#environmentalism
1,000+ Scientists Worldwide Engaged in Civil Disobedience for Climate Action
“… “I’m taking action because I feel desperate,” said U.S. climate scientist Peter Kalmus, who along with several others locked himself to the front door of a JPMorgan Chase building in Los Angeles. A recent report found that the financial giant is the biggest private funder of oil and gas initiatives in the world.
“It’s the 11th hour in terms of Earth breakdown, and I feel terrified for my kids, and terrified for humanity,” Kalmus continued. “World leaders are still expanding the fossil fuel industry as fast as they can, but this is insane. The science clearly indicates that everything we hold dear is at risk, including even civilization itself and the wonderful, beautiful, cosmically precious life on this planet. I actually don’t get how any scientist who understands this could possibly stay on the sidelines at this point.” …”
COVID-19 LOCKDOWNS SIGNIFICANTLY IMPACTING GLOBAL AIR QUALITY!
COVID-19 lockdowns significantly impacting global air quality - AGU Newsroom
Levels of two major air pollutants have been drastically reduced since lockdowns began in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but a secondary pollutant – ground-level ozone – has increased in China, according to new research.
Two new studies in AGU’s journal Geophysical Research Letters find nitrogen dioxide pollution over northern China, Western Europe and the U.S. decreased by as much as 60 percent in early 2020 as compared to the same time last year. Nitrogen dioxide is a highly reactive gas produced during combustion that has many harmful effects on the lungs. The gas typically enters the atmosphere through emissions from vehicles, power plants, and industrial activities.
In addition to nitrogen dioxide, one of the new studies finds particulate matter pollution (particles smaller than 2.5 microns) has decreased by 35 percent in northern China. Particulate matter is composed of solid particles and liquid droplets that are small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs and cause damage.
The two new papers are part of an ongoing special collection of research in AGU journals related to the current pandemic.
Such a significant drop in emissions is unprecedented since air quality monitoring from satellites began in the 1990s, said Jenny Stavrakou, an atmospheric scientist at the Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy in Brussels and co-author of one of the papers. The only other comparable events are short-term reductions in China’s emissions due to strict regulations during events like the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
With world distracted, the Amazon rainforest continues to burn
With world distracted, the Amazon rainforest continues to burn
Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon hit a new high in the first four months of this year, with 1,202 square kilometres of forest wiped out.
That was a 55 per cent increase from the same period last year, and the highest figure for the first four months of the year since records began.
I think way more people in America would recycle if every state allowed you to get a refundable deposit from every container.
Also if every recycling center actually accepted the most widely recycled materials. Our household does not want to pay an additional cost for recycling pick-up. But we can’t even bring it to the municipal recycling center because they don’t accept plastic or aluminum, two of the most common things people recycle. You haveto pay for it to get picked up or go to another one (7 miles away). I’m sure most towns don’t have this issue, but still.
Only 1.9% of total U.S. Greenhouse Gas emissions come from cattle! Eliminating or reducing cattle in this country would not only have a MINIMAL impact on cutting emissions, it would remove one of the most nutrient dense foods we eat (beef) and lower the sustainability and health of our pastures and farm land. Farmers should continue to work to minimize their cattle’s impact on the environment, but the good of cattle far outweighs the bad and it doesn’t make sense to eliminate them!
Beef cattle build soil health through grazing and spreading of manure. They allow farmers to grow food for people during the winter. They convert poor forage due to drought into high quality food. They take millions and millions of acres in this country that could not grow food and convert the grass into high quality food. They also improve all of these acres by grazing them and putting nutrients back in the soil. Beef provides many essential nutrients in a diet and is a cheap, healthy, great tasting protein!
Cows are a valuable part of the worlds ecology- their “waste” is part of the natural cycle
Source:https://www.lonelyplanet.com/news/2019/08/02/ethiopia-tree-planting/
Plants some trees, please
I’m telling y’all that if you don’t jump around erratically bc a wasp or hornet flies close to you, you’ll have less interaction time with them
If you’re nervous about them (not yknow. allergic. let’s not intentionally misinterpret what I’m saying) ignore them. And I do mean IGNORE. Don’t react.
Also, are you watering or generally handling a source of liquid and they won’t leave you alone? Share some at a distance from yourself. Hell are you eating and they want some? Share it.
Honestly if people treated them with the calmness and affection they show bees they’d have better experiences.
Anyway, have a little plate for the yellowjackets when you picnic. They are eating the bugs that you don’t like so offer them a gift.
Please stop telling me about your allergies. If you gotta bolt bc you could DIE just do it.
Clearly, that means this message is not for you. Move on.
When I’m going to hang out in the yard I usually bring a banana or some other fruit, that I eat right away (because sitting outside and eating fruit is cool) and then I leave the peel/husk/core out someplace, not adjacent to where I’ll be sitting/working. The bees and wasps (and flies) will all zero in on it and have a lil party, and I can do what I’m doing without constant interference. (It’s the same as feeding your pets before you sit down to eat a meal — it distracts them from begging, and honestly a lot of dogs and cats prefer to eat along with their people. I know, it’s odd, but nice.)
Wasps are often more combative in the summer because they’re thirsty. Putting out a little dish of water for them is good. I was in the Spanish mountains one summer and put out a plate of water for the wasps whenever I was bathing, so they didn’t try to drink off me.
Yeah usually if you take a shallow dish out with water and even bits of food (especially fruit) while outside doing activities like reading/swimming/picnics/camping etc you’ll really take the aggression out of most wasps. They’re usually just hungry or thirsty. Just don’t set up camp right next to their nest lol
hi, i have had several near-death anaphylaxis events from yellowjacket stings and i have to carry an epi-pen. if a wasp stings me and i am not immediately stabbed with a large dose of epinephrine, i will suffocate and die within a few minutes. it is very likely i have brain damage from hypoxia from a wasp sting when i was about 4. so pay attention to what i am about to say:
all of the above advice works 100%. wasps and bees and all stinging critters are very very unlikely to sting you if you stay calm and move slowly. they are VERY LIKELY to sting you if you move quickly and jerkily, and are guaranteed to try to sting you if you attempt to kill them. they are not hunting you, they are not stupid, they know you are the size of a skyscraper. they will ONLY sting you if they believe you are trying to hurt or kill them.
many species of wasps, and especially yellowjackets, are solitary or social predators/scavengers. they are extremely intelligent, and aware of you as a fellow creature, whatever that may mean to their bug intelligence.
they are not mindless computers, they are more like little cats or wolves. and they are just doing what it takes to make a living on god’s gay earth: looking for food and water for their children
it is very possible to change how you feel about things you are afraid of, even if you have a clinical phobia. for me, that always starts with knowing more about the thing that scares me.
Here’s a good article on the subject if anyone’s curious! It goes into more detail about public perception of wasps. It not only talks about wasp’s ecological importance, but also how scientific understanding can work to change public opinion on wasps and their nests.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/een.12676
“ Why we love bees and hate wasps “I’m so so glad I chose to click on the notifications on my post again.
This is exactly why I made this post—not that I expect everyone to fall head over heels in love with these creatures but to see their importance beyond the cultural knee-jerk reaction because of the reductive view we’ve cultivated of them.
I’m also not saying that they’re never somewhat unpredictable and that they’ll never hurt you—just like any other creature they have the capacity too. It’s just very much increased when the reaction to them is to flail and swat and scream.
Thank you guys for your thoughtful additions to this post I appreciate beyond words. Pls continue to carry this level of care and education as our friends wake for winter and start flying around again!
For those who are deathly afraid of them and would like tips to avoid being around them—dark surfaces facing sunlight, standing water, garbage and compost piles, and rotten wood are going to be their favorite spots as our hemisphere warms for the season. Avoid those to minimize possible contact with wasps, hornets, and other insects waking for spring
We learned the “feed the bees while you eat) trick at the end of the summer, but didn’t really have a chance to try it, so it’s nice to have the reminder at the beginning of the season.
“Oh well, it’s just one disposable coffee cup… said 7 billion people.”
Artist: @pedrakimou
Complicit®
Brent Pruitt, 2021
Each member within society is responsible for the perpetuation of institutional oppression.
To what extent do we, as an individual, or collective, acknowledge our participation? How do we hold ourselves, and each other, accountable?
Complicit® is a declaration of recrimination and confession.
“It’s hard to understand how ‘conservatives’ could oppose safeguarding the environment that all of us—including conservatives and their children—depend on for our very lives. What exactly is it conservatives are conserving?”
–Carl Sagan, Billions & Billions(1997)
- The North Pole is 36 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than usual this winter. At first, scientists thought their equipment was broken because this is so unusual. Source: http://wapo.st/2mXi69A
- Sixteen of the seventeen warmest years on record have occurred since 2001. Source: http://go.nasa.gov/2iRikw1
- Miami’s streets now flood on bright, sunny days due to sea level rise caused by melting glaciers. Source: http://nyti.ms/2mfOXlC
- According to the U.N., approximately 150 species go extinct every day. The leading causes are human development and climate change. Studies show that extinction rates are up to 100 times higher than they would be without human influence. Source: http://bit.ly/2cuy57c
- The United States is the only developed nation with a conservative party that still denies climate change is a human caused issue. Source: http://bit.ly/2dNoJmo
- NASA confirmed that 2016 was the hottest year on record, ever. The same goes for the last three years. Source: http://wapo.st/2mXjE3p
- The U.S. military, including Trump-appointed Defense Secretary James Mattis, has stated that climate change poses a significant threat to our national security. Source: http://n.pr/2mXA2OY
- According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (a non-partisan government organization), flooding is estimated to be from 300 percent to 900 percent more frequent within U.S. coastal communities than it was just 50 years ago, due to melting glaciers. This flooding costs tax payers billions of dollars, takes lives each year, and is expected to become even more frequent as climate change continues. Source: http://bit.ly/1uhNNXh
- Here is a link to a graph created using NASA data which clearly shows that greenhouse gases are the cause of global temperature rise: http://bloom.bg/2hxsT7D
I often encounter climate change deniers in the work that I do, so I share these facts in the hopes that they will help you convince your skeptical friends that climate change is real. One of the best ways we can act on climate change is by bringing it up in conversations with friends and in school, to help people wrap their minds around this complex and continually growing issue.