Tag: ecosystem

  • Preparing for Hot Earth

    Preparing for Hot Earth

    This article was written about 2 weeks before COVID-19^. Within this article, “Beware the falling empire” is of particular interest to the current situation. Please read this extra carefully. To say that COVID-19 is a game-changer is an understatement. COVID-19 will get its own article soon.

    It doesn’t matter if you believe that humans are contributing to global warming or not. Doesn’t matter if you believe the current scientific consensus or not. What matters is that Earth is getting hotter. Some of the major consequences are:

    • Weather patterns will become more chaotic, with extreme weather to become increasingly common.
    • Some areas of Earth will become harder to live in. Yet, it’s to also important to be aware that others areas will become easier to live in. This reshaping of the ecosystem will make and break societies, turn farming upside down and remake transport networks.
    • Oceans will rise, risking to cause major conflicts over coastline loss.
    • Acceleration of global warming. Sadly, as average temperatures increase around the globe, there will be a number of elements that will further contribute to global warming. For example forest fires (much worse than the ones Australia just experienced^) and, much worse^, the release of methane from permafrost^.

    Oh, and a solar maximum is on its way too, currently scheduled between 2023 and 2026^.

    Sure, if our civilization finally reaches consensus on doing something about global warming, we may be able to slow or even reverse the process. But, given the current political outlook and economic dogmas, it doesn’t seem that we’ll see any serious measures being taken in the coming years. So, let’s get ready for what may be coming and let’s meet it with the best we’ve got.

    Tipping the scales

    While it may be discouraging to see that the large polluters seem stuck in the wrong millennium (or worse, they know exactly what’s going to happen), this doesn’t mean small changes won’t help. In fact, it is exactly these small changes that may eventually convince/force corporations & governments to do something more meaningful about global warming.

    A powerful intent changes everything. If we set our mind to it, we, the people, can build any world we wish, because we are the civilization. Small changes gather into trends, trends break new ground and, at last, fundamental change follows.

    Here are just a few of the changes any individual can participate with:

    • The market for ecological and ethical products is growing. Buy healthy and/or local products.
    • Choose jobs that benefit society or see how you can improve your current job and/or do what you can to improve your company’s social responsibility.
    • Remember that up until last century, before the emergence of monstrous industrial fast-food chains, meat consumption was much lower. It is easy to adjust to a lower meat consumption, focusing on higher quality meat.
    • If you own a house, invest in clean energy such as solar panels and heat pumps. You will get your money back while also improving your carbon footprint.
    • Consider ethical consumerism^. It’s an interesting instrument for change.
    • Do not underestimate the power of grassroots activism. Walk the talk, but also talk the walk: show friends and family what can be done. Some of these people may end up in places of power where they will build a sustainable future.
    • Consider ethical economy^ and what can be done to get us there.

    There is a (pretty good) chance that enough people make enough changes to start tipping the scales and trigger a chain reaction towards the evolution of our civilization. If not, in time, the change will have to happen anyway. However…

    Beware the falling empire

    Endless economic growth cannot continue with finite resources. Either our growth will halt and then crash into an unprecedented recession, or the resources we prize (and how we consume them) will have to change, refocusing our economy on growing in other areas. Imagine an economy that focuses on producing quality products that last a lifetime. In any case, the current civilization will at one point go into decline. Global warming will probably accelerate this downfall.

    If we don’t invent a better civilization in time, the forced modification of the current world order may be, at times, violent. Like an epileptic seizure, the old structures will thrash and convulse before they finally succumb to their inevitable fate, rendered obsolete by the civilization that has adapted to a new ecosystem. Hopefully, we’ll have something better in place by then. And if not…

    It’s wise to plan ahead and make sure that we and our families don’t get in the way of the crumbling titan. Here are some things to watch out for, most of which are already happening:

    • Failing public services (particularly healthcare and pensions).
    • Conflict caused by societies fractured by inequality and extreme political/ideological polarization.
    • Vulnerable geographic areas when it comes to food growing capabilities and food&water supply.
    • Military conflicts between nation states stuck in our tribal past.

    Consider the long-term outlook of geographical locations on Earth. Coastal, polluted, crowded or already hot areas may not be suitable to live in long-term. Northern latitudes, however, are well positioned to flourish thanks to the warming climate. Consider possible conflicts for land, especially in water-deprived areas or countries that may lose important territory due to flooding and/or raising temperatures.

    Indeed, there are countless variables to keep track of if a “survival of the fittest” chaos ensues. Luckily, we now have some pretty amazing technology and communication methods. Well-prepared networks of individuals will weather whatever storm follows.

    “Evolution cannot be stopped. It can only be embraced.”

    [ax_meta fbimgurl=’http://mentatul.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/04188-PreparingForHotEarth-Share.jpg’ lnimgurl=’http://mentatul.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/04188-PreparingForHotEarth-Thumb.jpg’ fbimgw=’1170′ fbimgh=’350′ lnimgw=’250′ lnimgh=’250′ title=’Preparing for Hot Earth’ desc=’Evolution cannot be stopped. It can only be embraced.’]

  • Pesticides Harming Bees Banned in Europe – Major Win for Our Ecosystem

    Pesticides Harming Bees Banned in Europe – Major Win for Our Ecosystem

    Good news is even better when it arrives unexpected. In a major win for our ecosystem, the European Union has banned the use of neonicotinoids^. Other than the fact that the use of such poison is another example of arrogant human interference in the environment, this category of pesticides is destroying bee colonies^ worldwide. Bees are responsible for pollinating^ a majority of our crops, so a major bee die-off would seriously impact our food supply. When it comes to respecting our ecosystem, it’s lovely how Europe leads the way!

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/apr/27/eu-agrees-total-ban-on-bee-harming-pesticides^

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  • Corporations vs The Public

    Corporations vs The Public

    Back in September of 2017, I met Oliwer, a Norwegian Green Peace activist looking for donations in Stockholm. He told me that they’re trying to stop the Norwegians from drilling for oil in the Arctic. He also told me about how a powerful, profitable company involved in logging is attempting to disrupt the environmental organization by suing it for a massive amount in damages to their business.

    I asked him to tell me more, as it was hard to understand for me how such a thing could even work. My image of Green Peace was that of a world-wide, semi-decentralized network of agents (mostly volunteers). It’s hard to kill such an organization, especially given the volunteering aspect. Unfortunately, most money still leaves a trail (I’d switch to donations via cryptocurrencies if I were Green Peace).

    I promised the man that instead of donating money, I’ll donate time and do what I do best: investigate and write. The case he told me about is only one of the many times corporations and even governments have went after Green Peace^. It is, however, one of the most ridiculous (although admittedly not as ridiculous as when the government of Australia tried to basically pay a corporation to sue Green Peace^).

    The case the activist I met last year was referring to is that of Resolute^, a company in the tree-cutting business (wording intended). The firm went as far as using RICO^, an act conceived and used against the mafia, to go after the environmental organization. That’s almost as preposterous as the mafia using the act to go after the government. Fortunately, both major Resolute cases against Green Peace have been thrown out of courts, including the case the activist was talking about:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resolute_Forest_Products#Greenpeace

    I don’t want to even imagine what would happen if a lawsuit manages to eventually kill a major organization working for protecting the ecosystem from the rampant expansion of human industry. Setting that sort of precedent is extremely dangerous. Green Peace is not without its faults^, but compare it to the mining industry^ or to some automakers^.

    And since the seed for this article was planted in Stockholm and I brought up the mining industry, I’ll close with one more recent example of criminal negligence on the part of mining companies. This time it’s about a Swedish company called Boliden.

    Last year, the company was sued, here in Sweden^, by Chileans who suffered due to living close to the toxic waste that had been dumped^ by a company that Boliden employed in order to move the poison from Sweden to Chile. The court ruled in favor of Boliden^, which is not surprising given that this was taking place in the city where the company was founded.

    It’s a typical black & white ruling that doesn’t even offer an apology (however symbolic) to the victims; not even acknowledging that Boliden had zero interest about how its toxic waste was being stored; ignoring the fact that a well-off country conveniently dumped poison in another part of the world. By the way, this is the same Swedish company responsible for one of the worst environmental disasters in Spain^.

    To ensure that our children benefit from healthy living conditions, I suggest taking part into and protecting the institutions that are concerned with the future of our ecosystem and making sure that those that disrespect the environment pay a hefty price for their negligence.

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  • A Minute to Breathe

    A Minute to Breathe

    Sometimes art is the best way to get a point across. I could say much more, but let’s leave it at that. See the video, get the message, spread the message (if you care about it):

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwwQ4uVGGSE^

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  • The High Cost of Cheap Fuel

    The High Cost of Cheap Fuel

    The plummeting price of fossil fuel has made certain industries quite profitable due to decreasing production and delivery costs. It also marginally helped car owners in certain parts of the world, even though the actual fuel price has not decreased as much as crude price. That is due to the fact that the cost of transforming crude to fuel (refinement, transportation) has not changed that much.

    Unfortunately our reliance on fossil fuels may end up being much more costly in the long run than any short term gains. Here’s an article that explains why the situation is the way it is while also highlighting one of the worst effects of the worldwide drop in oil prices: collapsing oil-depending economies whose fall hurts millions of people:

    http://www.bikebandit.com/blog/post/the-high-cost-of-cheap-gas^

    The damage to the ecosystem is not that hard to quantify either. The sudden release (in geological terms) of all this energy that nature has stockpiled for millions of years^ is destabilizing the delicate balance of the atmosphere and oceans. The planet will rebalance itself, but the 99% of the Earth’s population that doesn’t afford shelter from the extreme weather conditions coming our way will pay a steep price for the shortsighted goals blindly followed by corporate leaders. United States’ withdrawal from the Paris accord^ encourages these dangerous practices and may set a very regrettable precedent.

    And if the destruction of societies and ecosystems is not enough reason for developed countries to think twice about burning these fossil fuels so fast and greedily, how about money lost due to the exaggerated focus on private transportation? Traffic jams are very expensive:

    http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/02/20/los-angeles-new-york-and-san-francisco-most-congested-us-cities/98133702/^

    But who knows, I’m not ruling out the possibility of this industrial spurt spawning a scientific solution to the coming predicament. It’s a risky bet to make. I’ll always wish for the best while preparing for whatever I find likely to happen next.

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  • Plant Consciousness

    Plant Consciousness

    In the past few years we’ve learned a lot about how plants communicate with each other. The first such communication to be discovered was through volatile organic compounds that plants secrete in order to notify each other of predators. This is known as hormonal sentience^.

    More recently, scientists have discovered that plants communicate even underneath the surface, using fungi:

    http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/38727/title/Plant-Talk/^

    http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20141111-plants-have-a-hidden-internet^

    Things get even more interesting. It appears that trees have a complex social life, being aware to recognize family members and different species. It’s as mind-blowing as it is expected (humanity is slowly but surely waking up to the fact that intelligence comes in many flavors):

    https://www.brainpickings.org/2016/09/26/the-hidden-life-of-trees-peter-wohlleben/^

    Edit 2018-08-30: check this short video^ about the wood wide web.

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  • Creatures of the Plastic World

    Creatures of the Plastic World

    It’s quite well known by now that our oceans are slowly turning into a toxic stew of plastic with sauce of life-threatening industrial residues. I recently read about why birds are attracted to plastic residue:

    http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2016/1109/Why-seabirds-find-plastic-debris-so-yummy^

    It’s actually quite similar to why fish tend to find plastic so yummy as well:

    http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-36435288^

    Apparently, if we keep dumping our junk in the ocean at this rate, we’re well on track to have more plastic than fish in our oceans by 2050:

    https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/jan/19/more-plastic-than-fish-in-the-sea-by-2050-warns-ellen-macarthur^

    This reminds me of something the genius comedian George Carlin has said: “that’s why the Earth has created us. It wanted plastic for itself”. Here’s a full 9 minutes of George Carlin awesomeness (I don’t necessarily agree with everything he says, for example I think we could treat our environment with more care, for our own sake, but for the most part, he’s spot on!):

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNknQCUBWG4^

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  • Super-Sized Agriculture

    Super-Sized Agriculture

    On the topic of “we are what we eat”, here’s a fascinating photographic essay:

    http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/10/09/magazine/big-food-photo-essay.html^

    Regardless of what you think about “in balance with nature”, the images are quite staggering. This is one of those situations when a picture is indeed worth a thousand words. Industrialized agriculture has definitely reached some impressive heights (or lows, depending on who you ask).

    There are a lot of humans to feed on this Earth, that’s a given. However, my personal opinion is that such pictures speak at length about the way we’re abusing the ecosystem. I don’t think our agriculture is particularly impressive on the engineering side. My amazement stems from the sheer size of it all and the way it’s been optimized through the centuries. The problem is that we’re still being cruel towards creatures of all kinds.

    I choose to remain optimistic though. I put my trust in the fact that ecosystems are self-balancing things. There are many signs that we’ve started on our way to find a healthier relationship with nature. In many regions, people are having fewer children than they had hundreds of years ago when there were all sorts of risks waiting to decimate a community. Hopefully, in time, these horrendous industrial farms will disappear and we’ll see something like permaculture^ becoming widespread. Until then, at least we can try to buy organic foods^.

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  • How the Stock Market Drives Companies Insane

    How the Stock Market Drives Companies Insane

    In the past decade, we’ve witnessed countless cases of companies breaking the law and harming the environment in their frenetic quest for profits. The most recent high profile case is Volkswagen’s cheating in the emissions scandal^. Or was the toxic spill from a mine in Brazil^ worse? In case we’re undecided, perhaps the disastrous explosion in China^ can take the prize? All of these happened in the space of four months in 2015.

    Now, just think about how many companies get away with extremely dangerous practices just because we haven’t caught them or because disaster hasn’t struck yet. I believe there is an explanation for these behaviors. And, as it is often the case, understanding the causes of an undesired behavior can give us clues about how we can change it.

    A life-form analogy

    Profit is the motivating force behind a company’s decisions. Following a natural tendency, the individuals that have teamed up to form a commercial entity share the desire for prosperity. This collaboration between individuals is similar to the association of more cells that constitute a multi-cellular organism. Companies can therefore be seen as a sort of life-form. The environment where many of the larger life-forms exist is called the stock market.

    One of the most important changes that the stock market has seen in the past decades is the worrying drop in stock ownership time. Actually, this has outright plummeted in recent years. What this means is that companies have less time to prove themselves to investors and, often, this negatively impacts their long-term strategies.

    The stock market is forcing corporations to make a profit as large and as soon as possible, lest investors simply pull the plug and move on to the next “growth opportunity”. This childish attitude on the part of the investing public forces many economic entities into a ruthless quest for profit. The alternative is death and, like any life-form, a company will do everything in its power to survive.

    As with all ecosystems, there is a relationship of interdependence between companies and the stock market. While companies adapt to their environment, they also have the power to change that environment. The problem is that, for the time being, there’s a lot of greed and paranoia swirling inside this ecosystem.

    The rules of the game

    If the stock market influences the companies’ behavior, it stands to reason that skillful changes in the market could help companies to become friendlier. The main issue in the investment game is that most of the players are, to put it mildly, uneducated. Fewer investors than ever hold a company’s stock for more than a year. Like hyper-active children, most of them stumble into speculation, fattening the paychecks of brokers and stressing out everybody in the market.

    With or without the stock market, companies are bound to sometimes play dirty due to their desire for profit. Unfortunately, the lack of proper investment principles on the part of the public becomes yet another reason to adopt bad policies and take massive risks.

    A ruthless stock market may mean better profits for a while, but it’s us breathing in Volkswagen’s fumes; losing our planet under mountains of sludge; having our life blown to bits due to the fact that some manager decided to improve his bottom line by neglecting the security of a warehouse that contains 900 tons of ammonium nitrate. I’m referring, of course, to the three articles that are linked in the first paragraph.

    We’ve built a jungle-like environment for these corporate life-forms, and we’re reaping the rewards. As companies are becoming more and more disconnected from humanity, our values and ideals become secondary – all bow in front of the throne of the quarterly financial statements. It’s survival of the fittest.

    Solutions

    The most obvious way to break this vicious circle we’re in is, of course, education; not only financial education, but also psychological education. Financially, investors need to understand the concept of long-term investments. Psychologically, they need to be prepared to weather the ups and downs of the stock market and to hold onto their assets (provided that those assets are of a company that the investor truly cares about, has vetted and has faith in its long-term vision).

    Certain changes of policy must be applied on the companies’ end as well. We should take back our governments from the greedy claws of lobbyists. Through the increased independence thus gained, we can facilitate the creation of a strict code of conduct for corporations, enforceable through larger fines and increased regulation.

    Some will cry that this will stifle innovation. Perhaps it will, to a certain degree, which is why any such measures must be taken together with the companies and the people that brought their success. Let us not forget that these entities are comprised of our brothers and sisters.

    Too many times have we, as a species, decided that we know best when we intervene in an ecosystem. We must heed the delicate balance of the stock market and the companies that inhabit it. Now is the time for dialogue, for finding a harmonious way to co-exist with these corporations, before they decide that they don’t have any need for humans. Even if we don’t manage to create true artificial intelligence, automated processes will continue to make humans obsolete.

    Note 1: For those interested in the stock market, I can recommend one of the best books I’ve ever read on the subject of financial and psychological education in investment: Benjamin Graham’s “The Intelligent Investor”. Warren Buffett is one of the author’s students.

    Note 2: I’ve entered the stock market roughly 8 months ago and so far, never sold a single stock. I’ve invested in two established, dividend-paying North-American semiconductor companies, one major software company and a promising (but high-risk) computer games studio in Sweden.

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