I might’ve said this before but I think humans given the amount of power we have have an obligation to protect the planet. There have been dominant species before.. but (in my opinion) there’s never been one that’s unbalanced the world as much. We have the intelligence to know our impact and even if species going extinct is part of the natural order (which it is), it shouldn’t happen on the scale that it’s happening. And frankly I think this is different than any other because we actually have the power to protect species and I think if we can we should do so. There’s no reason we should let ourselves be the cause of a mass extinction.
I might’ve said this before but I think humans given the amount of power we have have an obligation to protect the planet. There have been dominant species before.. but (in my opinion) there’s never been one that’s unbalanced the world as much. We have the intelligence to know our impact and even if species going extinct is part of the natural order (which it is), it shouldn’t happen on the scale that it’s happening. And frankly I think this is different than any other because we actually have the power to protect species and I think if we can we should do so. There’s no reason we should let ourselves be the cause of a mass extinction.
I might’ve said this before but I think humans given the amount of power we have have an obligation to protect the planet. There have been dominant species before.. but (in my opinion) there’s never been one that’s unbalanced the world as much. We have the intelligence to know our impact and even if species going extinct is part of the natural order (which it is), it shouldn’t happen on the scale that it’s happening. And frankly I think this is different than any other because we actually have the power to protect species and I think if we can we should do so. There’s no reason we should let ourselves be the cause of a mass extinction.
Glad to see my lifelong disinterest in golf is paying off
let me tell you about golf
i grew up in a little desert valley called Tucson, Arizona, where it only rains 2 inches a year on average. the majority of the city’s water is pumped from an underground aquifer, which took millions of years to fill. one of the biggest conservation efforts in our city was for water, naturally, and i spent a lot of time learning about low flow toilets and 5 minute showers. i learned that filling your sink basin and washing your dishes in that water is less costly than running the tap. i learned that it only takes 2 days without water on the desert for someone to die
the city was sinking as the aquifer drained. neighborhoods fell into flood zones that didnt exist 10 years ago
there’s a road called Golf Links in the city and it is lined with golf courses. miles of green grass where grass doesn’t grow, in a valley where it doesn’t rain. why? because the rich white retirees who moved there to stop the aching in their joints decided they should also get to play golf. meanwhile our public schools taught small children like me that taking long showers would kill the world
let the golf industry burn
There are 15,500+ golf courses in the United States alone.
Glad to see my lifelong disinterest in golf is paying off
let me tell you about golf
i grew up in a little desert valley called Tucson, Arizona, where it only rains 2 inches a year on average. the majority of the city’s water is pumped from an underground aquifer, which took millions of years to fill. one of the biggest conservation efforts in our city was for water, naturally, and i spent a lot of time learning about low flow toilets and 5 minute showers. i learned that filling your sink basin and washing your dishes in that water is less costly than running the tap. i learned that it only takes 2 days without water on the desert for someone to die
the city was sinking as the aquifer drained. neighborhoods fell into flood zones that didnt exist 10 years ago
there’s a road called Golf Links in the city and it is lined with golf courses. miles of green grass where grass doesn’t grow, in a valley where it doesn’t rain. why? because the rich white retirees who moved there to stop the aching in their joints decided they should also get to play golf. meanwhile our public schools taught small children like me that taking long showers would kill the world
let the golf industry burn
There are 15,500+ golf courses in the United States alone.
ENCOURAGE YOUR LOCAL GOVERNMENT TO DO MORE TO HELP: Bee Health: Background and Issues for Congress (unfortunately, I cannot provide a comprehensive list of how to contact local governments, it would be much easier for you to research this on your own.)
A new study release a sad fact, deep sea litter is not a recent thing. Researchers examined archived specimens of deep sea stars and brittle stars, collected
between 1976 and 2015, a more than 2,000 m depth down, in the Rockall Trough, a large sedimentary basin that lies to the west of Ireland and the United Kingdom. And researchers found traces of eight different plastics in their stomachs. In that area, basically, deep sea animals have been feeding on microplastic in the last 40 years. The study is published in Environmental Pollution.
–
Two echinoderm species examined in the study, a
brittle stars
Ophiomusium lymani
(dorsal side) and a deep sea sea star Hymenaster pellucidus. (ventral side). Scale bars denote 1 cm.
Polyester and nylon were among the plastics identified. Despite the “low” levels of microplastic found, accoring to researchers, is high, and shows that plastic pollution in our oceans is not a new problem.
Photo: Example of microplastics extracted from invertebrates over from the years.
My name is Kelsey Juliana and I’m suing the United States government
for causing and accelerating the climate change crisis. I’m 22 years old
and I’ve been a climate activist for more than half of my life.
I know that young people like me, and others who have yet to be born,
have a right to a safe climate system. The constitution guarantees all
Americans the right to life, liberty, and property. But how is anyone
supposed to live a life of freedom amid a climate crisis? My own
government is violating my constitutional rights by its ongoing and
deliberate actions that cause climate change and it’s not right.
I, along with 20 other young people from around the country, filed a lawsuit against the federal government in 2015, called Juliana v. United States.
We’re not asking for money. Instead, we’re asking the court to order
the government to develop and implement a National Climate Recovery Plan
based on the best available science.
This plan should end the reign of fossil fuels and quickly
decarbonize our atmosphere so that we can stabilize our climate system
before it’s too late.
The longer we go without climate recovery, the more we risk allowing our climate to spiral completely out of control.
And the climate is spiraling out of control, no matter how many
politicians claim we’re experiencing normal fluctuations or, worse, a
“hoax.” All of the expert witnesses in our lawsuit say that we are
currently—already—in the “danger zone” and an “emergency situation” with
only 1°C of planetary heating. Allowing the planet to heat up any more
is not safe for our species, as well as so many others. And according to
the Trump administration’s most recent environmental impact statement,
the planet could heat as much as 7°F before the end of this century. We
cannot allow this to happen because we simply will not survive.
We originally filed our lawsuit against the Obama administration.
That administration tried to have the case dismissed, but the judge
ruled in our favor and found that we should be allowed to go to trial.
In 2017, the Trump administration inherited the lawsuit and it has
done everything in its power, employing every conceivable tactic, to
deny my fellow plaintiffs and me our right to present our case in court.
This administration is so fiercely attempting to silence our voices.
At this point, every level of the federal judiciary—the U.S. District
Court, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court—has
denied the Trump administration’s efforts to have the case thrown out.
Yet it will not halt its efforts to avoid standard legal procedures and
confront us, the nation’s youth, in court.
Our trial is officially scheduled to begin on October 29, 2018 in Eugene, Oregon.
What we’re asking for could change everything.
My fellow plaintiffs and I want you with us as we head into the
courtroom to confront the United States government for knowingly
violating our constitutional rights. Supporters will hold rallies in
every state around the country, so if you can’t be with us in Eugene, find your local rally here.
Get regular updates by following @youthvgov on social media.
Me, waking you up at two am: hey, do you ever think about how we live in a culture of rejecting our local “wild places” in favor of fetishizing and romanticizing the distant and different?
There’s this overwhelming rhetoric we’re fed that the only nature worth protecting is Grand and Huge and most of all Somewhere Else.
Nobody thinks about the wetland behind their local Walmart that is in Desperate need of protection, or the little remnant prairie in a cemetery, because they’re too focused on the abstract and often flawed concept of “wilderness” somewhere else.
There is nothing wrong with wanting to travel to see something new and unique, but the way I hear people talk about our own backyard, the way the last remnants of what we have here are ignored or outright rejected, breaks my heart.
My professor has spent his entire career in the Midwest trying to protect wetlands from housing developments and new superstores, but he almsot always loses, not just because the developers have money, but the community doesn’t care enough to do anything about it.
Afterall, what’s a few old oak and birch trees in a little puddle of a swamp compared to miles of marsh in Scandinavia? What’s a grassy hill to a distant mountain range?
Well, to the duck, to the heron, to the bluebird, and to precious few people, I’d say it’s Everything.
I love to travel myself, and I know people probably don’t know that when they say “why is our wildlife/plant life etc. so lame” that they’re contributing to an attitude of rejecting what unique beauty we do have,
But
I hope one day people can see the wonder nearby and fight to protect it. I hope there’s something left to protect.
Anyway…..where do u keep your cups I want some water.
ifesbob 