The Environment

(What you can do to Save the Environment)

Earth is a closed system. Polluted air from China is breathed in by people in Canada. Toxins which our factories spew into oceans and air around the world end up in fish, in grains, in our meat products, and inevitably in us.

Buckminster Fuller described earth as a giant spaceship where everything used must be recycled. Unfortunately our current economic system which relies on turning natural resources built up by the earth over billions of years into consumable goods and then into waste violates these basic "spaceship rules".

Deforestation

About 50% of the world's temperate and tropical forests have already been lost. 70 countries around the world no longer have any intact or original forests. In the United States, 95% of our old growth forests are gone and will not grow back. Altogether, between 2000 and 2005, the world lost forest acreage the size of Germany. Some forests are being cut down and used up, while others are simply being burned away to make room for agriculture. Deforestation has several effects:

1. Deforestation is responsible for approximately 20% of world greenhouse gas emissions.
2. Rainforests produce about 30% of our planets fresh water.
3. Much of the areas cleared of forest, especially the Amazon, once deforested will never recover and will turn in to desert even with the planting of new trees.

Desertification

Each year, an area the size of Nebraska becomes too degraded for crop production or is lost to urban sprawl. Desertification involves more than spreading deserts. It includes the process of soil erosion, salinization, devegetation, and soil compaction. These processes degrade productive land, eventually turning it into wasteland.

Among the many consequences of desertification are large losses in food production, greater vulnerability to drought and famine, and loss of biodiversity.

The Water Crisis

Around the world corporations are buying up water rights. What they see coming is a global water shortage, and an opportunity to profit from it. It has been said that there are alternative sources of energy - but there are no alternatives to water.

From the world water council "While the world's population tripled in the 20th century, the use of renewable water resources has grown six-fold. Within the next fifty years, the world population will increase by another 40 to 50 %. This population growth - coupled with industrialization and urbanization - will result in an increasing demand for water and will have serious consequences on the environment."

Toxic Pollutants

Virtually every person on earth can be shown to harbor detectible levels of dozens of pollutants. Nobody knows the long term effects of living with these chemicals but it is known that a third of all Americans will now develop cancer in their lifetimes. Many large corporations actually push for regulations on toxic waste because this means they can't be sued if they are releasing their toxins within government guidelines.

Unfortunately, 1999 is the last year for which EPA statistics are available on the release of toxic chemicals into the environment by industry. In that year, 7.7 billion pounds of toxins were released directly into our air and water...

Yet this number is only the tip of the iceberg as lobbyists defined EPA regulations so that now only 650 of the more than 80,000 chemicals being used in industry have to be reported - which means that the 7.7 billion pound total represents only 1 percent of the possible chemicals in use.

Mass Extinction

A major United Nations survey of available information reached the following conclusions: "Trends of some 3,000 wild population of species show a consistent decline in average species abundance of about 40% between 1970 and 2000; inland water species declined by 50%, while marine and terrestrial species both declined by around 30%."

What is abundantly clear is that we are the source of the problem. Habitat loss, toxic chemicals, extra UV radiation, and acidification from acid rain are all major contributors.

Species loss today is estimated to be about a thousand times the natural or normal rate that species go extinct. Experts have compared the effect of humanity on the animal world to that of an asteroid hitting the planet. The World Conservation Union estimates that two of every five recognized species on the planet now risk extinction.

Global Warming

While some still argue on the causes of global warming there is almost nobody who does not agree that it exists. The planet is getting hotter and if it continues this could have the following consequences, and more:

• The availability of freshwater will shift, some areas will get much wetter while other areas will get much dryer. Both drought and flooding will likely increase.
• The carbon dioxide absorbed by the ocean will continue to increase, resulting in the increase of carbonic acid in the ocean which will affect the marine food chain.
• Costal and low-lying settlements will be overrun with water, and hundreds of millions of people will be displaced from their homes.

Start conserving today

Be happy with less stuff! Turn off the lights Get an energy audit Switch to fluorescent bulbs Lower your hot water heater temp Buy Energy Star appliances

Recycle everything you can Go low-flow on showers and toilets Get a car with good mileage Weatherize your home Walk, bike, carpool, or use mass transit

Donate Time or Money

In order to feel more comfortable with donating your time and money it may be necessary to change your mindset to one of appreciation, abundance, and happiness. Once you see the world from a perspective of "I have enough" as opposed to "I need more" this will allow you to feel more comfortable with giving what you now feel you have too much of:

Donate to The Environment with just a Click!

Join the Dreamer Volunteer Army!

Help Dreamer change the world by becoming a Virtual Volunteer!

The Dreamer Volunteer Army is a way anyone can help make the world a better place by becoming a virtual volunteer. What is a virtual volunteer? This means you work as a volunteer from your home computer, on your own time, and on just the projects you feel comfortable with doing. Projects are assigned over email, and you choose whether or not you want to participate, so there's no commitment.

More information on our Virtual Volunteer Army

As much as our own individual conservation habits will help slow the degradation, the only way to truly reverse the devastation to our planet is through system-wide changes. Our entire economy which so far has been a consume, kill, and burn economy needs to be converted to a green economy based on sustainable practices. The only way to accomplish this is with a lot of money, a lot of political influence, and a lot of changes from a lot of people.

Saving the environment is going to take a dramatic shift from the consumption to the preservation of resources.

Dreamer donates 100% of our profits to make the world a better place. One of our 5 charitable causes is The Environment. For more information see: How we're changing the world and how we donate to charity.

Internet articles related to The Environment from various news sources including
http://blog.dreamer.me/category/environment/

Environment News What now for Gulf? Fire complicates drill debate(AP) Fri, 03 Sep 2010 20:52:42 GMT AP - What now for the Gulf? BP: Failed blowout preventer removed from well(AP) Fri, 03 Sep 2010 20:51:45 GMT AP - BP PLC said the blowout preventer that failed to stop oil from spewing into the Gulf of Mexico was removed from the company's well on Friday afternoon. BP says failed blowout preventer off Gulf well(Reuters) Fri, 03 Sep 2010 20:22:12 GMT Reuters - BP Plc removed a failed blowout preventer from atop its ruptured Gulf of Mexico oil well on Friday afternoon, a company spokesman said. BP spill costs hit eight billion as crews unearth clues(AFP) Fri, 03 Sep 2010 20:16:59 GMT AFP - British oil giant BP revealed Friday it has so far spent eight billion dollars to battle the Gulf of Mexico disaster, as its crews retrieved key evidence from the seabed. AP Exclusive: Mariner opposed federal safety rule(AP) Fri, 03 Sep 2010 19:33:30 GMT AP - The company whose Gulf of Mexico oil platform erupted in flames this week cited the industry's"excellent safety record"when it opposed a proposed federal rule last year that would require offshore oil and gas operators to have safety systems aimed at reducing workers'mistakes.