Ecologist warns of new diseases and 'dead zones'

Not a comforting report in the least. It seems as if we are so wrapped up on corporate mandates enforced on half-baked political agendas that we are forgetting the one vital thing that has been supporting us since the being of humanity, Mother nature. In recent times, she has let us known that she indeed still exist with immense earthquakes and tsunamis in the past months but now there is a new threat...

UN-backed ecological report warns of potential new diseases and 'dead zones'
30 March 2005 – The emergence of new diseases, sudden changes in water quality, creation of coastal “dead zones,” the collapse of fisheries and shifts in regional climate are just some of the potential consequences of humankind’s degradation of the planet’s ecosystems, according to a new United Nations-backed report launched today.

Humans have changed ecosystems more rapidly and extensively in the last 50 years than in any other period; some 60 per cent of ecosystem elements supporting life on Earth, such as fresh water, clean air or a relatively stable climate, are being degraded or used unsustainably; and the situation could become significantly worse during the first half of this century, according to the study.

Although evidence remains incomplete, the report finds enough to warn that ongoing degradation of 15 of the 24 ecosystem services examined – including fresh water, capture fisheries, air and water regulation, and regulation of regional climate, natural hazards and pests – increases the likelihood of potentially abrupt changes that will seriously affect human well-being.
www.un.org...

I've said it a couple of times in other threads but despite what the government says, Mother Nature is the greatest threat to mankind and she has been letting us know that.

EDIT: I've stumbled on this second report of Earth literally 'falling apart'.

A U.N.-sponsored study finds that humans' growing demands have damaged the planet at unprecedented levels.

For hundreds of years, cod swarmed in waters off Newfoundland's rugged coast. But by 1992, rampant overfishing had crushed the cod. Price tag to people: tens of thousands of jobs lost and billions of dollars spent in job retraining.

Last year, a weather satellite spotted a monster dust cloud over Africa — hard to miss at 5,000 miles wide. Tree-cutting in northern Africa helps nourish such clouds, which cross the Atlantic, settle into U.S. coastal waters, and possibly contribute to toxic algae blooms. Price tag to people: breathing problems for U.S. coastal residents.

Cod depletion and dust clouds seem like pretty different problems. But they each play a role in the overall environmental degradation of the planet — a condition that a new global study says has escalated so quickly over the past 50 years that it outpaces anything experienced by ecosystems in human history. Demands for water, food, fuel, timber, and fiber — all part of global economic expansion -- have driven the change. The result: a big increase in short-term human benefits, less hunger, and more wealth. But this progress has been counterbalanced by a massive loss of diversity of life on Earth.
www.alternet.org...

Human activity is about to hit the ecological fan pretty soon or perhaps we are already in the wrath of it. More info on the report can be found at:
www.millenniumassessment.org...

[edit on 4/1/2005 by Simulacra]

Yes, things are looking grim. Humanity must act now.
People are just not getting it. We must Stop acting like nothing is going on and take responsibility.
Due to the lack of response to these threads regarding the report, it would seem that there is little support to do anything about it.
It makes me sad, so many people have the attitude that our ecosystem doesn't matter. We all have our excuses not to do something I guess. For the most part I think the focus of people are on other things right now. Really this is the most important thing. Without the ecosystem there is nothing. Everyone must understand this or we are all doomed.

Yes, I am glad you are covering this, is very good, I saw the news on TV, and actually this happening now, in our earth, sad that we humans with all our intelligent and technology has forgotten that one way or another mother nature will comeback to bite us all in our butts.

See earth will still be here long after we all cease to exist. I agree with you Umbrax, we all guilty when we know this things are happening but we are not holding anybody accountable.

I believe we humans will end human life in earth.

ah yes "mother earth" is exacting her revenge on humans. get real. yes humans need to do better enviromentaly. that is true.

too bad that it takes money to be "enviromentaly friendly". for instance i am in the market for a "new" truck, a more enviromentaly friendly truck would be nice, too bad that with the little i can afford i am looking at one that is about 15-20 years old. how nice it would be to be able to afford to upgrade my electrical systom (my fuse box is made out of wood and ceramic lol), and to replace all the apliances to new more efficiant ones. even if i had no choice but to replace them my finances would require a used unit and most likely an old one at that. now if people were offered a trade in of old technology for new technoligy, i am sure would jump at the chance if only to try to save a bit on the bills. i know i certainly would. imagine all the energy that could be saved by this.

i tried these new "green" lightbulbs. i found that other than costing a lot more that they either were so dim as to be useless or that they only lasted a fraction of the time that old bulbs did. at almost 5 times the cost it was a waste of money. if you are so in to saveing the enviroment mabe instead of whineing that people need to do more. that you make sure that the commoners can actualy afford to help. new things cost money that many can not afford. this does not mean that they nessisarily don't want to but when your finaces are tight you can't afford the luxury of being enviromentaly friendly. also we all know that all corperations care about is proffits, so they certainly won't help. so instead of uselessly prattling on about the need to be enviromentaly friendly, you shouyld work to make "enviromentaly friendy" affordable for the masses. you can't expect to have every one "do their part" when they can't afford to do it.

if you are so in to saveing the enviroment mabe instead of whineing that people need to do more. that you make sure that the commoners can actualy afford to help. new things cost money that many can not afford.

drogo, my family is working poor. You at least can afford to drive, I can't. In the link I posted above it gives many suggested several things we can do, and none of them involved you spending extra money. In fact most of them will save you money.

Last year I switched all the light bulbs in my house to Compact fluorescent light bulbs, the ones you say are a waste of money. It took me a few months to do it as they do cost me about 10 bucks each.
Compact fluorescent light bulbs consume less energy than the incandescent ones. A 20 watts CLF bulb will give the same amount of light as a 75-watt incandescent light bulb. CLF bulbs last for years. If yours were dim and burnt out fast that means that your bulbs wattage use was too low. I had this problem when I first started the switch to CLF bulbs.
Already the saving on my power bill has more than paid for the extra cost of the bulbs, and I wont need to change them for a few years.

Claiming that being "environmentally friendly" isn't affordable for the masses is bull. I have 2 kids and a wife and we live on one income. So don't tell me the commoners can't afford to help. If you can't afford a fuel efficient truck, fine. Then make the decision not to drive it if you only have to travel a few blocks. You don't have to buy a new hybrid car to do your part. There are hundreds of things you can do.

So, to paraphrase your statement...
If you are so in to saving the environment maybe instead of whining that people are too poor, maybe you should do some research.

If you are so in to saving the environment maybe instead of whining that people are too poor, maybe you should do some research.

Well said....

Here are some "Free" examples that you dont need to go out and buy and are energy efficient...

*Use the smallest cooking appliance that you can to get the job done (instead of using your stove or oven). Consider using barbecues, microwaves ovens, toaster ovens, crock pots, electric skillets and frying pans.

*Clean a self-cleaning oven immediately after cooking a meal. The oven is already hot, so it takes less time and energy to reach the temperature needed for cleaning.

*Thaw food in the fridge or microwave before placing it in the oven.

*Microwaves use about half as much electricity as regular ovens
.
*Set temperature controls to the mid-range. The fridge should be 3˚C (38˚F). If it's too cold, you're wasting electricity.

*Place your dryer in a warm room. If the dryer is kept in a cold room such as a garage, it uses more energy and must operate longer to get your clothes dry.
Choose the water level that is appropriate for the load you are washing

These are just some that although may seem insignificant to make a change in our atmosphere, but if a majority of the earths population did this, could you imagine the results...

I dont know if anyone has a factual answer to this. All that can be created is theories, im sure some people have a pretty good idea. Im not one of them though, i know very little on the topic. sorry i cant help.

Originally posted by Scarab

Here are some "Free" examples that you dont need to go out and buy and are energy efficient...
*snip*
*Use the smallest cooking appliance that you can to get the job done (instead of using your stove or oven). Consider using barbecues, microwaves ovens, toaster ovens, crock pots, electric skillets and frying pans.
*snip*
These are just some that although may seem insignificant to make a change in our atmosphere, but if a majority of the earths population did this, could you imagine the results...

The problem I see here is that if you have to be told to do these common snese things, you probably don't care about wasting resources. Some people have little or no consideration for the planet or others.
Using resources wisely has nothing to do with whether or not the planet is in trouble. Not being wasteful should be a given in life, whenever possible.
You can't legislate common sense, either.

I do take exception to your misguided remarks about cooking. I use my oven 3-4 times a week. I will not use a microwave or crockpot to cook a good piece of meat--personal preference. Of course, I'm not crazy enough to make a pot roast in the oven when it's 95 outside.
You may be interested to know that modern gas stoves/ovens are quite energy efficient.

Having to buy a new stove is what drogo was talking about. You can't expect everyone to go out and buy new energy efficient things.
Scarab was giving tips on what a single person can do to reduce their energy use. By doing so your energy supplier wont have to pollute more for you.
I don't think she was suggesting we should cook steaks in the microwave.

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Report is saying we are destroying the worlds ecosystems due to over population. This means that the population will need to use up less of the worlds resources. So now this is where the individual comes in.

You are right DontTreadOnMe if someone has to be told not to waste resources then they probably don't care to begin with. There are also people who just don't understand.
These are the types of people I am talking about from my first post on this thread.
So many people thin that one person can't make a difference. If everyone thought this way we would all be ruled by dictators.
There are groups feeding attitudes like this if we don't stand up to these groups then every good thing we value in life will be gone.

NBC Promotes Toxic Chinese Light Bulbs
GE owns NBC...
In a similar story

“each bulb still contains 5 mg of mercury;

Yeah, Tesla invented it that way. A high voltage set up circuit ignites the
mercury into a conducting vapor that radiates UV that lights up the coating.

The set up is an initial conduction path that feeds a coil. The path is broken
and a high voltage is created for the new conduction path.

ED: I noticed that these type of bulb does not SHUT OFF and the two latest
GE curly Compact Fluorescent Light (CFL) bulbs started burning the plastic
encapsulation. Not good either and luckily I was home to turn off the fixture.
So leaving a light on when not at home stick to Edison filament bulbs.




[edit on 12/8/2007 by TeslaandLyne]

The Report from Iron Mountain predicted that the powers that be would use or turn the environment into a 'threat'. It is true that we need to respect nature, we are part of it, we should respect ourselves. However, the same people who own the corporations that are causing the pollution are in collusion with those that are pushing new legislation and controls for the sake of the environment. They created the problem, they brought it to our attention, now they're offering a solution. Beware of pseudo environmentalists such as Al Gore.

Iron Mountain

Always something, can't follow it all...

Thats for guys like Alex Jones.

In the Endgam3 of his there was this weird wild life preservation plan
that walled off highway exits making lonely towns even more inaccessible.

According to the movie, making ghost towns.

And a gain some ex government official or contractor says his job was
on this great plan and it turned out COMPLETELY different.
What did I hear that before.

The elite are hoping his kind will drop and die but Alex Jones is gonna
wave and shout his megaphone at them loud, loud!