inocencia Smith at one of the shelters. “There is nothing to eat at all.” Eta had earlier destroyed local farms.
Tens of thousands of people were left homeless after hurricane Felix hit Nicaragua and Honduras in 2007. Photo by BBC https://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=85031
Nicaraguan Vice President Rosario Murillo said at least six people had died as they were dragged down by raging rivers. The wind tore the roof off a makeshift hospital. Patients in intensive care were evacuated, including two women who gave birth during the first rains on Monday, the Nicaraguan officials said. WATCH:
Editorial: Double Hurricanes Could Make The Central America Migrations Even Worse
Strongest Storm On The Planet In 2020
Super Typhoon Goni Now Battering The Philippines With 195 MPH Winds
November 1, 2020
Days after being hit with Typhoon Molave, the strongest storm on the planet is making landfall in the Philippines. Super Typhoon Goni with sustained winds of 195 mph in the eastern Phillippines early Sunday. This makes Goni the strongest typhoon to make landfall anywhere on earth since 2013 when Super Typhoon Haiyan also made landfall in the Philippines, killing more than 6,300 people. It comes a week after Typhoon Molave hit the same region, killing 22 people and flooding low-lying villages and farmland, before crossing the South China Sea to Vietnam. Severe damage is expected. A million people have been evacuated. https://weather.com/storms/hurricane/news/2020-10-31-super-typhoon-goni-philippines-vietnam-haiyan
Trump to Open Alaska’s Tongass National Forest to Logging and Road Building
OCT 29, 2020
Image Credit: Twitter: @TongassAF
The Trump administration has stripped protections against logging and road building in the Tongass National Forest in Alaska — one of the world’s largest temperate rainforests. The 9.3-million-acre forest is home to pristine old-growth trees and vulnerable species, including Pacific salmon, wolves and bears.
This month, the Natural Resources Defense Council noted the Tongass “stores more carbon per acre than almost any other forest on the planet, which makes preserving it a matter of real urgency in the fight against climate change.” https://www.democracynow.org/2020/10/29/headlines
UPDATE - November 16, 2020 - Trump Pushes Ahead with Drilling Auction in Arctic Wildlife Refuge Before Biden Becomes President
The Trump administration is pushing through plans to auction off drilling rights in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge before President-elect Joe Biden takes office in January. It’s unclear what would happen to any deals made by the Trump administration, since Biden has vowed to block oil exploration in the Alaskan refuge. The Arctic refuge is extremely rich in biodiversity and has been home to Indigenous peoples for thousands of years.
The Global Green New Deal
Scholars from The New School for Social Research and leaders from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and around the world discuss the latest report on a global Green New Deal. https://events.newschool.edu/event/financing_a_global_green_new_deal
A Fight for Our Lives - Naomi Klein
People are beginning to grasp that the fight is not for some abstraction called “the Earth.” We are fighting for our lives. And we don’t have twelve years anymore; now we have only eleven. Soon, it will be just ten.
The Only Way To Address Climate Change:
The position of the Academies of Science from more than 80 countries and scores of scientific organizations is that global warming is human-caused through the release of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, oil) to generate power. https://www.globalpolicyjournal.com/blog/07/10/2020/global-green-new-deal-project
Planning for the Climate Crisis
The signs of an accelerating climate emergency are everywhere. While the broad notion of a Green New Deal has caught fire, the details and political hurdles are formidable at best. Noam Chomsky and Robert Pollin have laid out what a just plan should include, why it is imperative, and how it might be financed.
AUSTRALIAN BUSHFIRE RESCUES
Meet the people rescuing and caring for the animal survivors of Australia’s devastating bushfires. Koalas, kangaroos and wombats face a series of hurdles to recover from their trauma. https://www.pbs.org/video/australian-bushfire-rescue-f7kzpi/
WESTERN AUSTRALIA - BIODIVERSITY CONFERENCE 2021
Western Australia has eight out of Australia’s 15 declared biodiversity hotspots and one of the highest rates of new species discovery in the world. It is rich in mineral, oil and gas resources, with a significant agricultural sector and ever spreading urban sprawl. In addition, fire regimes are changing across the State.
These factors erode the natural resilience of ecosystems across wide regions and have a profound impact on the delicate balance of these unique biodiversity hotspots.
This Conference brings together researchers and practitioners across academia, government, industry and community to share scientific knowledge, biodiversity informatics and best practice in biodiversity conservation. https://biodiversity2021.com/
Many Native American nations, tribes and other indigenous people around the world have and still live by this philosophy.
Today, The Seventh Generation Principle usually applies to decisions about the energy we use, water and natural resources, and ensuring those decisions are sustainable for seven generations in the future.
We should also apply the Seventh Generation Principle to relationships – so that every decision we make results in sustainable relationships that last at least seven generations into the future.
CHIEF SEATTLE'S TREATY ORATION 1854
Yonder sky that has wept tears of compassion upon my people for centuries untold, and which to us appears changeless and eternal, may change. Today is fair. Tomorrow it may be overcast with clouds. My words are like the stars that never change. Whatever Seattle says, the great chief at Washington can rely upon with as much certainty as he can upon the return of the sun or the seasons. The white chief says that Big Chief at Washington sends us greetings of friendship and goodwill. This is kind of him for we know he has little need of our friendship in return. His people are many. They are like the grass that covers vast prairies. My people are few. They resemble the scattering trees of a storm-swept plain. The great, and I presume -- good, White Chief sends us word that he wishes to buy our land but is willing to allow us enough to live comfortably. This indeed appears just, even generous, for the Red Man no longer has rights that he need respect, and the offer may be wise, also, as we are no longer in need of an extensive country.
There was a time when our people covered the land as the waves of a wind-ruffled sea cover its shell-paved floor, but that time long since passed away with the greatness of tribes that are now but a mournful memory. I will not dwell on, nor mourn over, our untimely decay, nor reproach my paleface brothers with hastening it, as we too may have been somewhat to blame.
Youth is impulsive. When our young men grow angry at some real or imaginary wrong, and disfigure their faces with black paint, it denotes that their hearts are black, and that they are often cruel and relentless, and our old men and old women are unable to restrain them. Thus it has ever been. Thus it was when the white man began to push our forefathers ever westward. But let us hope that the hostilities between us may never return. We would have everything to lose and nothing to gain. Revenge by young men is considered gain, even at the cost of their own lives, but old men who stay at home in times of war, and mothers who have sons to lose, know better.
Our good father in Washington--for I presume he is now our father as well as yours, since King George has moved his boundaries further north--our great and good father, I say, sends us word that if we do as he desires he will protect us. His brave warriors will be to us a bristling wall of strength, and his wonderful ships of war will fill our harbors, so that our ancient enemies far to the northward -- the Haidas and Tsimshians -- will cease to frighten our women, children, and old men. Then in reality he will be our father and we his children. But can that ever be? Your God is not our God! Your God loves your people and hates mine! He folds his strong protecting arms lovingly about the paleface and leads him by the hand as a father leads an infant son. But, He has forsaken His Red children, if they really are His. Our God, the Great Spirit, seems also to have forsaken us. Your God makes your people wax stronger every day. Soon they will fill all the land. Our people are ebbing away like a rapidly receding tide that will never return. The white man's God cannot love our people or He would protect them. They seem to be orphans who can look nowhere for help. How then can we be brothers? How can your God become our God and renew our prosperity and awaken in us dreams of returning greatness? If we have a common Heavenly Father He must be partial, for He came to His paleface children. We never saw Him. He gave you laws but had no word for His red children whose teeming multitudes once filled this vast continent as stars fill the firmament. No; we are two distinct races with separate origins and separate destinies. There is little in common between us.
To us the ashes of our ancestors are sacred and their resting place is hallowed ground. You wander far from the graves of your ancestors and seemingly without regret. Your religion was written upon tablets of stone by the iron finger of your God so that you could not forget. The Red Man could never comprehend or remember it. Our religion is the traditions of our ancestors -- the dreams of our old men, given them in solemn hours of the night by the Great Spirit; and the visions of our sachems, and is written in the hearts of our people.
Your dead cease to love you and the land of their nativity as soon as they pass the portals of the tomb and wander away beyond the stars. They are soon forgotten and never return. Our dead never forget this beautiful world that gave them being. They still love its verdant valleys, its murmuring rivers, its magnificent mountains, sequestered vales and verdant lined lakes and bays, and ever yearn in tender fond affection over the lonely hearted living, and often return from the happy hunting ground to visit, guide, console, and comfort them.
Day and night cannot dwell together. The Red Man has ever fled the approach of the White Man, as the morning mist flees before the morning sun. However, your proposition seems fair and I think that my people will accept it and will retire to the reservation you offer them. Then we will dwell apart in peace, for the words of the Great White Chief seem to be the words of nature speaking to my people out of dense darkness.
It matters little where we pass the remnant of our days. They will not be many. The Indian's night promises to be dark. Not a single star of hope hovers above his horizon. Sad-voiced winds moan in the distance. Grim fate seems to be on the Red Man's trail, and wherever he will hear the approaching footsteps of his fell destroyer and prepare stolidly to meet his doom, as does the wounded doe that hears the approaching footsteps of the hunter.
A few more moons, a few more winters, and not one of the descendants of the mighty hosts that once moved over this broad land or lived in happy homes, protected by the Great Spirit, will remain to mourn over the graves of a people once more powerful and hopeful than yours. But why should I mourn at the untimely fate of my people? Tribe follows tribe, and nation follows nation, like the waves of the sea. It is the order of nature, and regret is useless. Your time of decay may be distant, but it will surely come, for even the White Man whose God walked and talked with him as friend to friend, cannot be exempt from the common destiny. We may be brothers after all. We will see. We will ponder your proposition and when we decide we will let you know. But should we accept it, I here and now make this condition that we will not be denied the privilege without molestation of visiting at any time the tombs of our ancestors, friends, and children.
Every part of this soil is sacred in the estimation of my people. Every hillside, every valley, every plain and grove, has been hallowed by some sad or happy event in days long vanished. Even the rocks, which seem to be dumb and dead as the swelter in the sun along the silent shore, thrill with memories of stirring events connected with the lives of my people, and the very dust upon which you now stand responds more lovingly to their footsteps than yours, because it is rich with the blood of our ancestors, and our bare feet are conscious of the sympathetic touch. Our departed braves, fond mothers, glad, happy hearted maidens, and even the little children who lived here and rejoiced here for a brief season, will love these somber solitudes and at eventide they greet shadowy returning spirits. And when the last Red Man shall have perished, and the memory of my tribe shall have become a myth among the White Men, these shores will swarm with the invisible dead of my tribe, and when your children's children think themselves alone in the field, the store, the shop, upon the highway, or in the silence of the pathless woods, they will not be alone. In all the earth there is no place dedicated to solitude. At night when the streets of your cities and villages are silent and you think them deserted, they will throng with the returning hosts that once filled them and still love this beautiful land. The White Man will never be alone.
Let him be just and deal kindly with my people, for the dead are not powerless. Dead, did I say? There is no death, only a change of worlds.
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