Keep Talking...

We humans are so good at talking aren't we? For years we have been talking about how urgent we need action on climate destruction. Yet, for all the talk, all the ego, all the PR campaigns, the movies, all the politics, all the empty meetings we need to face this fact: we are closer than ever to destroying the very ecosystems that give us life. Air, water, oceans, forests, species, all under dire threat from human intervention.

So tell me, just how long do we wait for this great epiphany that is to come? What exact percentage of our world's forests have to be destroyed? How many people have to die from lack of water? How toxic does the Earth have to get? How many more have to die in extreme climate events? We humans as a whole are still in mass denial.

Take for instance Brazil. I see media ads for the Olympics that depict Brazil as a golden land. Truth is, it is rife with poverty, drought, political instability and now Zika virus which may be made worse by extreme climate as well as genetic God playing. The GREED that breeds this denial and disconnection continues unabated. For all of the lambasting of the political side in denial of climate destruction the truth really is that many on all political sides are in denial.

They all continue to prop up their political Gods while continuing to pontificate without telling the real ugly truth that we have brought our only home to a place where it is starting to break down... and for all the talk, we just cannot pull ourselves away from that which is destroying her.

I haven't posted here in several months (you can peruse the countless posts here on water and climate destruction) mainly because I am observing all this and while doing what I can on my own realizing the ugly truth: we are done.

The time for false hope is over. The time for talk is over. It is time to prepare for what is here and what is to come. May the fates be with us... but then again, do we really deserve that?

CO2 Earth Weekly

Rate of Environmental Degradation Puts Life on Earth At Risk

My heart is BREAKING.

NASA/Water In Space

"Once again, astronauts on the International Space Station dissolved an effervescent tablet in a floating ball of water, and captured images using a camera capable of recording four times the resolution of normal high-definition cameras. The higher resolution images and higher frame rate videos can reveal more information when used on science investigations, giving researchers a valuable new tool aboard the space station. This footage is one of the first of its kind. The cameras are being evaluated for capturing science data and vehicle operations by engineers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama."

I think this is amazing. Water is alive.

Climate Change Drying Up One of World's Largest Lakes

Climate Change Is Drying Up One of The World's Largest Lakes

By Emily Johnson

“When I started fishing I only used a raft,” says John Mame. That was 12 years ago. Now he serves as chairman for the Impressa Beach Management Unit, which regulates the fish markets.

“Then from there I got a boat, some many nets, I got my crew members. Then from there, I was able to put my children in school. But now, problem. No water, few water, yeah? No fish. You go to the lake, no fish. I don’t know where they are.”

He laughs, looking downward. “Maybe there are thieves, what what, I don’t know.”

An 180-mile shining ribbon that cuts neatly across northwestern Kenya, Lake Turkana is a vital source of life for more than 1.2 million people. It occupies an arid region bordering Uganda, South Sudan and Ethiopia that is famously known as the “cradle of mankind,” because the oldest known fossils of early humans were unearthed there.

But the lake—once so vast that some still know it as the Jade Sea—is disappearing. A combination of global warming and water resources projects have caused the inland sea to shrink. And according to paleoanthropologist and conservationist Richard Leakey, it's already too late to save it."

snip

“It’s going the way of the Aral Sea,” Leakey said at a press conference in Nairobi in November, referring to the dried-up lake that straddled Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan before the rivers that fed it were siphoned for agriculture. The current head of the Kenya Wildlife Service and the leader of the team that discovered the “Turkana Boy” skeleton in 1984, Leakey knows the Turkana region well and has been warning of this for years.

“It’s too late to be talking of this now,” he said. “The dam is built. It’s done.”

According to a Human Rights Watch report released in October, Lake Turkana is suffering under a deadly two-pronged assault. Climate change is driving up temperatures, which increases evaporation, and changing precipitation patterns even as development projects across the border in Ethiopia are diverting water from the Omo River, which supplies 90% of the lake’s water."

End of Excerpt

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"Already too late to save it." Will that be our epitaph?

This article shows the essence of what climate change is doing to our world. For me, it shows the moral and ethical price we are all also paying. Just how upset would you be to see this entire culture borne in what is known as the cradle of civilization go extinct? In the end, it is our respect for Earth and these cultures that will decide our answers to that question. Our choices show our character. To allow these cultures to die out shows a dark side of humanity that truthfully tears at my soul.

I can't express how important it is for you to read this article and look at the pictures... and not just read it, but put yourself in the place of these desperate people who are doing all they can to preserve their lives and culture against an insidious enemy that so many of us in the West still take for granted.

The need for education regarding climate change is crucial in Africa and related to that is accountability for water diverted away from people who need it. Dams only cause problems related to water flow and environmental/agricultural damage and in essence create the very gases we need to reign in to mitigate the droughts being experienced in almost 40% of this world. The people of this region need alternate ways to create electricity such as solar power. It is imperative in order to maintain equality in water distribution and to help ensure that levels do not go any lower.

How much more of this will have to be reported on before we get it? This is a global catastrophe in the making unless we act now in order to provide developing countries with alternate energy sources to lift pressure off of water resources! Also, overpopulation and education that seeks to address this crisis at the roots needs to be discussed seriously. When is the world going to tackle this on a level that truly addresses the underlying causes as a whole instead of just putting band aids on it- and that includes the UN. We are making our planet unsustainable for human life.

Shouldn't that be enough to know to move us along a bit faster?



Lake Chad Is Dying

My entry from eight years ago.

African Mapping Highlights Risk Of Drought and Flooding

My entry from nine years ago.

It isn't as if we didn't know about this.

Flint Michigan Water Crisis Epitome of Government Incompetence

Update 1/27/16:

"Nobody Cares":Flint Family Says Lead Pipes Must Go

Flint Drinks Lead Laden Water: Republicans Attack Clean Water Act

"To poison all the children in an historic American city is no small feat. Even international terrorist organizations haven't figured out yet how to do something on a magnitude like this. But you did."


~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Update: 1-26-16:

Lead Poisoning Strikes Another US Town

A lead poisoning scandal has struck a second US town, with schools closed in Sebring, Ohio Monday and the water treatment plant operator accused of falsifying reports.

Initial tests found elevated lead levels in 28 homes and one school in the midwestern village of about 4,400 people, Ohio's environmental protection agency said. It is not clear how long lead has been leaking from the town's pipes.

The agency said in a statement it has "reason to suspect that the operator falsified reports" and has asked the federal Environmental Protection Agency's criminal division for help with the investigation.

The Ohio agency did not specify what kind of reports it was referring to. A spokesperson for it was not immediately available for comment.

The Ohio case comes as a special prosecutor was appointed to investigate how the city of Flint, Michigan exposed 100,000 residents to lead poisoning after cutting water treatment costs.

Officials are accused of ignoring months of health warnings about foul-smelling water, even as residents complained that it was making them sick.

End of excerpt

The answer to the question how many other towns is this happening in seems to be coming to light. This is beyond criminal!

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Update: 1-21-16:

How You can Help Flint Michigan Residents

Governor Snyder Apologizes For Flint Water Crisis

Lansing, Mich. — Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder said he has failed Flint residents but pledged to take new steps to fix the city's drinking water crisis, starting with committing millions in state funding and deploying more National Guard members.

The second-term Republican, who devoted most of his annual State of the State speech Tuesday night to the emergency in Flint, also pledged greater transparency. He said he would release on Wednesday his own emails regarding Flint's water, which became contaminated with too much lead when the city switched its water source in 2014 as a cost-cutting measure.

"I'm sorry most of all that I let you down," Snyder, whose administration is engulfed in criticism, said in the 49-minute address, as hundreds of protesters demonstrated outside the Capitol. "You deserve better. You deserve accountability. You deserve to know that the buck stops here with me. Most of all, you deserve to know the truth, and I have a responsibility to tell the truth."

End of excerpt

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So he apologizes and says he is sending more bottled water and National Guard? That is supposed to appease those who have lost loved ones and who have been dealing with this toxic disaster for two years? Politicians are the problem and the true toxin in our society. Particularly on the whole Republicans (of course Democrats have their fair share as well) who seem to think apologizing for a crime is enough after they have done all in their power to precipitate the situation! Snyder needs to resign today along with a few others. How many more disasters do we the people have to be subjected to because of incompetence and greed while those guilty get away with it with just an apology? I also have some advice for the people of Michigan... Pay more attention and stop voting these criminals into office!

As Water Problems Grew Officials Belittled Complaints From Flint

Flint Water Crisis Reveals Limits of Running a Government As a Business

This article explains in more detail how the politics of this led to this water tragedy.

Also for those who think this article wasn't politically polarizing enough who then belittle citizens like myself who do this from our hearts and because we care about the state of our global water resources a reminder: I don't get any money or remuneration doing this. I don't get paid to post on Twitter. I don't do this for notoriety. I do this because water is the most important resource in our lives that gives us life and people of all politics and backgrounds are taking that for granted.

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Flint Michigan Water Crisis

By Brad Devereaux | bdeverea@mlive.com

FLINT, MI — The plight of Flint residents who depend on the city water system has been a scary and uncertain one: water with high lead levels, among other problems, that went unchecked while residents drank and bathed.

As news of the dangerous situation came to light, officials took corrective steps and Gov. Rick Snyder apologized for the state's role in allowing the crisis to happen.

However, critics complain the response that includes a plan to switch to a safe system and door-to-door bottled water deliveries by the Michigan National Guard and others, was too little and too late.

How Michigan failed its residents:

While under the authority of a state-appointed emergency manager, the decision is made in 2013 for the city of Flint to stop buying water from the city of Detroit in favor of a new pipeline project from Lake Huron. On the day Flint joined the new pipeline effort, Detroit notified the city it would stop selling it water as of April 2014, forcing Flint to find a new water source.

The choice was made in mid-March of 2014 to get water from the Flint River and the switch to the new source was made on April 25, 2014. Complaints about the water smelling and tasting bad poured into City Hall.

About four months later, bacteria was found in the water, prompting a boil notice. The city notified residents that trihalomethanes in the water led to a violation of the Safe Water Drinking Act.

City officials called for Flint to stop using the river as its water source and Emergency Manager Darnell Earley said in January 2015 he was hiring a consultant to try to improve water quality.

Flint in January 2015 turned down Detroit's offer to provide water again. City officials said they were working with the state to address the problem.

Environmentalist Erin Brockovich gave her opinion in January 2015, calling for accountability for local, state and federal officials.

A city-hired consultant reported in February 2015 that Flint's water was safe to drink despite sediment and discoloration. The city announced it was meeting guidelines for trihalomethanes.

Despite proposed investments meant to help Flint's water system, the council voted in March to reconnect to Detroit water. However, the city remains under the authority of a state-appointed emergency manager and the switch back to Detroit water does not happen.

A Virginia Tech professor announced claims on Sept. 2, 2015, that the corrosive water was causing lead to leach into the water.

Testing data obtained Sept. 19 shows 10 percent of homes tested in the city saw an increase in lead after the switch to the Flint River. Infants and children in Flint are testing with higher levels of lead in their blood since the switch, a Hurley Medical Center doctor's study shows.

Genesee County officials declared a public health emergency Oct. 1, 2015, urging residents not to drink water straight from the tap.

End of excerpt. See more at link.



The timeline here spans over two years that the citizens of Flint have been drinking and bathing in toxic water while government agencies and politicians continue to play with their lives. This is the epitome of ignorance and criminality. Water is still looked upon as expendable as a topic of political importance and I dare say, human importance.

How many children have already been poisoned by lead intake? How many already made ill by it? How much did these officials know, when did they know it and why didn't they move faster considering the plethora of complaints from people who were already experiencing illness from the tainted water? I also cannot help but wonder were this happening in a more upscale city if this would have been handled differently. It is no secret that water justice and justice in general is exclusive to certain people in this country.

What many fail to understand is that this is a crime. Yet, I can believe not one official will have to deal with any consequences from deliberately poisoning people. We see too many examples of poor and people of color who have to continually be subject to this type of response. It needs to stop and people in positions of power need to go to jail for betraying the trust they swore to uphold and for willingly allowing constituents to suffer all for the almighty dollar. Bottled water alone is not going to solve this problem. The SOURCE of the pollution both in this water and in our politics on the whole must be investigated as well and remedied. We need accountability now.



How many more cities is this happening in unbeknownst to us?

Melting/Changes Transforming Arctic

New Climate Records Transforming Arctic

The latest report on the Arctic by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration finds dwindling sea ice and temperatures as much as 3C (5.4F) above average are disrupting walrus and fish populations and having major impacts on the ecosystem.

snip

SAN FRANCISCO – After decades of rising temperatures, Arctic conditions have reached new heights again this year, the latest assessments show, signaling dramatic changes for the Arctic and its inhabitants under relentless global warming. Walrus populations in the Pacific Arctic have plunged as dwindling sea ice forces them to haul out onto land in crushing crowds, and the Arctic’s small native fish may stand little chance against large competitors moving northward as polar waters warm up.

These and other threats to Arctic biodiversity and resources were detailed in the 2015 Arctic Report Card, released Tuesday at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in San Francisco. The report is a peer-reviewed, multinational research collaboration involving 72 researchers from 11 countries that has been produced by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) annually since 2006.

“The impacts of the persistent warming trend over 30 years are clearly evident,” said Kit Kovacs, a biodiversity researcher at the Norwegian Polar Institute.

A number of new climate records were set this year. Winter air temperatures over Arctic lands were the warmest since measurements began in 1900. Between October 2014 and September 2015, temperatures were 1.3C (2.3F) above average, amounting to a 3C (5.4F) gain since the beginning of the 20th century, primarily due to human-driven climate change.

End of excerpt

Also see:

Russia Warming 2.5 Times Faster Than Rest Of World

Warm Arctic Storm To Hurl Hurricane Force Winds at UK And Iceland

More Signs Of Gulf Stream Slowdown As Floods Devastate Cumbria England



Worldwide Extreme Floods Sep-Dec 2015 (And this doesn't even cover all of it.) Happy New Year. (?)

_____________________

So while people are standing in Times Square in NYC and the world over once again this New Year's Eve with their lighted balls and fireworks in a vain attempt to escape and deny reality, that reality of the world we have all made continues to make itself known and will continue to do so in 2016. I really hope that 2016 gives us some hope, but I am not as hopeful as I once was.

COP 21 was called "historic" by politicos even though it once again was sponsored by fossil fuel companies and once again kicks the can down the road to 2020 touting "working towards" a 2 degree C limit that has already been surpassed when taking into account amplification and cumulative effects. The only voices being heard at these conferences are the elitists who have once again ignored the poorest who are suffering most from the effects of this crisis as well as voices like mine who have been writing and warning of this for years.

Indigenous rights were written out of the final charter and there was really no adequate plan regarding our oceans, water scarcity, agriculture, refugees, nor any sort of true climate justice and intense global effort to decarbonize at a pace consistent with the abrupt changes we have put into motion. Carbon trading and REDD are simply mechanisms to once again allow polluters to pollute while holding indigenous peoples hostage.

Therefore, for 2016 the grassroots that were out there in mass outside that fake conference hall are the ones who will now save this world and us. Politicians have already clearly shown what side they are on and it isn't ours. The Arctic is proof of that as they now also work to control its resources at the expense of our ecosystems.

Make no mistake, Syria and the Middle East are a huge part of this as well. Climate change and geopolitical policy are tied together in this but of course that was conveniently ignored in Paris as well.

I therefore hope above all that this coming year is one of TRUTH. The lack of it is bringing the human race to a crossroads we could have avoided otherwise and making a world our children do not deserve.

Also see:

Arctic Melting-_Tipping Point That Should Matter To All Of Us

Major Loss In Arctic Sea Ice Volume- It Does Affect You

The Arctic-Humanity's Barometer

Ocean Acidification Poised To Radically Affect Arctic

Arctic Strategy Sets Off Climate Time Bomb

Arctic Ice, Oceans, Climate and the Human Condition

Arctic Ocean Leaking Methane At Alarming Rate

Effects Of Arctic Amplification Being Ignored

Suffering for the Salmon: Native Woman's Five-Day Fast Opposes Nestlé Water Grab

Suffering for the Salmon: Native Woman's Five-Day Fast Opposes Nestlé Water Grab

Temperatures climbed into the mid-90s the week Anna Mae Leonard held a five-day hunger strike across the street from City Hall in Cascade Locks, Oregon. From August 17 to 21 she allowed herself just a ceremonial sip of water taken from the spring she was fighting to save, one in the morning and one in the evening. Displaying a sign reading, "Honor Treaty 1855," she stared at the administration building across WaNaPa Street, hoping a city council member would see her.

"I want them to look at me suffer and think about how the fish will suffer without that cold spring water," Leonard said, according to The Oregonian.

Nestlé S.A., the world's largest multinational food conglomerate, based in Switzerland, wants to build a bottled-water plant in Cascade Locks, a former timber town on the Columbia River about 43 miles east of Portland. The plant would take 100 million gallons per year of pristine mountain water from the nearby Oxbow Springs and bottle it under the Arrowhead brand name.

Bark and Food, Water Watch and other environmental protection groups note that Oxbow Springs flows into the Columbia River. The cold mountain water holds more oxygen than the warmer river water and provides a thermal refuge that is necessary for spawning salmon to survive.

Since the beginning of the 20th century, 14 hydroelectric dams have been built on the Columbia, each one damaging the river by creating reservoirs that warm the surface temperature. Additionally, a hotter-than-normal summer this year combined with a lower-than-normal snow pack have heated the river to deadly levels, killing more than half this year's run of sockeye salmon, the The Oregonian reported.

Despite current drought conditions, Nestlé plans to take the cool Oxbow Springs water, load it into tanker trucks, transport it to the proposed bottling plant in Cascade Locks, put it into plastic single-use bottles, and ship it in still more trucks to cities like Portland, Seattle and Spokane. There, customers will pay what amounts to between $2.50 and $5 per gallon for water that cost Nestlé just over two-tenths of a cent per gallon.

End of excerpt. Read more at link

I find this to be unconscionable. What Nestle is doing is the height of greed and disrespect. I have been writing about this for so long I find myself at times dumbstruck in reading how these water grabs continue without any repercussions to the companies doing it. There is absolutely no need for Nestle to be doing this. They would be willing to destroy a river, a population of salmon and to disrespect the sacred places of a culture during a drought no less to make a few extra dollars.

This is exactly what I was referring to in my entry yesterday on Divestiture and Abstention. It makes little sense in the end to pull your money if you continue to consume the product. Nestle wouldn't be one of the richest multi-national companies if people didn't consume the water they stole. Water is not a commodity. It is not a "product" Nestle created. They are stealing from nature in order to profit from it at the expense of it and other species.

How can that not enrage anyone who cares about this Earth and our water? Are we simply not to care about other species? Or the effect of this theft on the water source itself? I am now wary of humans finding water on Mars or anywhere else. All we will do is try to find a way to steal and waste it.

At a time when we as humans must be conserving and regaining our connection with the Earth why do we continue on the path to our own destruction? Is money really that important? Not to a salmon. Not to someone who knows the intrinsic worth of a clean flowing river undammed and free. Not to someone who knows that for all of the importance placed on money, you cannot drink it.

My respect to Anna Mae Leonard and all those who stand up to those who are blinded by the luster of a false God. It is time for their idol to fall.

Also see;

Nestle' Strikes Deal To Pump Unrestricted Amounts Of Water From Ontario Aquifer During Drought Conditions

How Corporations Took Over a Basic Human Right



They are doing it in California too.

And here is the asshole himself. The people who run these companies are psychopaths. They do not operate anywhere near the level of the majority of us and yet, we keep supporting them with our $$$$$$. That is true insanity!

Divesting Is Easy, Abstention Is Imperative

Update 10/8: Brazil To Auction Amazon Fracking Licences

And yes, Shell, the company people are thanking for pulling out of the Arctic (for their own business reasons) is one of the companies vying for blocks to now kill the lungs of the Earth. How do we stop this assault on our planet and our water if we are going to continue consuming the product they are destroying our resources to get at? It is the same as supporting Nestle while they steal water off indigenous tribal land. We and our wallets are the real problem. We can divest all well and good. However, unless they start to see a real shift in their profits we are running out of time.

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Anyone following the so called climate movement recently knows that the word divest is a big one. Certain groups have been pushing for universities, institutions, etc. to divest their holdings in fossil fuels. They claim this will be the silver bullet in keeping us from the climate point of no return. Now, on the surface this does sound like a good way to move money out of fossil fuels. However, it is no silver bullet and in fact may just be a cleverly devised smokescreen to lull us into a false sense of security regarding "solutions" because we still have fossil fuel subsidies and pipelines going up all over this globe.

Of course, I am not one to totally dismiss anything that sincerely seeks to address the destruction we humans continue to wreck upon this Earth and its resources. However, in reading about the divestment movement I get the feeling it is one big PR campaign for the rich and when you dig deeper you have to wonder: are all those calling for divesting (including yacht loving celebrities like Leonardo Di Caprio) really accomplishing anything?

How many who are involved in this have also pledged abstention regarding using and consuming petroleum products? There are two halves to this equation, although we never quite hear anyone announcing they will abstain from consumption of fossil fuels. They still fly, consume fossil fuel energy and again mention nothing about the damage fossil fuel consumption does to our waterways. It seems that for the most part, the climate movement has turned into one big investment soft sell. Divesting is one thing, abstention is really the sticky part of it. Until we can actually abstain and seek the moral will to live a life free of the trappings of fossil fuels, is just divesting some holdings really going to do much at this point?

I ask because as I survey the climate landscape especially in regards to water it isn't good. We have already passed into a phase that suggests abrupt climate change is at our door step. Just this past week we saw over twenty inches of rain dumped on South Carolina due to Hurricane Joaquin which was hundreds of miles off shore. Anyone following the maps would also have noticed the mangled jet stream that eerily resembled the path Superstorm Sandy took as it came up from the Caribbean. Arctic Amplification, which I have posted about before has been part of this. Yet, we still do not hear these words in media or even from many climate groups. Why is that?

My point being is that at the point we see this Earth at divesting seems to just be a bandaid meant to placate donors to climate organizations and lull followers into thinking we are really saving the world from ourselves. That's all well and good for a rich university or celebrity, but what about the poor? As long as the fossil fuel industry is continually allowed to build pipelines, destroy waterways, frack the Earth and use greenwashing as a way to escape culpability while producing a product still in demand, there is far to go and not much time to get there. I think at this point, divesting has to lead to abstention. If not, the product continues to flow regardless of where those holdings go and that is in antithesis to what scientists now state must be the action: keeping it in the ground to begin with. As I stated above, if this is indeed sincere it is at least something. However, it is no silver bullet without that other half. As long as that other half remains true solutions are elusive.

Also see:

The Arctic, Humanity's Barometer