No delay ! Front page independent

[Sacredstar]

24 January 2005


We know that the world is heating up. We know that mankind's reckless use of fossil fuels is responsible. But just how hot does it need to get before some of the terrible consequences of global warming - rising sea levels, droughts, agricultural failure - manifest themselves? An international report, released tomorrow, argues that the world could reach that "danger" temperature in as little as 10 years' time. We ignore these warnings at our peril. This report confirms that tackling climate change is not something we can defer. It requires an immediate response. Otherwise, we will reap the dire consequences within our own lifetimes.

Article Length: 102 words (approx.)


http://comment.independent.co.uk/lea...p?story=603914

Do you take climate change and its real consequences seriously?

being love

Sacredstar

[I, Brian]

Unfortunate that it's a paid article - hopefully will get more info from other media sources later.

Ultimately, though, we've had the warnings for decades. Warnings on CO2 levels have been about since the 1970's, though it was Global Cooling then. Politicians would rather see short term gain over long-term losses, and at the end of the day, the poorer will always lose most.

[Faithfulservant]

New Zealand spent a lot of money switching over to natural gas.. but now they are independent of oil trade.. they had none of their own and rather than spend billions to other people for that necessity they proved themselves smarter than most. We've had models for cars that run on solar energy and we have hybrid cars then use gas and electricity. It would be nice if they would think about long term consequences rather than short term money in the pocket

[mirrorinthefog]

Long term consequences are important to think about maybe, but for most of us, there has to be a happy medium-it doesn't matter how energy efficient my house or car is if I can't afford to pay for it. There must be a way to balance cost with benefits, and, sadly, I don't see that happening in the near future-there are too many political considerations that come to the foreground where such issues are concerned.

[Sacredstar]

well I feel we are running out of time now and running against the clock....

[mirrorinthefog]

Maybe, but it would be unrealistic to try to force people to buy fuel efficient cars and homes and recycle when they are barely getting by. The problem starts from the tip of the pyramid, with people who have much to gain by this vicious cycle. All the wrong people are motivated to do something about the environment, and most people are trying to survive right now as is. It would be very difficult to try to convince someone who can't feed his family that he should be concerned about the impact of an iceberg melting thousands of miles away.

And, eventually, ev
Even if it is billions of years down the line, the planet will die-nothing we do will be able to prevent it, even if we still exist as a species by that time, which is doubtful given our current circumstances. Entropy always wins, and we all have to die of something. Though that might sound fatalistic or pessimistic, there's no getting around the fact that whatever we do to protect what is here is solely for our own interests-and for some, that is only as significant as it is directly profitable to them, personally. They will have no qualms with letting half the world rot off if they are can get some advantage and leverage from it doing so, and they are safe for the duration of their lives ...Right or wrong, that's how the world has been set up for us.

[Vajradhara]

Namaste all,


what is interesting in the whole global warming discussion, in my view, is geology.

you see... when we explore geology, one of the neat things that we learn about is the strata, or layers, of rocks that one may see exposed on a hillside, say, where a road has been blasted through a mountain.

in any event, we can take those layers of sediment or rock and analyze them to discover all manner of interesting things, from fossils to minerals which aren't found on earth.

one of the things that we can also tell is that the earth has gone though periods of warming and cooling. this is it's natural cycle. from a stricly geological perspective, we are still coming *out* of the last ice age, so naturally the earth should be warming up and, soon enough, geologically speaking, it will begin to cool down again.

one wonders if, at that time, there will be a large outcry to start burning more fossil fuels.

[Sacredstar]

Yes I agree the planet as its natural cycles but never before have frogs died off during any of them. Frogs have lived in the rainforests for 200 million years and now due to the reduction of the rainforests and our natural eco-system the planet is out of balance it seems, not much to do with fossil fuels more to do with destroying the means for the lifeforce to maintain the eco-system.

being love

Sacredstar

[Sacredstar]

Here's a link

21 October 2004 :  03:58:26 AM              
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Rainforest frogs: vanishing act? Frog populations around the world are dying off mysteriously. Can scientists save them—before it's too late? - Aphibians/Ecology March 10, 2002


Science World

Frogs have existed on Earth for nearly 200 million years. "That's a pretty impressive amount of time to be around," says Coven "We can only hope they hang on through whatever this is."

http://www.snakeinformation.com/snak...ticle-466.html

[Vajradhara]

Namaste Sacredstar,


thank you for the post and the link.

according to the site, here are the various theories for what is happening with frogs:

* Habitat destruction. "Dart-poison flogs deposit tadpoles in water-holding plants," says Jack Cover, general curator of fishes and rainforest exhibits at the National Aquarium in Baltimore, Maryland. "Clearcut the forest and the flogs lose the tools they need to reproduce."

* Pollution and climate change. A frog's skin is porous, riddled with tiny holes that easily absorb pollutants in air and water. For that reason they're called indicator species: Their health may mirror the well-being of the planet. Strong evidence suggests Earth's climate is warming, and at the Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve in Costa Rica, biologist Alan Pounds has witnessed 20 of 40 frog species disappear from a 30-square-km (11.58-sq-mi) study area since 1989. Weather data suggests that global warming has caused clouds to shift upward, decreasing the amount of mist in the cloud forest--which impacts frogs' ability to thrive.

As ectotherms, frogs' body temperatures depend on surrounding temperatures. And many rainforest frogs are specialized to survive in specific habitat niches (places). Even slight changes in temperature or moisture disrupt their life cycle.

* Disease. Some biologists believe that a global disease-causing fungus (plant with no leaves, flowers, or roots) may rival habitat destruction as the largest single cause of amphibian population declines.


from what i can tell, they haven't performed enough experiments to determine which one or combination of theories, may account for their observations at this time.

[Sacredstar]

Dear Vajradhara

Yes they have a few theories but they still cannot explain why frogs are dying on mass mysteriously for the first time in 200 million years, I find this news very disturbing in respect of the planet's eco-system.

Lets hope and pray that humanity survives the current earth changes and turbalent end times.

Blessings in abundance

Sacredstar

[Basstian]

well I feel we are running out of time now and running against the clock....

Not being cute not down playing the seriousness at all its been an unsually nice warm winter here I havent seen snow deep enough to sled on since I was a small child.

What and whos time are we running against ?
Ice caps melt melt rising temp of the ocean weakens titanic plates earthquakes result tsnamia's Volcanos Hurricanes Tornados all these worsen in frequency and severity.
and the list goes on and on and on

jeremiah 12:11 They Have made it desolate and being desolate it mourneth unto me: the whole land is made desolate, because no man layeth it to heart.

Someone Give me an answer or I am going to go hug all the trees on my property goodbye.

No really "I saw a new heaven and a new earth" we have hope I am not ready to give up yet. We ran out of time to save this old rock long ago.
And like an old car that just wont run its about due for an overhaul

If I am wrong well I am on the same ride you are we will get off at the same stop

[Sacredstar]

Dear Basstian

Love heals the world
but compassionate action changes it.
You can love your car but you will not get a new one unless you change it.

And so there will be more disasters and more wake up calls until humanity changes its ways. The roots of the tree of life are rotting with selfishness and the roots of that tree will be pulled out so that a new tree can take root and blossom.

Let us be that new tree, let us encourage others to take action and create ecological and sustainable futures for our children and theirs. Eco-villages are a very important aspect for those that survive these end times. The sooner people start realising they need to take action instead of saying it will never happen the better for the survival of humanity.

The point of the sword of truth is to prick the conscience of those that are sleeping or may have their eyes closed.

It is up to us to lead by example and I personally cannot wait for us to find the right land to begin. Many of my spiritual friends are also ready to start building these communities we just lack the finance to get it moving. But I am sure that when it is divine timing all will fall into place.

How about you what are your plans?

Love the earth and it loves us right back.

Sacredstar

[Vajradhara]

Originally Posted by Sacredstar

Dear Vajradhara

Yes they have a few theories but they still cannot explain why frogs are dying on mass mysteriously for the first time in 200 million years, I find this news very disturbing in respect of the planet's eco-system.

Namaste SacredStar,

thank you for the post.

indeed, which is why we must reserve our judgement on these things until all the relevant data is available. it does not do much for anyone should we go off with only partial information.

equally mysterious is the mass extinction that happened at Cretaceous Period. some scientist types have proposed a theory of a series of mass extinctions and they support it through geological and paletological evidence.

the interested reader is directed to this site for more information on mass extinctions and other events:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/darwi.../massintro.htm

Lets hope and pray that humanity survives the current earth changes and turbalent end times.

Blessings in abundance

Sacredstar

Buddhism doesn't have an "end time" aspect to it's teachings, as such, this isn't really much of a concern for us. all compounded things decay. this is true of ants, people, flowers, planets and universes, in our view.

two different paradigms, i suppose

[Faithfulservant]

I think that a concern of ours also are the coral reefs. A whole living organism that works as a filter is dying.