By Michael Tobias - Forbes
Reflecting on the ecological whimsies and perils evident in these early days of June, I am struck by the vagaries of human nature and can’t help but wonder at our biological destiny.
Bangladesh: The country’s first Wildlife Crime Unit is created as part of what can only be described as the last stand against poachers who have left the nation’s remaining biodiversity hanging by a thread. Nearly every native and/or endemic species in the country not already extinct is classified as “Critically Endangered.”
Sweden: A new report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute declares that with over 5,000 nuclear weapons ready for use just within the U.S., Russia, France and Britain – and a total of 20,530 nuclear weapons known to exist – the threat of nuclear war is not diminishing. A single mad person, with the stroke of a key, could cause the greatest ecological calamity since the extinction of the dinosaurs some 65 million years ago.
Germany: At the 2011 International Transport Forum, Asian delegates argue strenuously that their citizens need more roads, more cars. Yet, 2010 saw the highest global greenhouse gas emissions ever documented, with 850+ million current gas-guzzlers projected to reach 2.5 billion vehicles by 2050, according to journalist Stephen Leahy. The new lithium batteries for e-bike transportation might not stand much chance against such overwhelming statistics, unless all those new generations of coming vehicles are to be sustainably-produced, e.g., electric, lithium, or hydrogen-powered. Ironically, a delegate from Beijing cited deteriorating air quality as one reason Chinese urban cycling was rapidly waning. Meanwhile, participants for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change prepared for meetings in Bonn, grappling with a convergence of new data from the International Energy Agency suggesting that humanity will be unable to prevent temperatures from exceeding the catastrophic threshold of a 2 degree Centigrade increase across the planet.
America: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency struggles to safeguard Americans from greenhouse gasses, mercury poisoning and a Who’s Who of environmental toxins, while the very powers of government that created the legislation in the first place, such as the Clean Air Act signed into law by President Nixon, adopt the old, tired rhetoric of jobs versus the environment. Some acknowledge serious ecological issues confronting Americans while they engage in promoting business as usual.
For full article:
No comments:
Post a Comment