Earth has suffered irreversible damage - U.S. Politics Online: A Political Discussion Forum Archives

The Oracle · #1 03-30-2005, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Earth has suffered irreversible damage: study
CTV.ca News Staff

Humans are damaging the Earth at such an unprecedented rate that the strain on the planet may destroy about two-thirds of its ecosystem services, according to a landmark international study.

The consequences of humans' activities are severe and include: new diseases, sudden changes in water quality, creation of "dead zones" along the coasts, the collapse of fisheries, and shifts in regional climate, according to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Synthesis Report.

"At the heart of this assessment is a stark warning," said the 45-member board.

"Human activity is putting such strain on the natural functions of Earth that the ability of the planet's ecosystems to sustain future generations can no longer be taken for granted," it said.

The four-year, 2,500-page assessment was drawn up by 1,300 researchers from 95 nations in an effort to inform global policy initiatives.

Scientists warn that about 60 per cent of the ecosystem services that support life on Earth, such as fresh water, air and water regulation and natural hazards, are being destroyed.

The report warns that the consequences of this degradation of the environment will significantly worsen over the next 50 years.

The report says humans have changed ecosystems more rapidly in the past 50 years than any other period.

"This was done largely to meet rapidly growing demands for food, fresh water, timber, fiber and fuel," a statement said, adding that this resulted in an irreversible loss of life on Earth, with some 10 to 30 per cent of mammal, bird and amphibian species threatened with extinction currently.

The changes in the ecosystem are owing to humans' efforts to meet rapidly growing demands for food, fresh water, timber, fibre and fuel, the report says.

"More land was converted to agriculture since 1945 than in the 18th and 19th centuries combined," according to the report's authors.

"More than half of all the synthetic nitrogen fertilizers, first made in 1913, ever used on the planet has been used since 1985."

"The over-riding conclusion of this assessment is that it lies within the power of human societies to ease the strains we are putting on the nature services of the planet, while continuing to use them to bring better living standards to all," said the MA board of directors in a statement.

Other warnings:

Deforestation influences the abundance of human pathogens such as malaria and cholera
Scientists project there will be progress in eliminating hunger but at rates too slow to halve the number of the hungry by 2015.
It is the world's poorest people who suffer the most from changes to the ecosystem.
Only four ecosystem services have been improved in the past half-century. These include: increased crop, livestock and aquaculture production, and increased carbon sequestration for worldwide climate regulation.
The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment's work was prepared under the supervision of a 45-member board of directors, co-chaired by Dr. Robert Watson, chief scientist of The World Bank, and Dr. A. Hamid Zakri, director of the United Nations University's Institute of Advanced Studies.

This is just more liberal tree higher propaganda; the fact is we don’t need any trees or clean water. We have coke and artificial palm trees. We don’t need all these eco systems and furry little critters we do not hunt anymore, we have Mc Donalds.

What we need is more Bulldozers to clear land for shopping malls and more power plants and corporate polluters.

MattLarson · #2 03-30-2005, 11:37 AM

Have you ever noticed that the enviro-scientists always pick a date for their doom and gloom predicitons beyond their own reasonable life expectancy?

That way, when their predicitons of disaster turn out to be nonsense (remember the 1970's? Ice Age coming soon?), they'll be dead and won't have to be accountable for their mistakes.

Matt

EuroKnight · #3 03-31-2005, 03:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MattLarson

Have you ever noticed that the enviro-scientists always pick a date for their doom and gloom predicitons beyond their own reasonable life expectancy?

That way, when their predicitons of disaster turn out to be nonsense (remember the 1970's? Ice Age coming soon?), they'll be dead and won't have to be accountable for their mistakes.

Matt

The comparison is of course ridiculous, but keep on dreaming that the funride won't stop

Chiquita · #4 03-31-2005, 03:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EuroKnight

The comparison is of course ridiculous, but keep on dreaming that the funride won't stop

I don't think MattLarson's comaprison is ridiculous. I think those predictions can't possibly be as accurate as they want us to believe. And WHY do we believe it so quickly when, with all the modern technology, they can't even predict the weather with certainty. I mean think about it. With all the tools availale and as close to us as something as simple as our weather is, they still can't hit it much of the time. So now scientists want us to believe they can predict with accuracy the nature and effects of global warming? Or than man is responsible for changes that have been going on in the universe since long before man was even around.

asainspace · #5 03-31-2005, 04:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chiquita

I don't think MattLarson's comaprison is ridiculous. I think those predictions can't possibly be as accurate as they want us to believe. And WHY do we believe it so quickly when, with all the modern technology, they can't even predict the weather with certainty. I mean think about it. With all the tools availale and as close to us as something as simple as our weather is, they still can't hit it much of the time. So now scientists want us to believe they can predict with accuracy the nature and effects of global warming? Or than man is responsible for changes that have been going on in the universe since long before man was even around.

Weather patterns are not simple, the world is not simple. This is why we humans need to readdress our balance with the eco system that we are a part of. Those that believe we should just keep on expanding and polluting are ignorant. If you have any respect for mother nature, you would want to be part of it, not destroy it. Falling fish stocks, deforestation, industrial pollution, constant economic and social expansionism, humans ever encrouching on virgin earth, we are destructive beyond reason and ignorant of the consequences of our actions. Capitalism is a virus of the mind and of society, the disillusioned idea that we must keep expanding at an ever increasing rate.........for what.......the right to go to McDonalds for a shitty burger? Those flashy silly trainers which have a logo on them, so then cost twice as much? Freud was right about consumerism, he saw how it would turn out. Yes, there has to be consumerism to a certain degree, but we never realise when it has become unhealthy and needs booting into touch.

Chiquita · #6 03-31-2005, 04:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by asainspace

Weather patterns are not simple, the world is not simple. This is why we humans need to readdress our balance with the eco system that we are a part of. Those that believe we should just keep on expanding and polluting are ignorant. If you have any respect for mother nature, you would want to be part of it, not destroy it. Falling fish stocks, deforestation, industrial pollution, constant economic and social expansionism, humans ever encrouching on virgin earth, we are destructive beyond reason and ignorant of the consequences of our actions. Capitalism is a virus of the mind and of society, the disillusioned idea that we must keep expanding at an ever increasing rate.........for what.......the right to go to McDonalds for a shitty burger? Those flashy silly trainers which have a logo on them, so then cost twice as much? Freud was right about consumerism, he saw how it would turn out. Yes, there has to be consumerism to a certain degree, but we never realise when it has become unhealthy and needs booting into touch.

You are basically off the deep end. The earth's magnetic field is slowing down and getting ready to reverse as it has done many times over the eons. You cannot say with certainty that this is not the reason the planet is warming. That event in and of itself changes the amount of radiation that is allowed to enter the atmosphere. That event in and of itself cannot possibly be without environmental influences. You just don't know enough about science to coat your hatred of America with these predictions and make it into gold. You are nothing more than a political alchemist.

And BTW: Many of Freuds theories have been discredited already.

EuroKnight · #7 04-01-2005, 03:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chiquita

I don't think MattLarson's comaprison is ridiculous. I think those predictions can't possibly be as accurate as they want us to believe. And WHY do we believe it so quickly when, with all the modern technology, they can't even predict the weather with certainty. I mean think about it. With all the tools availale and as close to us as something as simple as our weather is, they still can't hit it much of the time. So now scientists want us to believe they can predict with accuracy the nature and effects of global warming? Or than man is responsible for changes that have been going on in the universe since long before man was even around.

there's nothing simple about the weather or nature just ask the tsunami survivors. Secondly, human civilization has been tracking temperature readings for well over a century, try checking out the stats and you'll see that it seems a highly unlikely coincidence that the later half of the Industrialized Age and global warming isn't related.

Chiquita · #8 04-01-2005, 03:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EuroKnight

there's nothing simple about the weather or nature just ask the tsunami survivors. Secondly, human civilization has been tracking temperature readings for well over a century, try checking out the stats and you'll see that it seems a highly unlikely coincidence that the later half of the Industrialized Age and global warming isn't related.

It seems even MORE unlikely to me that orbital variation and the impending reversan of the magnetic field of the earth are not the major causes of global warming. How do you account for previous ice ages? Too much dinosaur shit?

Rakkasan · #9 03-30-2005, 02:46 PM

man i would hate to have to be friends with the oracle

he is like that character on SNL who is always a downer

do you ever smile oracle?

Benjamin · #10 03-30-2005, 03:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rakkasan

man i would hate to have to be friends with the oracle

he is like that character on SNL who is always a downer

do you ever smile oracle?

Debbie Downer!!!

Ben

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