by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
“Global Warming”, now renamed, more appropriate, into “Climate Change”, is important but it would appear though that we are concentrating far too much on that one aspect and not enough of other environmental issues, be they deforestation and general loss of habitat; air pollution from vehicles, factories, etc.; species loss; and many more.
We are on about recycling and such all the time, and rightly so, for we are running out of holes in the ground where to dump all the trash and waste that we produce, but too many times with reference to CO2 emissions and such and not with regards to the environmental impact that our wasteful lives have.
It is not just the trash; it is the consumption to which we are even encouraged by the governments in order to stimulate the economy in times of economic problems.
When people suggested that the 2008/2009 financial and economic crisis would be an idea to scale back consumption the governments nigh on labeled all those that were not going out to spend the way our of the crisis as “terrorists”.
However, in general, the Climate Change agenda definitely is becoming detrimental to the rest of the environment and the movement.
What good is it if we save the Planet, so to speak, if at all we can, from warming up, because this could be a natural cycle and we do not even know how a changed climate will or will not impact on human life and life in general, when the biodiversity is destroyed because we were not watching that.
While we scream about the destruction of tropical rainforests, many, presently, so we can get bio-diesel from palm oil, the boreal forests are left to be exploited and destroyed by the the likes of Kimberly-Clark in Canada. We do not even want to talk about the Alberta tar sands now where a huge area of boreal forest was destroyed in order to get to this source of oil.
Climate Change and fight against it – which may be futile if it is, as I, and also eminent scientists, believe a natural cycle of the Planet, one that Earth follows every now and then on a more or less regular basis.
As they say “Man proposes but G-d disposes” and whether you believe in a G-d, like the Abrahamic one or a multiple of g-ds does not matter here, I think. The point is that if it is a natural cycle of Mother Earth than we have no chance to “stop” it. We then must adapt to it or, well, die.
On the other hand, there are ways we can live much lighter on the Earth and we must do that for Climate Change – and yes, the climate definitely does seem to be in turmoil all over the globe – is but one thing.
Much of the destruction of the Planet's biospheres and habitats has nothing to do with a changing climate but everything with what man has been doing and is doing.
Climate Change or Global Warming is not destroying the rainforests; loggers are and ranchers. The boreal forests are not destroyed by the climate but by greed of man, yet again, for paper, mostly toilet tissue and paper towels. Is this necessary.
Does the paper industry really have too use wood from often virgin forests for making toilet paper? I do not think so. Here 100% recycled could, in fact, be used very well and the same as regards too paper towels.
When it comes to paper for writing and printing then there would also be other fiber options, such as hemp and nettle. However, a great amount of wood for paper pulp is, in fact, grown in commercially managed forests and those would, often, not even exist were it not for the industry.
We bemoan the huge garbage patch in the Pacific ocean that is full of plastic. That also has nothing to do with Climate Change and will not affect the climate of the world either. It is, however, a danger to sea creatures and hence something should be done about it and it should be cleared. All efforts are, however, directed to “fighting” Climate Change. Helloooo!!! Someone out there???
Even if we can stop the change in the climate what will it benefit us if we have lost the Earth as we knew it?
The best thing would be we went and had a close look at the way the likes of the Native Americans and also the Romani-Gypsy of old lived – in harmony with Mother Earth.
It was the Gypsy who was the first recycler, proper, before we even ever had coined the word. The Gypsy was also the first upcycler, for profit, in that he would take items that were regarded as waste and fashion salable goods from those.
Old broken knives were reworked and then, fitted with sheaths from waste leather goods or leather offcuts from industry, sold on markets. Tin cans made into this and that. From bits of wood offcuts toys were made and old leather was made into items for the market too. Willow and hazel rods were made into clothes pegs, pegs which outperform any modern spring ones by decades and decades.
When the Gypsy used natural wild materials to make things with, be this hazel or will for the making of clothes pegs, or oak and elm for the making of tent pegs, or elder for the making of wooden flowers, he would never take more than he needed and never from one area more than once in a year.
Modern man, on the other hand, exploits Nature and this is the same when it comes to farming as to mining and other activities.
The reason we have a carbon problem, aside from the wholesale deforestation that has been going on ever since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, is the destruction of the soil.
The soil is one of the greatest sequesters of carbon, but only healthy soil. Throwing chemical fertilizers at it may help crops to grow, to a fashion, but does nothing to the heath of the soil.
These and many more are all aspects of environmental problems the tackling of which is being forgotten because all the energy is being directed to “combating” Climate Change.
I think it is time that we stopped worrying the Climate Change bone and looked at other, equally important, environmental issues, and that now.
© 2009
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