Our real Sarah Palin nightmare: We debate sideshows and phony problems — while this very real threat

[applegrove]

Our real Sarah Palin nightmare: We debate sideshows and phony problems — while this very real threat looms undiscussed

by Phil Torres at Salon

http://www.salon.com/2016/01/24/our_real_sarah_palin_nightmare_we_debate_sideshows_and_phony_problems_while_this_very_real_threat_looms_undiscussed/

"SNIP...............


It’s an amazing fact that the contemporary world is marked by a growing number of problems that are genuinely global in scope. Some of these problems even have existential implications for the survival of human civilization — yet instead we spend too much time discussing smaller threats, including North Korea, ISIS, Oregon militias and even Sarah Palin. One such problem is anthropogenic climate change — a catastrophe whose effects are anticipated to be “severe,” “pervasive” and “irreversible.” Based on the best current science, climatologists anticipate more extreme weather events, melting glaciers, sea level rise, megadroughts, desertification, deforestation, food supply disruptions, famines, infectious disease, mass migrations, social upheaval, economic distress, and political instability. While there’s a small (but real) chance that a runaway greenhouse effect could turn Earth into an unlivable cauldron like our planetary neighbor Venus, climate change is perhaps best described as a “conflict multiplier” that will exacerbate existing geopolitical problems and introduce brand-new struggles between state and nonstate actors vying for control of habitable land and dwindling resources.

But climate change isn’t the only problem of this sort. In fact, for many who spend their lives studying environmental issues, it can be frustrating to see climate change — a highly contentious issue among non-experts, despite a scientific consensus about its reality and causes — dominate the public discussion. The fact is that biodiversity loss constitutes an equally worrisome (albeit related) threat to the future of humanity. Few people today realize just how dire this situation has become as a result of human activity, or how severe the consequences could be if we continue to prune the evolutionary Tree of Life with reckless abandon.

Consider some cold hard facts. According to the 3rd Global Biodiversity Report (GBO-3), the total population of vertebrates — a broad category that includes mammals, birds, reptiles, sharks, rays and amphibians — living within the tropics declined by a shocking 59% from 1970 to 2006. Take a moment to let this sink in. In only 36 years, more than half of the vertebrate population between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Tropic of Cancer disappeared. The report also found that the abundance of vertebrates living in freshwater environments fell by 41 percent since 1970, farmland birds in Europe declined 50% since only 1980, birds in North America declined by 40% between 1968 and 2003, and nearly 25 percent of all plant species — the foundation of the food chains upon which we depend — are currently “threatened with extinction.”




...............SNIP"

[spanone]

1. K&R...

[Mc Mike]

2. Important info. Thanks. nt.

[GliderGuider]

3. At last, some people are beginning to wake the fuck up.

The combined power of climate change and biodiversity loss makes all other issues pale into insignificance. The problem is that their effects are now far too advanced for us to really have a chance of reversing them.

So, like the drunk who lost his keys in the dark alley but is looking for them under the lamp-post, we will concentrate instead on the lighted areas where the problem isn't.