Entering the Conversation

(This is posted at – http://www.rainforestportal.org/issues/2010/01/earth_meanders_ode_to_madang.asp#more in response to an article concerning PNG’s PM allowing the destruction of the worlds third largest rainforest.)

This article is describing an important part of our modern history which shows the massively negative impacts that human greed is having on local environments around the world. As more and more ecological damage is wrought upon the planet, havens like PNG (Madang in particular) obviously need to be protected to ensure the survival of life on this planet. If politicians and leaders can not understand this then they have no right in standing for office or trying to lead their communities in global politics.

Michael Somare must have temporarily lost sight of what he fought for to help PNG find its independence in 1975. A man this blind to his country’s and people’s needs should probably serve multiple jail sentences, not his third term as PNG’s ‘head honcho’. It appears that like many great men before him, Somare has fallen victim to the wealth, comforts and luxuries that symbolize the ‘Modern World’ and the ‘Death of the Planet’.

Wake up Michael Somare! – You are single handedly turning the dream that is PNG into an international nightmare. Stop buckling under the weight of international pressures to strip your homelands of resources and minerals…

Peace – Josh

http://thechangingplanet.wordpress.com/

 

Creating Generic Value

Earth’s Population to Reach 9 Billion by 2050

Can The Earth Sustain a Growing Population?

The Earth’s growing population, along with certain industries, farming practices and lifestyles which drive the modern world, are continually disrupting the environment in countless ways. Our global population has tripled since half way through the last century and is predicted to peak anywhere between 8 and 11 billion around 2050 (Baird, V. 2010). This huge increase of human life on Earth could not be sustained by our current modes of living.

Negative environmental impacts left in the wake of our current lifestyles suggest that eco technologies and sustainable industries would be needed to successfully accommodate an even greater population. If we continue as a growing global community to aspire for lives containing bigger TV’s, better homes and faster cars, the combined impact of our lifestyles may have horrific consequences for the environment.

What Has To Change?

All of these extra people need housing and food too, however the options for an expanding population are fairly limited. As the population grows, we can either continue to compete with, or destroy other species for food and energy sources; or create new processes and technologies to alleviate the pending disasters (Mcluney, R. 2004). We are being forced to create new ways of living if the environment is to survive.

Sustainable based changes to our industrial infrastructures could minimize the overall impact from human activities while allowing all humans to experience an acceptable quality of life. The disparities in quality of life between rich and poor nations are all too often painfully and embarrassingly obvious. As populations rise there has to be a balance of resources and technologies if we are reduce our negative influences on the planet.

Can We Find Alternative Methods and Energy Sources?

Given that most industry, transport and energy production is created for and marketed to the urban masses, it is no surprise that we consume large amounts of energy while living out our daily lives. The key to global sustainability might be found in ‘eco’-operation and the sharing of resources to form self sufficient communities amidst heavily populated urban areas.

If we are to become globally sustainable, our community infrastructures must be transformed and founded on eco technologies and green industry. We would also have to broaden our attitudes and understandings regarding our individual impacts on the environment, implementing new methods and technologies across the entire globe.

References

1. United Nations Economic and Social Affairs

World Population to 2300

Retrieved on 18/01/10 from

http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/longrange2/WorldPop2300final.pdf

2. Baird,V. (2010)

New Internationalist

Too Many People? Issue 429

Retrieved on 18/01/10 from

http://www.newint.org/features/2010/01/01/keynote-population/

3. McCluney, R. (2004)

EcoFuture TM

How Many People Should The Earth Support?

Retrieved on 16/01/10 from

http://www.ecofuture.org/pop/rpts/mccluney_maxpop.html

4. WOA! (2009)

Sustainability, Carrying Capacity and Over Consumption

Retrieved on 18/01/10 from

http://www.overpopulation.org/solutions.html

 

Introducing Your Topic

We Are Experiencing an Ecological Crisis

What Is Going On?

The World as we know it is changing at an alarming rate. With global populations continuing to grow and predicted to peak at around 9 billion in 2050, the impacts generated by extensive ingredients of our current lifestyles are literally reshaping the planet. Many parts of our world are changing significantly. Rising pollution levels, wide spread deforestation and intense urbanization and industrialization have transformed local environments world wide. This has led to a global crisis where environmental disasters are being left in the wake of human activities around the planet. We have to find a balance between the technologies and industries which drive modern civilizations and the environments that sustains us.

What’s Changing?

Global weather patterns are changing and are expected to continue doing so with the potential collapse of the ‘North Atlantic Gulf Stream’ and ‘Antarctic Circumpolar’ ocean currents. Rising ocean levels are threatening low lying Oceanic Islands. Species of flora and fauna are continually threatened with extinction. There is garbage everywhere – garbage on the planet, orbiting the planet, buried in the planet. There is a floating island of plastic rubbish, twice as big as Texas and caught in a gyre in the North Pacific Ocean. The other thing changing are peoples attitudes as communities around the world continually battle to reverse the impact and bring these issues into mainstream focus.

Which Parts of Our Lifestyles?

The largest parts of our lifestyles directly affecting changes on the environment include society’s reliance of fossil fuels to generate different forms of energy and the intensive farming techniques used for mass food production. With 51,971,328 cars built around the world in 2009 and an estimated 600,000,000 vehicles on roads worldwide, our reliance on cars also plays a big factor in changing the environment. Transporting produce around the globe adds to our unseen environmental footprint, as does the production of energy used to run our homes. Wasteful consumer cultures celebrated within our societies are also responsible for garbage and the unnecessary over production of manufactured goods.

What Can We Do?

Everything needs energy ‘to work’. Animals, plants, stars, machines and electronics – it all needs fuel to fire up the machine. We need to find alternative energy sources and promote sustainable technologies and farming practices. We can embrace changes to our lifestyles that will help to reverse the damages we have inflicted on the planet. Our own environmental footprints can be very far reaching in a globalized society. The cars we drive and the goods we buy are no longer grown, produced or built in the same country where they are to be used and consumed. We need to be aware of our own environmental impacts and make sure we consume energies responsibly.

References

1. U.S Census Bureau (2010)

World Population: 1950 – 2050

Retrieved on 08/01/10 from

http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/idb/worldpopgraph.php

2. Planet Extinction

Gulf Stream Collapse

Retrieved on 08/01/10 from

http://www.planetextinction.com/planet_extinction_gulfstream.htm

3. Roberts, G (2000)

Antarctic Circumpolar Current

Retrieved on 10/01/10 from

http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/fahan_mi_shipwrecks/infohut/acc.htm

4. Australian Network News

Pacific Islands Win U.N Climate Change Recognition 05/06/09

Retrieved on 09/01/10 from

http://australianetworknews.com/stories/200906/2589697.htm?desktop

5. Greenpeace International

The Trash Vortex

Retrieved on10/01/10 from

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/oceans/pollution/trash-vortex

6. Envirolink

Environmental resources

Retrieved on 09/01/10 from

http://www.envirolink.org/

7. Worldometers: World Statistics Updated in Real-Time

Retrieved on 08/01/10

http://www.worldometers.info/cars/

 

Narrating Personal Interest

The concept of a changing planet – our changing planet, brings to my mind the world as one big harmonious organism experiencing mass evolutionary transformations. Suspended in an infinity of space and drawn ever onward by the sun’s gravity, I see the diverse and chaotic systems of life on Planet Earth as an interconnected and fragile state of balance. We are currently witnessing human induced changes to this balance that are unprecedented in any recorded history

I have always been conscious of changing environments brought about by human activities. Whether in my local areas or on a global scale, I have both marveled at and disapproved of achievements and tragedies left in the wake of human activities. This awareness has forced me to question certain elements of our lifestyles that are adversely affecting the environment.

My own interest in this topic came about when I was young, as ‘climate change’ became a popular buzz word in main stream media around Australia. What was this Ozone Layer I wondered? Had I added to the problem by using fly spray? Acid rain?? Where?!?… I knew I preferred rainforests to the dried up suburban wastelands I lived in. I also knew I had little way of stopping any logging in the Amazon Basin – all I could do to help at this point in time was grow my hair a little longer and start composting.

Fast forward ten years and I was often out protesting against uranium mines and globalization. I didn’t where shoes and my hair was a lot longer…

Another decade has gone by since then (damn!) and I still can’t shake the urgency I feel regarding climate change and what we now recognize as substantial human impacts on the environment. Rising C02 levels, melting polar icecaps, changing weather patterns and rising sea levels – all inadvertently brought about by industry, lifestyle, deforestation and the burning of fossil fuels.

In order to explore these ideas I have chosen to create a blog focusing on climate change and the impact certain elements of our lifestyles can have on the planet. I want to investigate the relationships between socially accepted cultural norms and the changing ecological environments that result from these activities.

Looking at relationships between cultural norms and any adverse affects these might have on the environment can help us to transform our ecologically negative behaviors into positive ones. Exploring this concept will allow me to pursue my interest in the changing planet while presenting innovative and sustainable technologies or concepts I encounter along the way.

 

Annotaed Bibliographpy – Assignment 1

Web Sources

New Internationalist

‘The magazine takes the subject apart, examines the issues and then reconstructs it to give you a coherent picture.’ (New Internationalist website, 2010)

New Internationalist is a print and web based publication which has covered environmental, political and social issues for over 30 years. With a focus on global justice, human rights and the economic disparity which divides rich and poor communities, New Internationalist presents high quality journalism and creates public awareness which influences positive social changes. New Internationalist is an innovative publication which will potentially guide and inspire the work I publish on ‘our changing planet’ as I reference and research similar or related topics. The New Internationalist web site will also deliver current and relevant information which continually updates onto my blog page via an RSS feed.

http://www.newint.org

Real Climate

‘We aim to provide a quick response to developing stories and provide the context sometimes missing in mainstream commentary.’ (Real climate website, 2010)

Real Climate is a blog page maintained by ‘real climate scientists’ and covers a broad range of issues concerning environmental and climate change. All contributors to Real Climate are both working climate scientists and volunteers, it is also a not for profit organization. The Real Climate blog gives my own web site a scientific element which can offer reference material and potential evidence reflecting global climate change. I can subscribe to the RSS feed and link to any relevant articles posted on their blog.

http://www.realclimate.org

Greenpeace

‘Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning organization that acts to change attitudes and behavior, to protect and conserve the environment and to promote peace’ (Greenpeace website, 2010)

Greenpeace has been campaigning against worldwide environmental degradation since 1970. Its members and volunteers have been witness to the bulk of all man made changes reported across the globe; no account of our changing planet could be complete without reflecting on the research Greenpeace has published in their fight against environmental destruction. With Greenpeace continually focusing on current and urgent environmental situations, RSS feeds and links to their media releases will allow my web site to follow important and up to date climate change issues.

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/about

Friends of the Earth

‘We are the world’s largest grassroots environmental network and we campaign on today’s most urgent environmental and social issues.’ (FOE website, 2010)

‘Friends of the Earth’ is an international NGO which campaigns for environmental stability and social justice. ‘FoE’ is opposed to globalization and they work towards alternative solutions regarding our current environmental and social emergencies. With over 77 member groups around the world, Friends of the Earth embody a massive network of people which are dedicated to stopping environmental damage and climate change. FoE’s global network can potentially act as a contact point for visitors to the ‘our changing planet’ blog who may want to become active participant’s in the fight against climate change.

http://www.foei.org/en/what-we-do

Climate Ark

‘The Climate Ark is an Internet search tool that provides access to reviewed climate change, global warming and renewable energy conservation news, information retrieval tools, and original analysis and action opportunities.’(Climate Ark website, 2010)

The Climate Ark portal contains masses of links, information and contact details concerning climate change and global warming. It also is home to (what the web site claims to be : ) the oldest climate change blog on the internet, written by Dr Glen Barry. The Climate Ark has relevant articles and blog updates being fed in via an RSS feeder from newspapers and websites around the world. This constant stream of information gives us access to information, updates and current environmental situation; it also allows us to see what elements of climate change are being reported in mainstream media around the globe.

http://www.climateark.org

Eco Tech Daily

‘It’s already happening all around you — from massive renewable energy projects to the small green conveniences that are making homes more efficient, comfortable, and sustainable.’ (Ecotech Daily website, 2010)

Eco Tech Daily is a blog page which publishes articles and updates covering innovative and environmentally sustainable technologies and gadgets. The articles give us a chance to explore green inventions, renewable energies and sustainable lifestyles by focusing on eco friendly changes affecting technology and industry. Eco Tech Daily shows a positive blend of modern technologies and environmentally sustainable concepts. I have included Eco Tech Daily as a web source on ‘our changing planet’ to stay aware of eco friendly technologies which Adam Shake and Derek Markham post on their site.

http://ecotechdaily.com

Articles

Blood on the Summit Floor by Jess Worth

‘…by this stage the UN had barred all but 90 of the 14,000 accredited NGO participants’ (Worth, J .2009)

Jess Worth, a New Internationalist co-editor and contributor, gives a personal account of the international climate change summit in Copenhagen recently. Jess Worth describes the summit to have been full of ‘…loopholes and false climate ‘solutions’ that would make things worse’. Worth expresses a widespread disappointment and frustration regarding the seemingly lack of international governments concern or commitment to reasonable levels of climate action. The article also gives us insights into certain situations and extra information from Copenhagen which was not reported in mainstream media.

http://blog.newint.org/editors/2009/12/22/blood-on-the-summit-fl/

The Basics of Climate Prediction

‘What can we find out about what might happen over the next 100 years?’(Basics of Climate Prediction Website, 2010)

‘The Basics of Climate Prediction’ is an online slideshow presentation which shows us the basics of how weather patterns are monitored and predicted. It is quite a simple web site but still gives informative and relative concepts regarding climate change. It is a great tool for understanding the basis for climate change predictions and gives us the chance to see how predictions are made by analyzing past and present weather conditions. The slideshow shows us where the basis for and reasoning behind climate change arguments have risen from

http://www.begbroke.ox.ac.uk/climate/interface.html

Peru’s Mountain People Face Fight for Survival by Annie Kelly

‘In a world growing ever hotter, Huancavelica is an anomaly’

(Kelly, A 2010)

This article by Annie Kelly published in The Observer in the UK reports on an area in Peru where the local inhabitants are facing ‘…extinction because of increasingly cold conditions in their own microclimate, which may have been altered by the rapid melting of the glaciers.’ (Kelly, A. 2010). It shows the seemingly random and unpredictable nature of climate change which can take on many devastating forms, affecting people around the globe in different ways. Kelly describes a social and environmental crisis gripping certain parts of Peru.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/03/peru-mountain-farmers-winter-cold

Green Mac Happy Mac by Tom

‘…Apple’s new products will be safer and easier to recycle and cause less pollution at the end of life’ (Greenpeace website, 2009)

This article posted on greenpeace’s website celebrates (and shamelessly advertises – naughty greenpeace!) the complete removal of toxic PVC’s and hazardous flame retardants from the latest release of mac computers. The article claims that ‘This lays down the gauntlet to other major PC makers’, which could encourage similar technologies to be commercially available. It also represents a new age of technology which we must embrace if we wish to continue living our current and energy greedy lifestyles.

http://weblog.greenpeace.org/makingwaves/archives/2009/10/apple_first_to_eliminate_toxic.html

False Solutions: how to resist them and promote alternatives by Phil Lee

‘…a factory in Europe can offset their emissions by buying credits on the carbon market and as a result a landowner in the Amazon will be paid not to cut down a hectare of trees’ (Lee, P 2009)

As the realities of climate change begin to reshape environments and weather patterns around the planet, governments and corporations are often scrambling to ‘package’ and ‘reform’ quick fix solutions that mostly ignore any necessary or effective action. This article by Phil Lee describes the confusing situations surrounding carbon offset schemes and shows how funds can sometimes end up in the hands of the companies contributing to the environmental damage. I would like to present ‘real’ solutions concerning climate change through research and articles posted on ‘the changing planet’, so it will be imperative for me to explore any false solutions presented in mainstream media.

http://www.foei.org/en/blog/2009/12/16/false-solutions-how-to-resist-them-and-promote-alternatives

Green Roof’s Offset Global Warming by Emily Sohn

‘Plants breathe in the greenhouse gas like we breathe in oxygen, and they store carbon in their leaves and other tissues’ (Sohn, E .2009)

The roof top garden is one of the many innovative ideas that our cities might be forced to adopt in order to ease pollution and carbon levels in the future. Emily Sohn looks at the overall affects this would have on air quality in a modern US city and also discusses the time and cost involved in the growing of a ‘green roof’. This article highlights the need for radical changes to the understandings and ways of interacting with our environments. Sohn shows us a future where we can potentially have a positive affect on climate change.

http://news.discovery.com/earth/green-roofs-offset-warming.html

 

Hi there – This is what it’s all about…

Howdy!

This is just a quick post to explain the nature of this blog-site and why it exists. I am currently studying some very cool stuff that has nothing at all to do with the environment. It’s a degree in Internet Communications, so in order to fine tune my ‘communicating via the internet’ skills I am required to choose a topic of interest around which nine writing tasks will be presented and published online.

This blog will primarily contain the writing tasks I am required to publish to the World Wide Web, although I might add extra bits and pieces here and there. These articles will be assessable assignments exploring different elements of writing and publishing for the web. I felt by using these writing tasks to explore environmental impacts left in the wake of human activities, I could engage with different parts of the community that were also investigating these issues.

The idea of focusing on the changing planet came to mind when I was walking my dog by a lake. I live very close to a gigantic lake which is drying up at an alarming rate as summer heat takes hold. This lake used to be open to the ocean and I can remember swimming across the entrance as a teenager. The lake now sits well back from the ocean and is in need of a lot of rain. It made me sad to think such dramatic environmental changes could take place in what seems a relatively short period of time…

Hush!

The opportunity to publish web content in the form of assessable assignments inspired me to explore a topic that needs wider public attention and social awareness. I feel it is imperative we address issues of climate change and environmental damage immediately. As I perform the writing tasks and post them to this blog, I will explore the positive work and sustainable changes people are making to protect our changing planet.

I hope the planet as we know it survives this ecological emergency…

 

The Changing Planet

Welcome to The Changing Planet.  This page is currently undergoing digital reconstructions. Check my Bio page while your here!