Culture Change

Mayan Calendar

Earlier this month, a good friend and reader asked me,

"Now that it is pretty much accepted that Climate Change, and Peak Oil are real, what are you going to write about now? Seems like you need to move on.

Well, he may be right, and I suspect I will.

But not just yet.

This story was in the Sydney Herald.

Climate fears high over record ice lows
By David Adam
May 16, 2006

RECORD amounts of the Arctic ocean failed to freeze during the recent winter, new figures show, spelling disaster for wildlife and strengthening concerns the region is locked into a cycle of irreversible climate change.

Satellite measurements show the area covered by Arctic winter sea ice reached an all-time low in March, down some 300,000 square kilometres on last year.

Scientists say the decline highlights an alarming new trend, with recovery of the ice in winter no longer sufficient to compensate for increased melting in the summer. If the cycle continues, the Arctic Ocean could lose all of its ice much earlier than expected, possibly by 2030.

(snip)

Experts are worried because a long-term slow decline of ice around the North Pole seems to have sharply accelerated since 2003, raising fears that the region may have passed one of the "tipping points" in global warming. In this scenario, warmer weather melts ice and drives temperatures higher because the dark water beneath absorbs more of the sun's radiation.

Dr Meier said there was "a good chance" the Arctic tipping point had been reached. "People have tried to think of ways we could get back to where we were. We keep going further and further into the hole, and it's getting harder and harder to get out of it."

(snip)

The Arctic is rapidly becoming the clearest demonstration of the effects of mankind's impact on the global climate. The temperature is rising twice as fast as the rest of the planet and the region is expected to warm by a further 4 to 7 degrees by 2100.

(snip)

Experts at the US Naval Postgraduate School in California think the situation could be worse. They are about to publish the results of computer simulations that show the rate of melting, combined with increased access for warmer Pacific water, could make the summertime Arctic ice-free within a decade."

Ice Free in a Decade?

What about poor Santa?

The Inconvenient Truth is about to become a pressing reality.

We need to create task forces at the Community level that can begin to plan for the next 30 years.

We will need to determine if our water supplies are adequate. We will need to determine how we will grow and distribute our food. We will need to determine whether or not our city will actually be able to even exist under the climate change conditions that we reasonably believe might occur. This includes realisticly evaluating the long term longevity of our coastal cities. New Orleans will not be the last great city lost.

We will need to completely reorganize ourselves, our ideas, our systems of food delivery.

We will need to turn our cities into a quilt of villages. We can do this by creating village centers with walkable and bikable food and home hardware destinations. We build more parks. We build bike lanes and pedestrian superhighways. Some of them might even be elevated.

We will need to implement our advanced tools of communication and "let our fingers do the driving."

We must stop destroying our communities with the car.

Now

We must place a moratorium on new highways and roads..

As soon as it is legally possible, we place a local permit on gasoline use.

We call it a carbon expulsion permit.

In order to survive and perhaps even prosper in the coming decades,

We will need to act decisively and boldly.

But don't think you are going to stop Climate Change.

From now on, we are dealing with Culture Change.

And we need to get a move on.

Get used to it.

Home

What it is About

Earthfamily Principles

Earthfamilyalpha Content II

Earthfamilyalpha Content

Links

LANGUAGE TRANSLATIONS