Watch this Blog Notify me by e-mail any time a new post is made to this blog.
Covering points of interest such as the 'Earth Files' that you as listeners can become involved in to facilitate positive options in reducing our ecological footprint, acting in truly sustainable ways and working towards becoming more carbon neutral.
September 2006 Posts
Archives
I have to comment on what is taking up the hearts and minds of New Zealanders as we enter post, Al Gore's 'Inconvenient Truth.' No matter what you endeavour to convey, it just goes to show that average kiwis are not looking out for their kids long term future. HEADLINE IN NEW ZEALAND MEDIA The New Zealand Rugby Union, and a huge proportion of New Zelanders want a new gigantic stadium so as to play sport and use it as an entertainment complex in the city of Auckland. Many Aucklanders are interested in placing it on the wharves a few metres above sea level. COMMENT: Building a waterfront stadium a couple of meters above high water mark, shows that many New Zealanders appear to have their eye so focussed on the ball that they are unaware of Climate Change. The NZ Herald recently published a computer generated picture of Queen's wharf virtually engulfed in water from the projected melting of the ice shelfs in Antarctica and Greenland. Our collective amnesia has missed this very succinct point. Al Gore in proposing an Inconvenient Truth, projected all of Florida disappearing under a resurgent sea. This to happen over the next few decades, as global warming fueled by fossil fuel burning increases in intensity. However, there is an up side, a few short years after the World Cup when salt water starts flowing over the pitch, we can switch to swimming and morph the stadium into an aquatic centre, then when the water reaches a dept of 5 meters or so, Kelly Tarlton's sharks can be released into the stadium, and finally as we hit 2080, only 74 years away, we could have divers swim down and explore the short sightedness of a humanity who regretably didn't plan for the prevailing weather conditions of our times. Published in the NZ Herald 10/9/2006 END The North American Indians had a philosophy of looking 7 generations ahead to see that the land was sustainable. We as a clever and agile country need to embrace this concept. However, to end this posting, I am very confident that we will get through this crises, though it will be by humanity embracing another level of consciousness, integrating quantum theory and entering the Noosphere, a high energy, synergistic higher frequency system. I cordially envite all of humanity to take this offer and seriously consider it. Only good can come from this.
HEADLINE IN NZ MEDIA Weather takes toll on nation's glaciers 07 September 2006 http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3788780a7693,00.html “New Zealand's glaciers shrank last summer but the retreat may have more to do with the lower snowfall than global warming.” The above statement has to be one of the most outrageously uninstructed statements made about global climate change. Top scientist are talking now about ‘climate degradation’ due to the continuous unbridled assault by industrial man. Scientists who continue down a defined narrow path of following a single discipline will disappear into a finite hole of separation, forever. When we follow a systems approach in studying our planet and see things as one vast holistic single system that combines the disciplines of oceanography, meteorology, atmospheric chemistry, geology, volcanism, all aspects of biology and all the other scientific disciplines plus cybernetics we come to the conclusion that these all interrelate into one single, super system called a living earth system, better known as an organism, Gaia theory if you wish to use that term. If we see our planet akin to an organism, climate change can be seen as a fever, this could be shivering through cold snaps, then instantly sweating as in floods, then having a very dry period as in droughts, then followed by maybe a flood or a freeze, continuously as it endeavours to heal and rebalance itself. Regrettably, when humans don't act to halt fossil fuel burning, the result is that the climate will continually degrade. This is what out planet an organism is suffering from now and this is the state of our planet today, The statistic that we are not having high snow falls is actually due to global warming and climate change. The opposite to the headline is in fact sadly true. How are we as a humanity going to wake up?
I have just come away from the 2006 Digital Earth Conference held in Auckland New Zealand. This was a huge success in that for those who have studied and researched the current state of our planet's systems, particularly the earths physical systems, you will know that we are in a precarious situation environmentally. The aim of the organisers, and the participants, scientists, students and local body and national body politicians, is to glean what knowledge we can using space sensors as well as terrestrial digital information gathering to further our knowledge base of the challenges that surround us here on earth. There were top class world scientists some mentioned below. Professor Guo Huadong Deputy Secretary General of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, China who's on the International Steering Committee on International Symposium of Digital Earth (ISDE). COMMENT: As I have been to China many times I was able to strike up a conversation with the professor, and I found him a very good hearted man. The fact that I could speak a few words of Chinese tickled him, and he laughed with me at my attempts to converse. Dr Amory Lovins (interactive video link) Co-CEO Rocky Mountain Institute, USA The Wall Street Journal named Dr. Amory Lovins one of 28 people world-wide "most likely to change the course of business in the '90s". Newsweek called him "one of the Western world's most influential energy thinkers". COMMENT: In have seen Amory the three times that he has been to NZ , I have a keen interest in where he is focussing. The worlds 'frugal elegance" were used by him to set the stage to combat our throw-away society. I felt these were a wise combination of words. Dr Manfred Ehlers Director of the Research Center for Geoinformatics and Remote Sensing, Germany specialising in geoinformatics, GIS, digital image processing, environmental monitoring and information systems. COMMENT: This guy is very young at heart and had a good sense of humour. Look to Germany to learn a balance of our world news. Quite possibly more neutral than the BBC. Professor Tetsuya Sato Prof. Sato is Director-General of the Earth Simulator and is an Emeritus of Theory and Computer Simulation Center, National Institute for Fusion Science. COMMENT: Sadly I missed him, but his simulations were out of this world. Dr. Tim Foresman is a pre-eminent scientist who was a leading expert with NASA, where he led the Digital Earth program as national manager. He continues to help lead this program's legacy, as founding member of the International Society of Digital Earth. COMMENT: I could hear Tim's heart as he talked with the students. I felt an affinity with him, just like a great majority of the audience. He has what it takes to bring everyone on board and continuously works towards the positive outcome we truly desire. Joseph Firmage CEO ManyOne. Joe was a big player on the web who has contributed articles and essays to many major publications, and regularly speaks at conferences on the future of science, technology, business and society. COMMENT: Joe along with Tim Foresman can offer NZ a huge boost in leaning, and building up a knowledge and wisdom economy. This man has much to offer. James Howard Kunstler Author of The Long Emergency: Surviving the End of the Oil Age, Climate Change, and Other Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-first Century (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2005) COMMENT: Unfortunately I could not find James to talk to him. His premise is that we are too late to bring about positive change, and is essentially saying that humanity must gear down for the crisis that is about to come, and that is ... we are going to run short of oil. Strange, because if we had plenty of oil in his words, there would be no crisis, which is exactly the opposite to what James Lovelock the father of Gaia theory is saying. The more oil we burn, the faster runaway greenhouse affect and climate change will kick in. It is obvious that Kunstler and Lovelock are diametrically apposed ... with out any dialogue between. However with sustainability the catch cry, the NZ government had the Prime Minister Helen Clark open the conference, with David Cunliffe the Minister for Communications spend a lot of time talking with the speakers as well as have Trevor Mallard, Minister for Technology & Industry speak, and the conference was closed by Judith Tizzard, the Minister for Auckland. In her final statement she mentioned the quintuple bottom line, adding culture and spirituality to the mix of how business should be done. This was an eye opener, and I heard a number of delegates murmur approval. Something very positive and optimistic happened at that conference and as a result Tim and Joe affirmed that 100 NZ students will be going up to the USA for the next conference, to crank them along into saving the earth. More at a later date.
