So far I've read the first quarter of my book, which has equaled out to 90 pages. This translates into 8 chapters. Mainly the author has focused on how the world has gotten to the state of complete ecological collapse. We're running out of oil, we're cutting down all the trees (therefore running out of oxygen), we're running out of food (on land and in the oceans), and cheap and clean water may be an item of the past. To be honest, thus far the book is quite the downer. It's interesting and important information, but it makes our current ecological crises look hopeless.
I learned a bit about the Carboniferous Period. It occurred 400 million years ago and lasted about 70. It was called the Carboniferous Period because there was significantly more carbon in the air during that time then there is today. Also, the temperature was quite a bit higher than it was today. Due to those conditions plant life grew like crazy! The author described the vegetation as rising hundreds of feet in the air! This vegetation is what eventually would turn into fossil fuel (millions of years later).
I also learned that the U.S. only contains 6% of the population but uses 25% of the world's energy. That's a pretty sucky statistic. It's also desturbing that we are cutting and burning down our rainforests (thousands of acres every hour) when they are our major source of oxygen and carbon dioxide removal. Still we continue to destroy them. Another startling fact is that TB, a disease most people associate with third world countries, is alive and well even in the U.S. and kills more people each year than AIDS, malaria, and tropical diseases combined.
So what are the implications of what I've read? The book pretty much says that unless we change our culture, and change the way we think we're going to destroy everything we have and I totally believe it. So much of what we rely on just for day to day survival is on the brink of collapse and we still have a government unwilling to recognize it. All and all, this book is painting a rather terrifying picture of the earth (or lack there of) in the very near future. Most of the problems he's discussed in the book are likely to occur in our lifetime...scary. We need to change.
Check out this really realistic video about the end of the earth: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZMwKPmsbWE
Posts
photo
10 years ago
wow. your statistics you have posted are crazy. That IS really sad that we 25% of the worlds energy... and I always get sad when there is talk of huge amounts of rainforest removal. We really do need to change this culture. Sounds like an interesting book so far!
ReplyDeleteThis just makes me upset that our gov't is ignorant to change this. It is good to finally have someone in the white house with at least some type of environmental concerns. It is scary to here the numbers on how fast we're destroying the world.
ReplyDeleteIf you look at the government like you would look at an individual person, it might not be that unrealistic that they are resistant to change. Many people wait until they are sick or until there is a catastrophe before they change. Making a change is disruptive to an existing behavior pattern and it might require knowledge, time, effort, skill, money and/or other resources. Imagine that on a larger scale that involves millions of people.
ReplyDelete