Sunday, September 13, 2009
It's your personal decision whether you want to be the cause of global warming
In this context the question is whether global warming and its effects will eventually wake up mankind and spark off a change of paradigm. Will we understand this hint of Nature to follow the true meaning of life or will we continue to let us manipulate by media and advertisement as sheer and willing consumers in the economic cycle? Will we continue to strive for power, prestige and possessions following the concept „the more the better "? Shall economic growth and an ever increasing personal income continue to be the reason for being here, beyond everything else?
These questions can and must be answered by everyone. It is not primarily a decision of politicians or of the government. Everyone has to make a personal decision.
It is in our very own interest to induce fundamental changes in our attitude and behavior towards Nature: Modesty and humility, admiration and respect for all life on Earth instead of arrogance and haughtiness.
Let's emphasize it again: Not the others need to change, we must change ourselves. There are no international treaties or additional national laws required to start changing. We can start to change our consciousness immediately. It is really only about our personal behaviour - independent of what others do or don't do.
It's time for change!
These questions can and must be answered by everyone. It is not primarily a decision of politicians or of the government. Everyone has to make a personal decision.
It is in our very own interest to induce fundamental changes in our attitude and behavior towards Nature: Modesty and humility, admiration and respect for all life on Earth instead of arrogance and haughtiness.
Let's emphasize it again: Not the others need to change, we must change ourselves. There are no international treaties or additional national laws required to start changing. We can start to change our consciousness immediately. It is really only about our personal behaviour - independent of what others do or don't do.
It's time for change!
The ultimate global warming solutions is to behave as part of a larger whole
Many people between 20 and 65 years seem to live for the one and only purpose of earning as much money as possible in order to be able to buy as many things as possible. In this light, it is not surprising that discussions about potential solutions to fight global warming concentrate on technical measures instead of a fundamental change of our attitude to life in general and to Nature in particular.
Someone who respects Nature and regards mankind as a part of a larger whole would never dream about using up non-renewable resources in a short time nor would this person contaminate the environment with gigantic amounts of pollution. By contrary, someone who respects Nature and regards mankind as a part of a larger whole would in all decisions carefully evaluate any effects on Nature. The preservation of Nature would be given a very high priority. On this base, it wouldn't have been possible to deny and ignore global warming for more than 20 years!
Someone who respects Nature and regards mankind as a part of a larger whole would never dream about using up non-renewable resources in a short time nor would this person contaminate the environment with gigantic amounts of pollution. By contrary, someone who respects Nature and regards mankind as a part of a larger whole would in all decisions carefully evaluate any effects on Nature. The preservation of Nature would be given a very high priority. On this base, it wouldn't have been possible to deny and ignore global warming for more than 20 years!
We must change our thoughtless attitude to Nature.
In our technology and scientific minded world, we seem to have forgotten that mankind is only a relatively minor part of Nature. We ignore being part of a larger whole.
We believe to be able to control Nature instead of trying to arrange ourselves with Nature. This haughtiness is the true main cause of global warming. As a matter of fact, some people still believe that technical solutions alone would be sufficient to fight global warming.
Although we are guests on Earth, we behave as if no further visitors would arrive after us. It's like having a wild party where we destroy beds, the kitchen as well as the living room of a hotel without ever thinking about our future staying in the hotel nor about other guests arriving later.
In addition, our unit of measure is more and more often money only. What has no price tag, seems to have no value to us any more. In doing so we mix up economic growth with general well-being and financial income with personal happiness, respectively.
There is a loss of value behind this attitudes. We got blind for the true reason of our incarnation on earth:
We live here to train those traits , which will finally lead to perpetual harmony with ourselves and with our environment as well as to inner calm and peace.
We believe to be able to control Nature instead of trying to arrange ourselves with Nature. This haughtiness is the true main cause of global warming. As a matter of fact, some people still believe that technical solutions alone would be sufficient to fight global warming.
Although we are guests on Earth, we behave as if no further visitors would arrive after us. It's like having a wild party where we destroy beds, the kitchen as well as the living room of a hotel without ever thinking about our future staying in the hotel nor about other guests arriving later.
In addition, our unit of measure is more and more often money only. What has no price tag, seems to have no value to us any more. In doing so we mix up economic growth with general well-being and financial income with personal happiness, respectively.
There is a loss of value behind this attitudes. We got blind for the true reason of our incarnation on earth:
We live here to train those traits , which will finally lead to perpetual harmony with ourselves and with our environment as well as to inner calm and peace.
The main cause of global warming is our treatment of Nature
It took more than 20 years to broadly accept that mankind is causing global warming with the emission of greenhouse gases. The drastic increase in the emission of CO2 (carbon dioxide) within the last 30 years caused by burning fossil fuels has been identified as the major reason for the change of temperature in the atmosphere.
More than 80% of the world-wide energy demand is currently supplied by the fossil fuels coal, oil or gas. It will be impossible to find alternative sources, which could replace fossil fuels in the short or medium term. The energy demand is simply too high.
Another issue is the non-renewable characteristic of fossil fuels: It took nature millions of years to generate these resources, however we will have used them up within the next decades. Alone the shrinking supply will not make it possible to continue as usual for a longer time.
More than 80% of the world-wide energy demand is currently supplied by the fossil fuels coal, oil or gas. It will be impossible to find alternative sources, which could replace fossil fuels in the short or medium term. The energy demand is simply too high.
Another issue is the non-renewable characteristic of fossil fuels: It took nature millions of years to generate these resources, however we will have used them up within the next decades. Alone the shrinking supply will not make it possible to continue as usual for a longer time.
We' ve got to Save Our Planet Earth!
Oh, No! Our earth is in trouble, and we've got to save it!
Oh, No!: Bad Facts about our earth
If you throw away 2 aluminum cans, you waste more energy than 1,000,000,000 (one billion) of the world's poorest people use a day.
Making a new can from scratch uses the uses the energy equal to half a can of gasoline.
About one third of what an average American throws out is packaging.
More than 1,000,000,000 (one billion) trees are used to make disposable diapers every year.
In one minute, 50 acres of rainforest are destroyed.
Some rain has a pH of 3 or 4. (which is pretty acidic, considering 7 is neutral, not acidic, and battery acid has a pH of 1). Some fish, such as lake trout and smallmouth bass, have trouble reproducing at a pH of 6, which is only slightly acidic. Some clams and snails can't survive at all. Most crayfish are dead at a pH of 5. You can see how bad this is for the environment.
On average, a person in the US uses energy two times more than a person in Japan or West Germany does, and 50 times more than a person in India.
About 90% of the energy used in lighting a standard (incandescent) light bulb is lost as heat.
Air conditioning uses 10 times more energy than a fan, therefore, it creates 10 times the pollutants.
It takes half the output of the Alaskan pipeline to heat the air that escapes from all the homes in the US during a year.
Cars and pick-up trucks are responsible for about 20% of the carbon dioxide released into the air.
There are about 500 million automobiles on the planet, burning an average of 2 gallons of fuel a day. Each gallon releases 20 pounds of carbon dioxide into the air.
About 80% of our trash goes to landfills, 10% is incinerated, and 10% is recycled.
Since there is little oxygen underground, where we bury our garbage, to help bacteria eat the garbage, almost nothing happens to it. Scientists have dug into landfills and found ears of corn still intact after 20 years, and newspapers still readable after 30.
The average American makes about 3.5 pounds of trash a day.
In a year, the average American uses as much wood in the form of paper as the average resident of the developing world burns as fuel.
26 things we can do to help:
Turn off lights.
Turn off other electric things, like TVs, stereos, and radios when not in use.
Use rechargable batteries.
Do things manually instead of electrically, like open cans by hand.
Use fans instead of air conditioners.
In winter, wear a sweater instead of turning up your thermostat.
Insulate your home so you won't be cold in winter.
Use less hot water.
Whenever possible, use a bus or subway, or ride your bike or walk.
Try to buy organic fruits and vegetables if you're concerned about pesticides. (Organic food is grown without man-made fertilizers and/or pesticides).
Don't waste products made from forest materials.
Use recycled paper and/or recycle it. Reuse old papers.
Don't buy products that may have been made at the expense of the rainforest.
Support products that are harvested from the rainforest but have not cut down trees to get it.
Plant trees, espessially if you have cut one down.
Get other people to help you in your cause. Make and/or join an organization.
Avoid products that are used once, then thrown away.
Buy products with little or no packaging.
Encourage your grocery store sell environmentally friendly cloth bags for people to use when they shop, or bring your own.
REDUCE, REUSE, & RECYCLE.
Compost.
Buy recycled products.
Don't buy pets taken from the wild.
If you have a good zoo nearby, (if the animals are healthy and the zoo takes care of them), support it! Espessially if they help breed endangered animals.
Don't buy products if animals were killed to make it.
Cut up your six-pack rings before throwing them out.
Oh, No!: Bad Facts about our earth
If you throw away 2 aluminum cans, you waste more energy than 1,000,000,000 (one billion) of the world's poorest people use a day.
Making a new can from scratch uses the uses the energy equal to half a can of gasoline.
About one third of what an average American throws out is packaging.
More than 1,000,000,000 (one billion) trees are used to make disposable diapers every year.
In one minute, 50 acres of rainforest are destroyed.
Some rain has a pH of 3 or 4. (which is pretty acidic, considering 7 is neutral, not acidic, and battery acid has a pH of 1). Some fish, such as lake trout and smallmouth bass, have trouble reproducing at a pH of 6, which is only slightly acidic. Some clams and snails can't survive at all. Most crayfish are dead at a pH of 5. You can see how bad this is for the environment.
On average, a person in the US uses energy two times more than a person in Japan or West Germany does, and 50 times more than a person in India.
About 90% of the energy used in lighting a standard (incandescent) light bulb is lost as heat.
Air conditioning uses 10 times more energy than a fan, therefore, it creates 10 times the pollutants.
It takes half the output of the Alaskan pipeline to heat the air that escapes from all the homes in the US during a year.
Cars and pick-up trucks are responsible for about 20% of the carbon dioxide released into the air.
There are about 500 million automobiles on the planet, burning an average of 2 gallons of fuel a day. Each gallon releases 20 pounds of carbon dioxide into the air.
About 80% of our trash goes to landfills, 10% is incinerated, and 10% is recycled.
Since there is little oxygen underground, where we bury our garbage, to help bacteria eat the garbage, almost nothing happens to it. Scientists have dug into landfills and found ears of corn still intact after 20 years, and newspapers still readable after 30.
The average American makes about 3.5 pounds of trash a day.
In a year, the average American uses as much wood in the form of paper as the average resident of the developing world burns as fuel.
26 things we can do to help:
Turn off lights.
Turn off other electric things, like TVs, stereos, and radios when not in use.
Use rechargable batteries.
Do things manually instead of electrically, like open cans by hand.
Use fans instead of air conditioners.
In winter, wear a sweater instead of turning up your thermostat.
Insulate your home so you won't be cold in winter.
Use less hot water.
Whenever possible, use a bus or subway, or ride your bike or walk.
Try to buy organic fruits and vegetables if you're concerned about pesticides. (Organic food is grown without man-made fertilizers and/or pesticides).
Don't waste products made from forest materials.
Use recycled paper and/or recycle it. Reuse old papers.
Don't buy products that may have been made at the expense of the rainforest.
Support products that are harvested from the rainforest but have not cut down trees to get it.
Plant trees, espessially if you have cut one down.
Get other people to help you in your cause. Make and/or join an organization.
Avoid products that are used once, then thrown away.
Buy products with little or no packaging.
Encourage your grocery store sell environmentally friendly cloth bags for people to use when they shop, or bring your own.
REDUCE, REUSE, & RECYCLE.
Compost.
Buy recycled products.
Don't buy pets taken from the wild.
If you have a good zoo nearby, (if the animals are healthy and the zoo takes care of them), support it! Espessially if they help breed endangered animals.
Don't buy products if animals were killed to make it.
Cut up your six-pack rings before throwing them out.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
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