PHILOSOPHICAL GROUNDINGS
By Collectivist Action
https://music.youtube.com/
"All life on Earth shares a narrow band of habitability that extends from the deepest root systems of trees and the dark environment of ocean trenches up to the highest mountain tops. This layer, called the biosphere, is only about 12 miles from top to bottom, comprising only 0.3% of the planet’s radius. All of the habitats and resources upon which life depends exist in this thin belt of land and water." (1)
Since the end of the last ice age about 12,000 years ago, humans have lived in a geological epoch called the Holocene. We have now entered a period geologists have named the Holocene; a world dominated by one single species of the millions that still exist. Iow, humans are the cause of global warming.
The Earth’s oceans are absorbing more than 90% of the excess heat generated by this warming trend. One result of this is that many species are being forced to migrate to colder waters, displacing those already there. Climatologists say that higher rates of evaporation put more water vapor into a warmer atmosphere, causing more severe downpours and extreme rainfall, hurricanes and flooding.
Insufficiently analyzed and examined, afaic, is the relationship between all of the mineral excavation (drilling) AND war-related BOMBINGS, pummeling the Earth, almost everyday and everywhere, and the increasing numbers of earthquakes.
No connection?
I doubt it.
Nevertheless, only the ecologically IGNORANT and/or those in denial continue to dispute this climate crisis, especially after the recent events in Maui (U.S.) and Libya.
“Plastic production, an essentially post-WW2 industry, increased from less than 2 tons in 1950, to over 340 MILLION TONS by 2014. . .Because plastics are synthetic carbon-based polymers that didn’t exist on Earth until 70 years ago, few organisms have evolved to be able to metabolize them . . . If things continue as they are”, according to Fred Magdoff and Chris Williams, in their 2017 book, Creating an Ecological Society, “ in 35 years the plastic in the oceans will weigh more than the fish.”
So, here we are, in the 3rd decade of the 21st century facing a 6th Extinction; one that will trigger or is already triggering successive waves of mass destruction which could FUNDAMENTAL change our social structures, for the worst, or they will eliminate us and many other species FOR GOOD. . . . sooner, than later..
History tends to rhyme, if not repeat itself.
At any given vast period of time, we often see the rise and fall of whole cultures, civilizations and continents, precipitated by internal and external phenomena, reoccurring in new ways and in new places. . .
Evolution, devolution and/or radical, innovative SOCIAL interventions.
“ . . .Of the 8.7 species of animals on planet Earth, 1 million are threatened with extinction in the coming decades, which is more than ever before in human history. Amphibian species are most vulnerable, with over 40% at risk of extinction. Around one-third of marine mammals, reef-forming corals, sharks and shark relatives face potential disappearance. We have already lost around 900 vertebrate species due to human activity, mostly because of habitat destruction.
There are 21,000 monitored populations of mammals, fish, birds, reptiles, and amphibians encompassing 4,400 species around the world. These populations have declined an average of 68% between 1970 and 2016. The more vulnerable species in Latin America and the Caribbean are disproportionately impacted, declining, on average, 94% during the same time. According to the World Wildlife fund, the rate of population decline “signals a fundamentally broken relationship between humans and the natural world.” (2)
Some of our best knowledge confirms that, in addition to the above, 6 of the 9 planetary boundaries* have already been crossed..
A planetary boundary is a scientific, globally recognized indicator which shows the threshold that must NOT be exceeded, as it risks causing abrupt environmental changes.
They are:
greenhouse gas emissions (crossed)
ocean acidification and destruction of biological systems
stratosphere ozone depletion
disruption of the nitrogen and phosphorus cycle
access to fresh water (crossed)
land misuse (crossed)
erosion of biodiversity (crossed)
use of aerosols and synthetic chemicals (crossed)
artificial elements introduced into the biosphere (crossed)
Not gone unnoticed by the ecologically astute was the significant RESPITE the Earth experienced during the height of the Covid 19 Pandemic. Many anthropologists characterized this phenomenon as somewhat of an ‘anthro-pause’ in the climate crisis. Though highly contested and resisted by many ‘humans’, the mandatory closures and lockdowns, objectively, s-l–o-w-e-d down the crisis, e.g., more dolphins were seen happily swimming in waters all over the Earth; lions were lounging on freeways in Africa. . .less automobile traffic meant less toxic emissions.
The skies were, temporarily, bluer.
Of course, many people lost money and time; 2, undeniable, ‘man-made’ realities.
If, or because, CAPITALOGENIC, catastrophic climate change represents an irrefutable existential threat to life on Earth, many humans REFUSE to go quietly into that 6th Extinction.
We feel obligated to do everything necessary to prevent it, and eliminate the primary cause.
The question Lenin once asked, "What is to be done?" must be answered, now, in 2023. . . .
Andreas Malm (among others) has put forth a bold, long range, broad maximum plan to, at the very least, mitigate ccc and impending extinction.
His plan deserves, imo, serious consideration.
He calls it an UPDATED 'Communist Manifesto':
" Enforce a complete moratorium on all new facilities for extracting coal, oil and natural gas.
Close down all power plants running on such fuels.
Draw 100% of electricity from non-fossil fuel resources, primarily wind and solar.
Terminate the expansion of air, sea and road travel.
Convert present road and sea travel to electricity and wind.
Ration remaining air travel to ensure a fair distribution until it can be completely replaced with other means of transport.
Expand mass transit systems on all scales, from subways to intercontinental high speed transport.
Limit the shipping and flying of food and systematically promote local suppliers.
End the burning of tropical forests and initiate massive programs for reforestation.
Refurbish old buildings with insulation and require all new ones to generate their own zero- carbon power.
Dismantle the meat industry and move human protein requirements toward vegetable sources.
Pour public investment into development and diffusion of the most efficient and sustainable renewable energy technologies, as well as technologies for carbon dioxide removal.” (3)
Although it's implied, I'd explicitly add to that list:
massively reduce household consumption, especially in the most industrialized countries.
significantly SLASH the U.S.-based military/industrial complex budget
ECONOMY DEPENDS ON ECOLOGY
THERE ARE NO JOBS ON A DEAD PLANET
(To be continued)
*The layer of the atmosphere between 20 and 30 kilometers above sea level that protects living things by filtering out much of the ultraviolet radiation.
https://youtu.be/i2s_kv05lAw?
REFERENCES
1. Black Earth Wisdom, Leah Penniman, Pg. 6
2. Ibid., Pg. 5
3. “Revolutionary Strategy in a Warming World”, Climate & Capitalism, 3/17/18
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