Saturday 27 December 2014

Pope Francis’s edict on climate change will anger deniers and US churches

Pope Francis’s edict on climate change will anger deniers and US churches

Pope Francis’s edict on climate change will anger deniers and US churches







Pontiff hopes to inspire action at next year’s UN meeting in Paris in December after visits to Philippines and New York







Pope

Pope Francis was a key player in thawing relations between the US and Cuba. Photograph: Franco Origlia/Getty Images




He has been called the “superman pope”, and it would be hard to deny
that Pope Francis has had a good December. Cited by President Barack
Obama as a key player in the thawing relations between the US and Cuba, the Argentinian pontiff followed that by lecturing his cardinals on the need to clean up Vatican politics. But can Francis achieve a feat that has so far eluded secular powers and inspire decisive action on climate change?



It looks as if he will give it a go. In 2015, the pope will issue a
lengthy message on the subject to the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics,
give an address to the UN general assembly and call a summit of the
world’s main religions.



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The
reason for such frenetic activity, says Bishop Marcelo Sorondo,
chancellor of the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy of Sciences, is the
pope’s wish to directly influence next year’s crucial UN climate meeting in Paris, when countries will try to conclude 20 years of fraught negotiations with a universal commitment to reduce emissions.



“Our academics supported the pope’s initiative to influence next year’s crucial decisions,” Sorondo told Cafod,
the Catholic development agency, at a meeting in London. “The idea is
to convene a meeting with leaders of the main religions to make all
people aware of the state of our climate and the tragedy of social
exclusion.”



Following a visit in March to Tacloban, the Philippine city
devastated in 2012 by typhoon Haiyan, the pope will publish a rare
encyclical on climate change and human ecology. Urging all Catholics to
take action on moral and scientific grounds, the document will be sent
to the world’s 5,000 Catholic bishops and 400,000 priests, who will
distribute it to parishioners.



According to Vatican insiders, Francis will meet other faith leaders and lobby politicians at the general assembly in New York in September, when countries will sign up to new anti-poverty and environmental goals.


In recent months, the pope has argued for a radical new financial and
economic system to avoid human inequality and ecological devastation.
In October he told a meeting of Latin American and Asian landless
peasants and other social movements: “An economic system centred on the
god of money needs to plunder nature to sustain the frenetic rhythm of
consumption that is inherent to it.



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“The
system continues unchanged, since what dominates are the dynamics of an
economy and a finance that are lacking in ethics. It is no longer man
who commands, but money. Cash commands.



“The monopolising of lands, deforestation, the appropriation of
water, inadequate agro-toxics are some of the evils that tear man from
the land of his birth. Climate change,
the loss of biodiversity and deforestation are already showing their
devastating effects in the great cataclysms we witness,” he said.



In Lima last month, bishops from every continent expressed their
frustration with the stalled climate talks and, for the first time,
urged rich countries to act.



Sorondo, a fellow Argentinian who is known to be close to Pope Francis,
said: “Just as humanity confronted revolutionary change in the 19th
century at the time of industrialisation, today we have changed the
natural environment so much. If current trends continue, the century
will witness unprecedented climate change and destruction of the
ecosystem with tragic consequences.”



According to Neil Thorns, head of advocacy at Cafod, said: “The
anticipation around Pope Francis’s forthcoming encyclical is
unprecedented. We have seen thousands of our supporters commit to making
sure their MPs know climate change is affecting the poorest
communities.”



However, Francis’s environmental radicalism is likely to attract
resistance from Vatican conservatives and in rightwing church circles,
particularly in the US – where Catholic climate sceptics also include
John Boehner, Republican leader of the House of Representatives and Rick
Santorum, the former Republican presidential candidate.



Cardinal George Pell, a former archbishop of Sydney who has been
placed in charge of the Vatican’s budget, is a climate change sceptic
who has been criticised for claiming that global warming has ceased and
that if carbon dioxide in the atmosphere were doubled, then “plants
would love it”.




Former Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell arrives at the Clementina Hall to exchange Christmas greetings with Pope Francis on 22 December, 2014 in Vatican City.






Pinterest



Former Archbishop of Sydney,
Cardinal George Pell, arrives at the Vatican to exchange Christmas
greetings with Pope Francis on 22 December, 2014.

Photograph: Franco Origlia/Getty Images



Dan Misleh, director of the Catholic climate covenant, said: “There
will always be 5-10% of people who will take offence. They are very
vocal and have political clout. This encyclical will threaten some
people and bring joy to others. The arguments are around economics and
science rather than morality.



“A papal encyclical is rare. It is among the highest levels of a
pope’s authority. It will be 50 to 60 pages long; it’s a big deal. But
there is a contingent of Catholics here who say he should not be getting
involved in political issues, that he is outside his expertise.”



Francis will also be opposed by the powerful US evangelical movement,
said Calvin Beisner, spokesman for the conservative Cornwall Alliance
for the Stewardship of Creation, which has declared the US environmental
movement to be “un-biblical” and a false religion.



“The pope should back off,” he said. “The Catholic church is correct
on the ethical principles but has been misled on the science. It follows
that the policies the Vatican is promoting are incorrect. Our position
reflects the views of millions of evangelical Christians in the US.”



Friday 26 December 2014

Rescued scientists bring back a warning from the Antarctic

Rescued scientists bring back a warning from the Antarctic

Rescued scientists bring back a warning from the Antarctic






The icebound crew of the Akademik Shokalskiy made headlines but, a year on, the fruits of their expedition are revealed


Rescue from Antarctic - the full story









The Australasian Antarctic Expedition

Alok Jha and Laurence Topham look on at the Akademik Shokalskiy beset in
ice in East Antarctica. Photograph: Andrew Peacock /Rex Features



The voyage was meant to retrace the steps of Douglas Mawson, the
great polar explorer and scientist who led the Australasian Antarctic
Expedition of 1911. What happened instead captured the world’s
attention, something none of the scientists, journalists and paying
public aboard could have foreseen.



The Akademik Shokalskiy got stuck in ice on Christmas Day 2013 only
two weeks after leaving New Zealand. A rescue mission swung into
operation. Chinese, French and Australian icebreakers hurried to the
scene only to be defeated by the ice floes themselves.



News editors around the world must have thanked their chosen gods.
Into the seasonal dead zone, a real story had dropped. Stranded far from
home, those aboard the Shokalskiy faced danger amidst the spectacular
ice.



That New Year’s Eve an interview with expedition leader Chris Turney
was beamed live to Times Square in New York. Two days later, the rescue
effort entered a new phase. With no icebreaker able to smash way
through, a Chinese helicopter, Xue Ying, or “Snow Eagle”, rose into the
air for the first of five flights to ferry passengers from the stricken
ship to the Aurora Australis. A core crew remained behind to sail vessel
home once conditions allowed.




00:00
/
19:58
Embed






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Media interest in the expedition faded after the rescue, but in the
year since Turney and his team have been busy. Scientific samples and
measurements from the voyage are being turned into research papers that
reveal striking changes at the southern ice cap. And rather than feeling
discouraged about expeditions that are funded by paying passengers,
Turney is more enthusiastic than ever.



“Once we got back home and made sure everyone was all right, we got
on with working up the data and getting a whole load of papers ready for
submission,” Turney said. Like the rescue mission, this involved plenty
of waiting. “It took nearly six months to get all the samples through
quarantine.”



Simple observations told unhappy stories. Trawls of water reeled in
hauls of plastic rubbish, now seemingly ubiquitous in the world’s
oceans. On land, counts of Adélie penguins revealed the population had
slumped near Mawson’s huts in Commonwealth Bay in East Antarctica.
The birds are now commuting 40 miles to get food for their young.
“Another 10 years there probably won’t be many left,” said Turney. The
numbers of skuas seemed to have fallen too.




Passengers aboard Akademik Shokalskiy were successfully transferred by Chinese helicopter to the ice surface near Australian rescue ship Aurora Australis in January.






Pinterest



Passengers aboard Akademik
Shokalskiy were successfully transferred by Chinese helicopter to the
ice surface near Australian rescue ship Aurora Australis in January.

Photograph: Unimedia/Barcroft Media



Commonwealth Bay has experienced substantial changes in recent years.
In summertime fierce katabatic winds blow off the continent and chill
the surrounding surface water to freezing point. The freshly created ice
blows out to sea, as if on a production line. But the freezing process
leaves behind cold, dense water that sinks to the sea floor, forming
part of an oceanic current that drives circulation on a global scale.



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The
ocean circulation at Commonwealth Bay was disrupted in 2010 after an
enormous iceberg, B09B, arrived. The 30 mile-long slab of ice smashed
into the nearby Mertz glacier tongue and grounded itself at the entrance
to the bay. That blocked the exit for fresh sea ice. As the ice built
up, the ocean conveyor system partially closed down.



Such changes were bound to impact on life beneath the ice. Scientists
inspected ecosystems on the sea floor. “You see this remarkable
transition with the expansion of sea ice. A lot of kelp and other life
on the seabed is dead or dying. We’re seeing instead much of the deeper
flora and fauna, as they come up from the deeper seabed because there’s
an ecological niche to be filled,” said Turney. The shift in the
ecosystem is expected to have impacts all the way up the foodchain.




A view of the trapped Akademik Shokalskiy from across the ice in Antarctica.






Pinterest



A view of the trapped Akademik Shokalskiy from across the ice in Antarctica.
Photograph: Laurence Topham



What has happened in Commonwealth Bay may be echoed around the
continent in the future. In Antarctica sea ice is extending, for reasons
that are unclear, but possibly through the actions of stronger winds
churning out more and more sea ice. “What B09B has done is effectively
fast track an area of East Antarctica and given us an insight into what
the rest of the place might be experiencing if the trend continues,”
Turney said.



More data is being crunched by the Shokalskiy team. Some draws on
measurements from rocks that will reveal how and when ice expanded from
the polar ice cap along a 3,500km stretch of coastline.



When the Shokalskiy got stuck last Christmas, Turney and the rest
aboard the vessel failed to grasp how much attention the expedition was
receiving. “At one level I still can’t fathom it. We were living in our
own bubble. We were on a ship that had serious problems,” said Turney.




Passengers and scientists stomp an area of ice next to the Akademik Shokalskiy for a makeshift helicopter landing pad in readiness for evacuation from the trapped ship in Antarctica.






Pinterest



Passengers and scientists stomp an
area of ice next to the Akademik Shokalskiy for a makeshift helicopter
landing pad in readiness for evacuation from the trapped ship in
Antarctica.

Photograph: Laurence Topham



As the story went global, the venture came in for plenty of
criticism. Climate sceptics suggested the incident disproved global
warming, even though the ship’s encasement was caused by the wind
blowing ice around, making this a weather problem rather than a climate
impact.



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More
justified were complaints that the expedition had disrupted the
scientific work of other teams, principally those affected by the
diversion of the several nations’ icebreakers who arrived to help the
Shokalskiy. “From an Australian perspective, many projects were
cancelled or abbreviated because of re-direction of shipping, a problem
when shipping is such a limiting factor,” said Pat Quilty, former chief
scientist at the Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition, and a
researcher at the University of Tasmania.



Turney acknowledges that the rescue operation had an impact on
others’ scientific work, but adds that Antarctica is a risky place for
any expedition. “There was disruption and we were incredibly grateful to
everyone for their help. Fortunately though, from what we learned
later, it seems that a lot of work was not harmed,” Turney said.




The Chinese Antarctic vessel Xue Long seen from the bridge of the Aurora Australis ship off Antarctica, both in the frozen waters to help rescue the nearby Russian research ship.






Pinterest



The Chinese Antarctic vessel Xue
Long seen from the bridge of the Aurora Australis ship off Antarctica,
both in the frozen waters to help rescue the nearby Russian research
ship.

Photograph: Jessica Fitzpatrick/AFP/Getty Images



Like Mawson’s expedition in 1911, Turney’s was only possible because
the public helped pay. Half of the standard passengers aboard the
Shokalskiy paid A$18,000 (£9,700) to go along as scientific assistants.
On the voyage Turney published progress reports on Facebook, Google+ and
Twitter. He wanted to reach as many people as possible.



Rather than feeling chastened by the trip, he is more convinced than
ever that the paying, participating public are crucial. “There’s a
natural interest in discovery, in exploring. You can take some people
with you on the expedition, and with modern technology you can take the
rest of the world,” he said.





Thursday 25 December 2014

Really. Important. Science. Announcement



You will probably want hear what hundreds of the world's top scientists have to say about the biggest threat facing humanity.
https://www.climatecouncil.org.au

Wednesday 17 December 2014

Abbott's 'mean and tricky' Australia: Lima's Colossal Fossil

Abbott's 'mean and tricky' Australia: Lima's Colossal Fossil





The Abbott Government has managed to turn Australia into
an international climate pariah  and laughing stock in the course of
just one year, writes deputy editor Sandi Keane.






The Abbott Government’s abject failure to address climate change
copped a deserved hammering at Lima. ‘Fossil of the Day’ awards from the
international Climate Action Network
raining down on Foreign Minister Julie Bishop — the only person there
who didn't see global warming as a threat to the Great Barrier Reef. It
all culminated in the final humiliation for the nation, with the ‘Colossal Fossil’ award being bestowed on Australia as the worst performer on climate change action for the entire year. 




Having failed to sabotage any new global agreement by demanding
legally binding emissions, Julie Bishop is now trying a different tack:
as the planet cooks, she wants to cook the books. This could see Australia’s emissions skyrocket to a massive 49-57% above its original 1990 Kyoto pledge.




This latest attempt to protect vested mining interests – the
Coalition’s major paymasters – hedges around the success of Bishop’s
threat to scuttle any agreement on the second stage of the Kyoto Protocol
unless she can use the same favourable rules around land clearing
agreed to in Kyoto in 1997. This would involve changing an amendment
made at the Doha talks two years ago on how Australia’s target is to be
calculated.




The current Protocol is due to expire in 2020 and will be replaced by
a new agreement signed up to in Paris next year. It also requires the
dumping of Australia’s 2009 Copenhagen Accord commitment to cut overall emissions by 5% on 2000 levels by 2020.




So, as the rest of the world acts, Australia wants to do sod all.





It was inevitable. The Abbott Government’s Direct Action Plan is a fizzer — especially now that the Queensland Government has overturned the ban on broad-scale land clearing.



What has gone unreported by mainstream media is a reminder of the
land clearing con trick played by John Howard on the rest of the world
back in 1997 at Kyoto.




Kyoto 1997: How rat cunning Howard conned the world



Not for nothing did current Attorney General George Brandis call John Howard the ‘lying rodent’, or Sharon Stone, his party’s federal president, describe his government as ‘mean and tricky’.



In the lead-up to Kyoto, public support for action on global warming was strong. A Nielson-McNair poll
showed 90% of Australians were either ‘concerned’ or ‘very concerned’
about global warming; 79% felt we should sign a treaty to cut emissions;
and 68% said economic pain should not stop such a treaty being signed.




In response to public concerns, vested interests both here and in the
U.S. stepped up their campaign to discredit the science of global
warming and the governments of both countries – responsible for the
world’s highest per capita GHG emissions – rolled over. If the public
wanted action on global warming, said big money, they could take a hike.




Right up until the last weeks before Kyoto, Howard had accepted the
principle enshrined in pre-Kyoto agreements of mandatory targets solely
for the wealthy countries. But big money can buy big favours. The
world’s biggest polluters convinced the U.S. and Australia that similar
reductions should be sought from developing countries. 




So, to derail negotiations at Kyoto, alone among other developed countries, Howard took key lobbyists from the mining industry
along as members of the Australian delegation. Australia’s about-face
on mandatory targets was met with great hostility, but no surprise,
after officers of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the
Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE) had
toured the world, using research paid for largely by vested interests to
lobby for a special case for Australia because of its dependence on
fossil fuels.






In an eleventh hour bid to restore some credibility, Howard used his legendary rat cunning to
hit on a trick that would con the rest of the world, appease his
party’s major donors and get him off the hook — land clearing.




Ignored by the Government until then, a greenhouse inventory showed
that emissions from land clearing were around 20% in 1990 — the expected
base year for the treaty. What really piqued Howard’s interest was that
land clearing had been in rapid decline since.




The scam was sheer genius and here’s how it worked:



In the late 1980s, up to 500,000 hectares of land in Queensland were
cleared every year. But, after a 15 year campaign by the Wilderness
Society, supported by the public, the new Goss Labor government
signalled that, after 1991, permits would be needed to clear native
bushland. Unsurprisingly, in 1990, land clearing reached a record
765,000 hectares, as huge bulldozers using chains were unleased on a
massive scale to demolish native bushland.




In the year following the introduction of permits, it shrunk to about 325,000 hectares. 



The arithmetic was obvious.



By insisting land use emissions be included in the calculation of the
total greenhouse gas emissions, Australia’s emissions could be
dramatically reduced paving the way for the big polluters to increase
theirs.




It was the lowest point in the sorry history of the Coalition's
shirking of its responsibility to act on global warming. Howard would do
sod all and there was nothing the rest of the world could do about it.




Fearing a lack of consensus would wreck any hope of an agreement at
Kyoto, a reluctant deal was struck — henceforth known as the ‘Australia clause’.
Only three countries were permitted to increase their
emissions: Greenland 110%, Australia 108% and Norway 101%. Other
industrialised nations had to cut emissions from between 6 to 8%.




Australia’s diplomatic reputation suffered serious damage as a
result. Two years later, Japan would use the ‘Australia clause’ to
undermine Australia’s claimed environmental credentials during
negotiations over a whale sanctuary in the Pacific.






Newman Gov't on collision course with Kyoto and Copenhagen



Newman’s environmental vandalism threatens to take Australia back to
the dark old days when land clearing in Queensland ranked alongside some
of the most disastrous regions in the world, such as the Amazon, the
Congo and Borneo .




After promising not to lift the bans on broad-scale land clearing
(contributing to about 12% of Australia’s total emissions in 1998), the
‘let-‘er-rip’ Newman government has now overturned the ban introduced by Labor’s Beattie Government in 2006.




The Wilderness Society’s Queensland campaigner, Karen Touchie, told Independent Australia:



“The ban was the most important factor in Australia reaching its
108% Kyoto target. It remains Australia’s most significant emissions
abatement measure, saving an estimated 24 million tonnes of CO2 per
annum.




“The two proposed agriculture schemes for Queensland’s Gulf
County – IFED and Strathmore Station – aim to clear or flood almost
200,000 hectares of land. Destroying 195,000 hectares of savanna
woodland would be the equivalent of adding 27-43 million tonnes of
carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, or 5 to 8% of Australia’s annual
emissions.”





With Paris 2015 talks looming, time is running out for the Abbott Government to act on global warming.



The Wilderness Society issued a warning:



“The scale of land clearing will make it impossible for Australia
to reach its 5 per cent emissions reduction target. There is no way
Abbott’s Green Army can plant enough trees to compensate for what would
be like bulldozing a 10km wide strip for 200km.”





The overturning of land clearing bans will surely throw a spanner in
Bishop’s machinations, putting at risk both Australia’s Copenhagen
Accord commitment and any gains in GHG reduction resulting from the
introduction of permits in 1991 and the bans in 2006.




Next year is shaping up as the year from hell for the Abbott
government. Reforming its ‘mean and tricky’ image sounds like a sensible
New Year’s Resolution right now.






Read IA’s ‘Here we Joh again’ series
to find out more about the mean, tricky and allegedly corrupt
Queensland Government under Campbell Newman. You can follow Sandi Keane
on Twitter @Jarrapin.


Monday 8 December 2014

Australia named worst-performing industrial country on climate change

Australia named worst-performing industrial country on climate change

Australia named worst-performing industrial country on climate change


Performance index released at Lima climate talks puts Denmark in the best-performing slot, followed by Sweden and Britain



Australia worst climate change country : Pty's Yallourn coal fired power station

Truenergy Holdings Pty’s Yallourn coal-fired power station stands in the
distance behind a disused coal dredger in the town centre in Morwell,
Australia. Photograph: Carla Gottgens/Getty Images

Australia has been named the worst-performing industrial country in
the world on climate change in a report released at international
negotiations in Peru.


The climate change performance index ranked Denmark as the best-performing country in the world, followed by Sweden and Britain.


Among the world’s top 10 emitters, Germany was ranked the highest at 22. Australia was second bottom overall, above Saudi Arabia – which was not classified as industrial.


The report states: “The new conservative Australian government has
apparently made good on last year’s announcement and reversed the
climate policies previously in effect. As a result, the country lost a
further 21 positions in the policy evaluation compared to last year,
thus replacing Canada as the worst-performing industrial country.”


China, the world’s biggest emitter, was in 45th spot – one below the
US, which is the world’s second largest emitter of greenhouse gases that
cause climate change.




But in an indication of the challenge facing governments to increase
their ambition, the report said if every country in the world performed
as well as the highest-ranking countries global temperatures would still
likely rise more than 2C – a level considered to be dangerous.


For that reason the top three places in the ranking were left blank.


The CCPI report, produced by the thinktank Germanwatch and Climate Action Network Europe, covers the top 58 emitters of greenhouse gases in the world and about 90% of all energy-related emissions.


Jan Burck, report author at Germanwatch, told the Guardian: “It is
interesting that the bottom six countries in the ranking – Russia, Iran,
Canada, Kazakhstan, Australia and Saudi Arabia – all have a lot of
fossil fuel resources. It is a curse.


“The fossil fuel lobbies in the countries are strong. In Australia they stopped what were some very good carbon laws.”



Australia's CCPI scorecard

Australia’s CCPI scorecard

The report was released within the confines of the UN climate talks in Lima at the start of the second week of negotiations.


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The
talks are aiming to establish the draft text of a new international
climate change agreement to be signed by all countries at the next major
talks in Paris in late 2015.


The index covers the performance of countries across five areas – the
level of emissions, the trends in emissions, energy efficiency,
renewable energy policies and the approach to climate change at national
and international levels.


Denmark was becoming a model country, Burck said, with the report
praising the country’s “ambitious renewable energy and emissions
reduction policies”.


The report said Denmark “sets an example in how industrialised
countries can not only promise, but also implement effective climate
policies”.


Erwin Jackson, of the Australian charity the Climate Institute, told
the Guardian: “Australia has been heading backwards by undertaking
actions such as attempting to kneecap the renewable energy industry
through regressive policy changes.


“We also should be playing our fair part in global action, not trying to free ride on the actions of others.”


He said Australia was “increasingly unprepared” for an emerging global shift to clean energy.


Last month a UN environment programme report named Australia alongside Canada, the US and Mexico as the only countries that were likely to miss their current 2020 targets to cut emissions.


The 2014 Emissions Gap report said the scrapping of Australia’s
carbon price meant the country was “no longer on track” to meet its
target to cut emissions by 5% by 2020.


Thursday 4 December 2014

A tree is for life, not just for Christmas! - The AIM Network

A tree is for life, not just for Christmas! - The AIM Network



A tree is for life, not just for Christmas!

















There is something quite magical
about trees. From the food we eat to the air we breath trees sustain us.
They provide us with medicines, enrich our soils, cleanse our water
tables, build and furnish our homes, provide shade and coalesce the
clouds that bring us fresh rain water. Trees soothe us emotionally, for
no matter how down we may feel, we always feel a little better when we
can get ourselves to a park or forest and commune with a tree.






What could be a better symbol of hope and renewal than a tree?


Quirky tree





You may be surprised to learn that
the humble Christmas tree actually pre-dates “Christmas” by many
thousands of years. The winter solstice celebration currently known as
Christmas has in fact gone by many names, and has had many religious
rituals attached to it throughout the ages.






The Pagans used to use evergreen
branches to decorate their homes during the winter solstice, as a
reminder that the renewal of spring would soon be with them. The ancient
Romans even used fir trees to decorate their temples at the festival of
Saturnalia, so there is nothing new, or exclusively christian about
lopping down a tree and dragging it inside for the mid winter festival. 






EcoChristmasTrees





While the global figures are
difficult to calculate the USA chops down and sells around 40 million
live christmas trees every year, but this is not an entirely bad thing.
It means there is somewhere in the vicinity of 400 million trees in the
USA, (sorry don’t have Australian figures), now growing that wouldn’t be there but for the Christmas market, (and 400 million trees is a lot of carbon abatement).

With
roughly 40% of live Christmas trees subsequently being recycled, and the
fact that fir trees don’t need as high a quality soil as other crops, (so they can utilise otherwise degraded land), using a real tree is, on the face of it, a far better option than using a fake one.



“The
annual carbon emissions associated with using a real tree every year
were just one-third of those created by an artificial tree over a
typical six-year lifespan. Most fake trees also contain polyvinyl
chloride, or PVC, which produces carcinogens during manufacturing and
disposal”. NY times






Even
so, the arbitrary chopping down trees is not something we should be
taking lightly. The fact is we are in big environmental trouble, and
deforestation is a large part of our problem.






replanting-forest-china.jpg.400x300_q90_crop-smart





Forests currently cover about 30 %
of the world’s land mass but according to the United Nations Food and
Agriculture Organization an estimated 18 million acres (7.3 million hectares) of forest – roughly the size of Panama – are lost each year
and about half of the world’s tropical forests have already been
cleared; with forest loss contributing between 12 and 17 % of annual
global greenhouse gas emissions.






But the reckless felling of the
world’s forests doesn’t just pose a threat to our global climate, it
also endangers global food security. Soil erosion, soil salinity,
drought, and desertification are just some of the devastating
consequences of industrial forestry and farming practices.






burkina_faso_black_hand_955x415_0





While there are a plethora of ideas
and arguments on how to manage the climate crisis, many suggestions,
like geo-engineering, could expose the planet to utterly terrifying
unforeseen consequences. There is however one rather unassuming solution
being proposed that is, (as far as anyone has been able to ascertain), totally free from any negative consequences…






PLANT MORE TREES!





worth of a tree





It’s hardly a radical proposition,
as pretty much everyone agrees that if we are to avoid a catastrophic
environmental collapse we need to preserve the trees and forests we
already have, and we desperately need to plant more!






There is plenty of good science
behind this too. Trees release chemicals that form clouds, and clouds
not only bring rain, but they also reflect sunlight and act like a heat
shield. Trees can literally cool the planet if we plant enough of them.
But the good news doesn’t stop there, planting trees can repair degraded
landscapes and provide food, employment and business opportunities
where there is currently nothing but despair.






This inspiring video, narrated by Stephen Fry is an insight into what we can achieve if we all pull together.








At this point I would like to introduce you to “WE FOREST”, a non profit TREE PLANTING NGO that in spite of being very well known in Europe, (and having been founded by noted Melbourne expat Bill Liao), has thus far remained fairly low profile here in Australia.   











With the modest aim of planting two trillion trees, rehabilitating degraded land and cooling the planet, (all while providing food, business opportunities and employment for locals), WE FOREST has planted more than 6 million trees so far, and is currently doubling it’s total plant every year.





SUCH IS THE POWER OF A GOOD IDEA BACKED UP BY ACTION!





Giving trees for Christmas is
something that I am doing this year, and it’s something I am inviting
you to do with me. In just a few clicks, you can offset your entire
carbon footprint for the year, or buy trees as a gift for your loved
ones. (You will get a nice certificate via email stating how many
trees you have bought on their behalf, and you can add a personal
message too).
The trees you donate, (and their associated permaculture forests) are
monitored to ensure they remain in place, so you can rest assured that
your gift will be one that will keep on giving for generations to come.






When you add up all the benefits of
strategic tree planting the upside is absolutely astounding, and at
approximately $1 a tree, the cost is surprisingly small. What better
gift to give your children than to match the cost of this years
Christmas tree with the gift purchase of REAL LIVING GROWING TREES that
will help secure a better future for the planet and our entire human
family?






tree huggers


Best of the season to you all!


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