Labrish Jamaica: Musings on Earth and Life

Never give away your power to anyone else ever again

noreply@blogger.com (Kathy Stanley) — Sat, 02 Feb 2019 15:05:00 +0000

An amazing opportunity for a FREE virtual workshop with Anneloes Smitman where you’ll discover dynamic archetypal energies to activate your deepest intuition, inner strength, and spiritual transformation.

Learn More

During Alchemist, Guardian & Queen: Three Feminine Archetypes to Activate Your Womb Wisdom & Evolutionary Calling, bestselling author and internationally acclaimed evolutionary leader Anneloes Smitsman will show you how to activate your Womb Wisdom and actualize your evolutionary calling so that you feel more fulfilled by what you do and bring to the world.

During this free virtual event, you’ll discover:

How ancient mystical traditions accessed feminine creative power, sourced through Womb Wisdom and the “Cosmic Torus,” the womb-shaped inner architecture of the Universe and all of life
The Guardian — a protective, empowering archetype that can help you heal old wounds and balance the masculine and feminine energies within you
The Alchemist’s ability to unite the planetary and the cosmic (which led to its demonization as the work of witches) and how you can now reclaim this transformational power
How to access your cosmic abilities, including intuition and visionary leadership, through the Queen archetype
A sacred practice to enter the Cosmic Torus — a foundational step towards true wholeness and manifesting your evolutionary calling

noreply@blogger.com (Kathy Stanley) — Thu, 31 Jan 2019 15:55:00 +0000

I am now blogging over at SacredTravel.blog

Musings on Kauai and Ecopsychology

noreply@blogger.com (Kathy Stanley) — Sun, 23 Aug 2015 20:33:00 +0000

East side of Kauai

Perhaps it’s the similarity with the landscape of the land of my birth, Jamaica, that caused me to fall in love with another tropical island. Kauai. Ah, Kauai. Your glorious white sand beaches, the sweet Aloha spirit of your people, majestic Bali Hai - the mysterious mountain of South Pacific fame, the magical North Shore with narrow roads, one lane bridges, hidden beaches, expansive Hanalei Bay, a mini Grand Canyon in Waimea Canyon, the drama of crashing Pacific Ocean waves, reefs teeming with turtles and brightly colored fish, coconut trees, hibiscus, bougainvillea, poinciania trees, mangos, papayas….and reggae music. Hawaiian reggae they call it.

Waking before dawn, we arrive on the beach a few minutes before the sunrise over the ocean. Cloud formations color the sky with yellows and pinks that deepen and sparkle as the sun shows itself.

The resident rooster crows and chases a flock of pigeons away as they all scramble for seed on the grass. A few other guests walk the beach finding shells and crabs scampering on exposed rocks at the water edge. The ocean is wild on this east side of the island. The waters around all the Hawaiian Islands can be dangerous. I find the waves mesmerizing and admire the surfers who’ve learned how to read the ocean’s timing. There is a mystic quality to surfing in this deep communication with the waters of the planet.

Bali Hai (Tunnels Beach)

In my ecopsychology classes I stress to students the importance of finding a place in nature where they can sink into a sustained and ongoing relationship with the earth. The most important assignment in all my classes is the Special Place Assignment where students have to spend at least a 1/2 hour each week in the same place in nature. Opening their senses, perhaps feeling their feet on the earth (earthing), watching what changes, what other creatures are there, and just….being. Not doing. Part of the benefits in this assignment is stress reduction in mindfulness. Part of it is deepening awareness of the earth and allowing time for a stronger connection with the earth to emerge. Mostly what I have found is that the best benefit arrives when there are signs that this simple assignment has opened the hearts of students to feeling love for this place, whatever place they have chosen. If we are ever going to move into being an ecological society, opening our hearts to our connection with the planet and other species has to be part of the equation. This Kauai trip in August was for me something of an 8 day Special Place Assignment. She opened my heart in immeasurable ways. More to come on this journey to a special island….. Mahalo Nui Loa Kauai.

Hanalei Bay

Prescriptions for Eco-anxiety: A Report on Joanna Macy and The Work That Reconnects

noreply@blogger.com (Kathy Stanley) — Wed, 04 Jun 2014 17:16:00 +0000

In the face of the dire news on the latest climate change casualties that greet us each morning, how are we going to steady ourselves, build psychic, mental and emotional muscle to face it, and be supportive in our communities? Ecopsychology and deep ecology offer the prescriptive remedies that I am finding vital in my life now and Joanna Macy's work has long been one of my inspirations.

In my Eco-perspectives class I taught this spring, I assigned Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone's wonderful book Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We're in Without Going Crazy as a required text. Joanna Macy, eco-philosopher, deep ecologist and long-time environmental activist has been on the front lines of educating people for decades in what she calls The Work That Reconnects: reconnecting with our deeper selves, with community, and with the Earth.

Dahr Jamail and Truthout have just published "Staying Sane in a Suicidal Culture," a poignant reflection and report on Joanna Macy's work which includes how the work helped Jamail therapeutically in his recovery from PTSD:

It was February 2005, and after several months of front-line reporting from Iraq, I'd returned to the US a human time bomb of rage, my temper ticking shorter each day.

Walking through morgues in Baghdad left scenes in my mind I remember even now. I can still smell the decaying bodies as I type this, nearly a decade later. Watching young Iraqi children bleed to death on operating tables after they had been shot by US military snipers has left an equally deep and lasting imprint.

My rage towards those responsible in the Bush administration bled outwards to engulf all of those participating in the military and anyone who supported the ongoing atrocity that was the US occupation of Iraq. My solution was to fantasize about hanging all of the aforementioned from the nearest group of light poles. Read the rest of the article at Truthout here.

Divesting from Fossil Fuel

noreply@blogger.com (Kathy Stanley) — Mon, 24 Mar 2014 16:19:00 +0000

Dear Blog, oh I have neglected you...but it has been a productive year of completing my masters thesis, creating a graduate level class in ecopsychology, starting my spiritual life coaching practice, and teaching an undergraduate class this spring in Social & Cultural Eco-perspectives.

And now, before I head out to the red rocks for a few days of replenishment, I'll return to my favorite topic:
Here is a re-posting of a letter from Benjamin Franta, Harvard student, to the president of Harvard University along with a summary of the growing fossil-fuel divestment movement from The Nation's journalist Wen Stephenson. This is the focus of where the climate action must be. Over 20 cities have committed to divest already!!! This is the good news! I am working with the 350.org group here in Portland on the divestment issue and this article and student's letter drives it home:

The movement for fossil-fuel divestment has swelled to what an Oxford University study calls the fastest-growing divestment movement in history, one with the potential to shift the political ground beneath the fossil-fuel lobby’s feet. There are more than 500 campaigns globally—including on some 400 college and university campuses in the United States, along with city and state governments and major religious institutions. Ten colleges and more than twenty cities—including Seattle, San Francisco and, as it happens, Cambridge, Massachusetts—have committed to divest.

Back in October, Harvard University President and distinguished American historian Drew Gilpin Faust, having faced more than a year of increasing calls by students, faculty and almuni to divest from fossil fuels, released a statement in which she explained why Harvard would do no such thing, at least not on her watch. Reactions to her position—by critics ranging from climate activist Tim DeChristopher (now at Harvard Divinity School) and Columbia’s Todd Gitlin (an alum) to former Oberlin president and National Science Board member James Lawrence Powell, among others—pointed to its logical inconsistency, not to mention blindness to moral, political and economic facts. Nevertheless, as others have noted, Faust’s arguments have become the de facto orthodox positions of the anti-divestment crowd.

On campus, in Cambridge, the student-led Divest Harvard campaign (I’m involved with the alumni wing), has repeatedly invited Faust to engage in a public forum on divestment—and has repeatedly been rebuffed. So earlier this month, the students confronted Faust after a public speech, and captured the conversation on video. During the exchange, incredibly, Faust denied that the fossil-fuel industry obstructs progress on clean energy. The video made a stir—thanks to leading climate blogger Joe Romm, who demolished that assertion. Faust felt compelled to respond to the students in an e-mail, as reported by the student newspaper The Crimson. Needless to say, relations between the students and the president’s office are somewhat tense. The students—and their faculty and alumni supporters—are far from backing down or going away. If anything, they’re more resolved than ever to raise the pressure—and the stakes.

Into this steps a 27-year-old Harvard graduate student, Ben Franta, a member of Divest Harvard’s student board, with a qualitatively different kind of response to Faust: direct, personal, unsparing—and, I’ll add, principled and brave. Last month, Franta met privately with Faust in her office—not for the first time—to discuss divestment. Two days later, he wrote her an impassioned letter, which he shared with me and others, in which he rebutted her points one by one and appealed to her, again, for an open debate. She has not responded. The moment she gets up and speaks publicly about divestment from fossil fuels, she told Franta, it will end up on the front page of The New York Times.

And so Franta has decided to publish an open letter, based closely on that first one, and he asked me to post it here.

Franta, who grew up in rural Iowa, is working toward a PhD in applied physics—more specifically, as he describes it, focusing on “reducing the cost of solar energy by developing high-efficiency photovoltaics using industrially scalable methods.” In his recent meeting with Faust, she continued to extol Harvard’s programs in sustainability and energy research as the proper way forward. In response, he told her, speaking as one who works on solar energy at Harvard, such research simply isn’t enough. “Politics,” Franta says, “lies upstream of technology development.”

Franta’s open letter follows here. This is surely not the first time a sitting Harvard president has been schooled by a Harvard student—but it’s a moment worth recording for history.

* * *

March 19, 2014

Benjamin Franta
Gordon McKay Lab
9 Oxford St.
Cambridge, MA 02138

Dear President Faust,

I am writing to you today in the hope of generating a public discussion that is based on intellectual honesty and moral seriousness.

I will be direct in this letter. It does not imply a lack of respect. I believe it is best to work together, and the need for clarity is urgent.

Last month you and I met to discuss Harvard’s divestment from the fossil fuel business. We disagree on whether or not Harvard should continue to invest in fossil fuel corporations, but I am not concerned by disagreement per se. I am concerned by the possibility that you are not treating this issue with the honesty and seriousness that it deserves. I believe that possibility has troubling implications.

I wrote to you a month ago with the concerns in this letter. They are still unaddressed. It is important to address them, because they affect many people. I will explain the reasons for my concern.

To justify the university’s continued funding of the fossil fuel industry, you have provided a list of unsubstantiated beliefs in place of evidence-based arguments, both in your written statement on fossil fuel divestment and in subsequent conversations. Unsubstantiated beliefs will not suffice to protect our children and grandchildren from damages arising from planetary climate change.

The plan you have put forth as an alternative to divestment—that Harvard, through a strategy of shareholder activism, will induce fossil fuel companies to become clean energy companies—is a proposition that requires evidence to demonstrate its seriousness and feasibility. I am not aware of evidence to suggest that: 1) fossil fuel companies have any interest in becoming clean energy companies anytime soon, if ever; 2) that it is possible for such companies to become clean energy companies while maintaining fiduciary responsibility to their shareholders; 3) that shareholder activism is capable of inducing such fundamental shifts in business strategy; or 4) that Harvard, as an activist shareholder, has such power.

Your repeated preference of this plan indicates either that you are privy to evidence regarding its feasibility that others are not privy to, that you are naïve regarding the feasibility of this plan or that this plan is proposed cynically. If you do have special information that supports the feasibility of this plan, it should be made public. Without such evidence, there is no reason to believe that this plan is both serious and well informed.

The same need for evidence applies to your statement that divesting from fossil fuel companies will cause a significant loss of revenue for the University. This may very well be true, but, again, evidence to support that conclusion is needed. Various studies to date have indicated that divestment from fossil fuel companies need not result in significant financial losses. Do these studies not apply to Harvard’s endowment, in full or in part? Are there other losses of revenue that concern you besides investment returns, such as corporate and private donations? Or are your concerns less tangible?

It is right for you to act as a steward of Harvard’s financial health. However, when your statements run counter to the body of evidence, it is necessary to provide compelling evidence of your own. It is never enough to say, “Don’t kid yourself—divesting will hurt the University financially.” Calls for divestment are not made in jest. Climate change is and will be a matter of life and death for many. The lack of evidence brought to the table thus far by you and the rest of the Harvard Corporation, however, does suggest a lack of seriousness.

Other statements of yours indicate, to my mind, a lack of seriousness that is troubling, such as your suggestion to me during our last meeting that if Harvard divests from fossil fuels, the University will need to decide whether to divest from sugar. Surely you understand that fossil fuels and sugar are distinct in a number of fundamental ways. One of those ways, perhaps the main one, is that the production and consumption of sugar does not degrade the habitability of the planet for modern human civilization.

Another important difference between fossil fuels and sugar is that those who decide to use fossil fuels and immediately benefit from their use are not the same people who bear the risk for their use. When carbon dioxide is put into the atmosphere, it requires 25-50 years to cause the bulk of its warming effect, which then affects every living thing on the globe. Thus, when we use fossil fuels today, our children and grandchildren bear damages as a result (along with everyone else’s children and grandchildren). These future damages are large, they are accumulating and they are unpaid for. Fossil fuel companies are particularly profitable today because no one is paying for these damages. None of these facts are secrets. Through investing in fossil fuels, Harvard seeks to profit, and does profit, from these future damages.

Your fear of a “slippery slope,” as you put it, in which divesting from fossil fuels leads to a campaign to divest from sugar, must be elaborated upon if it is to be used as a valid argument to maintain the status quo. The fear of a slippery slope can be used to counter any call for action in any area; it is not a valid argument unless there is evidence to show that taking one action will inevitably lead to another with costs that outweigh the benefits of the first action. We are not talking about divesting from sugar, or cats, or apples, even though cats scratch people and people choke on apples. We are talking about divesting from fossil fuels, because fossil fuels cause planetary climate change.

You assert that to cease investments in fossil fuel extraction would be tantamount to using the endowment as a “political weapon.” This presupposes both the political effectiveness of divestment and the neutrality of remaining invested in fossil fuel extraction. Of course, if an act of divestment would be politically effective, then remaining invested cannot be neutral.

In refusing to divest, Harvard is choosing to profit from future damages that create intergenerational and geographical inequity. This unnecessarily positions the endowment in conflict with the future welfare of our children and grandchildren. It is this status quo—not some hypothetical scenario—that is cause for offense and leads many to demand change.

You have asserted that because we unavoidably use fossil fuels in our day-to-day lives, we should not stop investing in them. It is unclear why this should be the case. If your argument is an appeal for self-consistency, you seem to imply that no repudiation of fossil fuel use should be undertaken while we unavoidably use them. This is clearly not what is happening in the world around us, and pursuing such a policy would be enormously naïve. The renewable energy research at Harvard is done using electricity from fossil fuels. The Office for Sustainability carries out its work using fossil fuels. Both are repudiations of fossil fuel use that use fossil fuels. Should we stop these activities because they violate your appeal for self-consistency? Or do you mean something else by your argument?

Fossil fuel use is unavoidable, because it is a large part of the energy mix today. We must become accustomed to taking steps away from fossil fuels and towards low-carbon energy sources even while we use fossil fuels in our day-to-day lives, because there does not seem to be another choice. The description of self-consistency you have laid out, in which Harvard must either fund the fossil fuel industry for a profit or isolate itself entirely from fossil fuels in every way, is not representative of reality.

It is entirely consistent to unavoidably use fossil fuels while carrying out low-carbon energy research to displace fossil fuels, and it is entirely consistent to unavoidably use fossil fuels while choosing not to invest in their continued dominance. If you truly think there is a case to be made regarding the inconsistency of divestment, then that case must be made more clearly.

Some of your arguments appear to be inconsistent with each other, and this concerns me because inconsistency can indicate a preference for convenience over the truth. You’ve asserted that if Harvard were to divest from fossil fuel companies, it would have “no” political impact because Harvard, you allege, is not sufficiently influential. At the same time, you’ve told me that you are unwilling to speak on these issues publicly because a discussion of fossil fuel divestment at Harvard might garner too much media attention. These statements give the impression that you are willing to both deny and invoke the influence of Harvard, even at the same time, in order to avoid taking action on this important problem. I think some clarity is required on this topic.

Finally, I am concerned that you are, perhaps, in denial or unaware of important political realities. Your recent denial of the effectiveness of fossil fuel companies in slowing the implementation of clean energy was surprising. I know that you have since indicated that you did not understand what was being discussed at the time. However, you have still not clarified what you understand regarding the political power of fossil fuel companies and the use of that power in our society.

If you have evidence to support the feasibility of your plan to change fossil fuel companies to clean energy companies, you must present it. And if you have evidence to support your assertion that divestment, even partial divestment, will significantly hurt the University financially, you must present it. And if you are going to use “slippery slope” and self-consistency arguments as reasons for inaction on a problem that will affect all of our descendants, then you must make those arguments more clearly.

Those calling for divestment have the right to do so, because the profit motive to exacerbate climate change at the expense of others—an activity that Harvard is now engaging in and endorsing—affects the welfare of their children, grandchildren and the generations that come after them. And the Harvard community has the right to discuss this issue openly with those who have decision-making power in this matter and those who are currently vetoing such calls. This includes, but might not be limited to, you and the other members of the Harvard Corporation.

As for me, after more than a year of unproductive, closed-door meetings with members of the Corporation, during which the same list of unsubstantiated beliefs was presented repeatedly to justify inaction on a problem that will affect all of our descendants, I believe that public debate and discussion are required to separate the sense from the nonsense. You have shown an eagerness to engage with the fossil fuel industry. I ask that you show the same eagerness to engage with members of your own Harvard community who are working to protect their children and grandchildren.

Climate change presents a long fight that will likely require generations of action. I believe we can make more progress by working together in the ways we are able rather than by dismissing others’ concerns. I cannot ask or expect that we will agree on every matter. All I can ask, for the sake of my descendants and those of others, is that you show both honesty and seriousness on this issue. Without those virtues from our leaders, our hope is greatly diminished.

At the end of the day, we are acting for our children and grandchildren and for the generations beyond that. When we choose convenience over truth, we ultimately slow progress, and future generations pay the price. They will not care about who won an argument on a particular day, and they will not care about the clever excuses we come up with for doing nothing. They will care about what was actually true and what we actually did on their behalf.

Sincerely,

Benjamin Franta
Published in The Nation.

RIP Nelson Mandela

noreply@blogger.com (Kathy Stanley) — Sat, 07 Dec 2013 01:04:00 +0000

The World is Sinking - HBO Vice on Global Sea Level Rise

noreply@blogger.com (Kathy Stanley) — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 16:17:00 +0000

If you haven't been watching the new series Vice on HBO, you've been missing some of the best new investigative journalism to come to the t.v. in a lonnngggg time. In the latest episode, Vice takes us to Venice where the city is flooded out 100 days of each year due to sea level rise, and to the Maldives - the island nation which is sinking, and to New York City where Hurricane Sandy gave a reality call on global warming last fall.

Also, watch their extended coverage on preventative measures being taken by the city of Venice:

Ep. 8: VICE Extended: Preventative Measures

One Woman's Journey to Protect the White Lions: Linda Tucker Speaks to CBS News

noreply@blogger.com (Kathy Stanley) — Wed, 22 May 2013 18:17:00 +0000

Linda Tucker of the Global White Lion Protection Trust talking to CBS News about her efforts to protect white lions. Please consider signing the petition to protect white lions. Linda Tucker is on a book tour in North America with the release of her new book:

From CBS News:
Lions are one of the most well-known animals on earth, but not everyone knows about a sub-sect of the species called the white lion.

These large felines are mostly identical to their brown family members, with the main distinction being the color of their coat. They are even in the same species category of Panthera Leo. A white lion is not an albino member of the species, as they do have some coloration in their eyes and in the skin around them. Their coats are a different color because they carry a genetic mutation or marker.

This mutation is also the reason they are not separately protected. Since these lions are still technically the same species, they do not have special protections that could be awarded if they were considered a subspecies to Panthera Leo.

One woman, Linda Tucker, is on a mission to save the white lions. She abandoned her career as a marketing executive in Paris and founded the Global White Lion Protection Trust to dedicate her life to saving these African felines. These big cats have definitely benefited from her support.

There are very few white lions in the wild today as they are not protected and hunted almost to the point of extinction.

White lions generally only live in the wild in the Timbavati region of South Africa. Unfortunately, these majestic creatures are not protected by any international, national or local laws. White lions were first recorded in Timbavati region in 1938 and have technically not been in the wild since 1994.

There is a lot of debate as to whether or not these lions are easily hunted because of their genetic markers, as their coloring makes it harder for them to hide in with wild. However, Tucker states that these beliefs are inherently "untrue," and have not been scientifically proven.

"They can [camouflage] fantastically well, they are apex predators in command of their natural environment," Tucker said in an interview with CBSNews.com.

In fact, many people believe that they reason they are indigenous to the Timbavati region is that area has many white sandy beaches, which allows them to hide effectively and use their natural camouflage.

To see Linda Tucker's full interview, watch the video in the player above.
© 2013 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Amazon Waorani Tribe Threatened by Oil Drilling

noreply@blogger.com (Kathy Stanley) — Wed, 08 May 2013 02:33:00 +0000

The fight for preservation of the Amazon from the ravages of oil production is shown through the story of the Waorani Tribe who are trying to keep their ancestral lands safe. A great investigative piece by Ann Curry of NBC:
NBC News’ Ann Curry journeyed deep into the Amazon Rainforest to a village called Bomeno in Ecuador. Bomeno is home to the rarely seen people of the Waorani Tribe. The tribe and the rainforest they call home is increasingly being threatened by environmental damage caused by oil drilling.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Efforts to preserve part of the Yasuni Rainforest in Ecuador: Yasuni ITT United Nations Development Program Amazon Watch – Yasuni The Kichwa and Hauorani tribes’ efforts to preserve its ancestral land: Saniisla.org Avaaz.org Huaorani blog Change.org Tiputini Biodiversity Station: Tiputini-Universidad San Francisco de Quito

The earth is not a resource bin - it is alive and on a remarkable journey ~ Cosmologist Brian Swimme speaks at Marylhurst University

noreply@blogger.com (Kathy Stanley) — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 18:03:00 +0000

When I was a child in Jamaica, my father built a large telescope in our backyard in Havendale. It was anchored into the ground in a cement platform. An avid amateur astronomer in those days, my father was president of the Astronomical Association of Jamaica and I remember him telling me about the time that a comet was visible in the night sky and he woke me up in the pre-dawn hours so that I could see it through the telescope. I was three years old in 1965 when the great Comet Ikeya-Seki gave earth its spectacular show and while I don’t specifically remember being woken up to see it, I think back fondly to that time when a father woke a sleepy child so that he could show her the wonders of something special taking place in the universe.

It is that wonder at the universe and our place in it that has inspired the life and brilliant work of the imminent cosmologist and evolutionary philosopher Brian Swimme. I had the privilege to hear Dr. Swimme speak on Thursday evening at Marylhurst University as he delivered an inspiring talk titled The Cosmic Force of Feeling.

Swimme’s books include The Universe is a Green Dragon and The Universe Story with Thomas Berry and The Journey of the Universe with Mary Tucker. He teaches at the California Institute of Integral Studies and recently won an Emmy award for his new documentary that aired on PBS, The Journey of the Universe (see below for clip).

Swimme is that rare breed of scientist: a cosmologist who dares to go beyond the conventional Newtonion scientific point of view by bridging the humanities and the sciences without losing sight of the gifts of both. For a lay audience Swimme makes the world of cosmology accessible and wondrous. He decodes scientific discoveries about the nature of the universe by giving us analogous examples that allows us to see ourselves and our human actions placed in context with the larger forces that operate within the universe.

Swimme tells us that there is nothing more human than wondering about the universe and our place in it. He says a full human life includes questions. “We get swept into a life and that movement is a feeling – something moves and attracts us – that isn’t something we create. It is a wave that had its start in the universe and we participate in this wave.”

He says that Thomas Berry got him to think about “what does it mean that we are discovering a fundamental unique account of the universe?”

Swimme acknowledges that he has a different point of view from conventional scientists and that he tries to include explorations of scholars in the humanities as well as the sciences. He says that Berry said that scientists don’t understand the implications of the story of the universe. They get the data but miss the bigger picture of its implications. “The question of meaning is not something that science wants to consider.”

The great discovery of contemporary science is that the universe is not simply a place, but a story – a story in which we are immersed, to which we belong, and out of which we arose. This story has the power to awaken us more deeply to who we are. For just as the Milky Way is the universe in the form of a galaxy, and an orchid is the universe in the form of a flower, we are the universe in the form of a human. And every time we are drawn to look up into the night sky and reflect on the awesome beauty of the universe, we are actually the universe reflecting on itself. And this changes everything. ~ Brian Swimme and Mary Tucker The Journey of the Universe

Swimme said that he tries to imagine what would have happened had Copernicus gone to London in 1543 to explain his newly discovered theory that the Sun is the center of the solar system. At that time England had been going downhill for 300 years with effects of the plague, etc and this new theory was met with great skepticism.

Swimme makes the analogy that we also, in 2013 are suffering a kind of plague: consumerism and the fact that Americans idolize money. Swimme says “we have a bizarre situation where our economic achievement is ruining the planet but conventional wisdom is that we need to increase economic activity! The earth is not a resource bin. It’s actually alive and on a remarkable journey. But the default worldview is that earth is a hardware store.”

Swimme describes how his own consciousness about the earth changed back in 1986 when he read an article in the New York Times about a conference being held at the Smithsonian. The article said that scientists were saying that the present moment is the most destructive in at least 65 million years. In other words, not since the demise of the dinosaurs has there been such a destructive time of extinction taking place on the planet. Swimme gets big laughs from the audience when he describes how this information hit him. It was presented on page 26 of the New York Times, and astonishingly received no follow up in days after.

“There is something massively out of alignment – it is a spiritual pathology when your actions are accomplishing the opposite of what you think you are doing. There is a stark lack of coherence and to hear it means we’ve got to re-think things at a very deep level. We have to change our Newtonian way of thinking. Our challenge now is to give birth to a civilization that is congruent with the forces of the universe.”

For more on Brian Swimme, see his website at The Story of the Universe.

Watch Journey of the Universe on PBS. See more from pbs.

Coming to a subdivision near you: Canada's dirty tar sands oil

noreply@blogger.com (Kathy Stanley) — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 22:56:00 +0000

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Big Life Protecting Wildlife in Amboseli Ecosystem

noreply@blogger.com (Kathy Stanley) — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 20:50:00 +0000

Please consider donating to Big Life Foundation to support their great efforts in protecting endangered wildlife from poaching. See their film on the important work they are doing:

Christiane Amanpour on the Poaching and Trafficking of Wildlife

noreply@blogger.com (Kathy Stanley) — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 05:51:00 +0000

Christiane Amanpour from ABC News on the escalation in the horrific poaching and trafficking of wildlife fueled by demand from China:

Symphony of Science: Al Gore on Climate Reality

noreply@blogger.com (Kathy Stanley) — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 19:05:00 +0000

RIP Qumquat...Elephants gunned down...please stop the madness

noreply@blogger.com (Kathy Stanley) — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 21:01:00 +0000

Qumquat and her family brutally slaughtered~ Photo by Nick Brandt the day before..

My heart breaks with this news of the senseless slaughter of elephants that is raging across Africa. The latest horrific story comes from Kenya where the elephant matriarch Qumquat, who was photographed just the day before by the amazing photographer Nick Brandt, was slaughtered for her tusks along with three generations of her family leaving a lone traumatized orphan. This maddening elephant slaughter is being driven by the desire for ivory in China. Estimates are that 35,000 elephants are being killed each year in Africa. At this rate elephants in the wild will be wiped out within 15 years. Read and weep. And if you are so inclined, please consider helping out the Big Life Foundation which is doing what it can to protect these beloved elephants.

From the NYT Dot Earth blog:

Qumquat, one of the best-known matriarchs in the elephant population of the Amboseli ecosystem on the Kenya-Tanzania border, was photographed with her family on October 27 by Nick Brandt. Just 24 hours later, the old female and most of the others were gunned down by poachers. One day later, the old female and nearly all of the other elephants in this group were found slaughtered. Their faces had been hacked off by the poachers to be sure they gleaned every ounce of ivory from the tusks.(Click here for photographs of the result – not for the squeamish.)

Read on for a description of this incident and the resulting hunt for the killers by Richard Bonham, who co-founded Big Life Foundation with Brandt a few years ago to raise money for anti-poaching patrols around the park. There’s more on their work on Dot Earth (the same post is here in Chinese). Here’s Bonham’s report from the field:

THREE GUNSHOTS, THEIR FATAL EFFECT, AND PURSUIT OF THE KILLERS
The crack of a heavy rifle, designed specially to kill elephants, is unmistakable. It’s a little like a sonic boom, a crash followed by a roll of sound not unlike thunder.
This is what the Big Life rangers, manning an observation point on the Tanzania border, heard on Sunday afternoon. Three shots in quick succession.
This triggered the radio network to burst into life, as they called in for support from Kenya Wildlife Service and other Big Life teams in the area. The reaction was textbook, and in less than an hour and half, a combined unit of Big Life and KWS rangers were on the scene.
As dusk set in, a ranger spotted three men. One of the poachers raised a rifle and fired at the rangers, sending the team scurrying for cover. It would have been suicide to continue the pursuit in the fading light, so the teams pulled back to resume the follow-up at first light.
I arrived by plane at sunrise the following day to give aerial support and look for carcasses. After an hour and half of fruitless searching, we received news that a fresh tusk, still covered in blood, had been found on the poachers’ tracks. The follow-up team split up, some continuing with the poachers tracks, others backtracking to find the carcasses.
At midday the gut-wrenching news arrived. Three dead elephants had been found, their faces cut away, their ivory gone.
The team from Amboseli Elephant Research identified the dead as Qumquat, born in 1968, one of Amboseli’s most famous and oldest matriarchs, and her two daughters, Qantina and Quaye.
Just 24 hours before they were gunned down, Nick Brandt took the above photo of the three of them, alive on their last afternoon together. You can see that he was just a few feet from the family, so trusting, so relaxed. Such easy pickings for poachers with a mind to murder for profit.
At the front is Qumquat, beyond her two daughters, Qantina and Quaye. As for the three youngest, two are missing, the younger almost certainly dead now. Only the youngest calf is alive, a story in and of itself….
RESCUE OF QUMQUAT’S ORPHANED CALF
When the rangers found the carcasses, Qumquat’s youngest calf, only ten months old, was also there, watching over his mother’s carcass. The calf, traumatized at having watched its mother shot and butchered, had stood vigil all night alone.
He was caught – not easy – and led to a position where the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust rescue team could get it onto a vehicle. He was then transferred to an aircraft chartered in from Nairobi, which then flew him back to the Sheldrick orphanage.
The professionalism of this operation, orchestrated by the Sheldrick Trust, was so smooth, that any First World emergency response ambulance would have been proud to have been a part of it. Sadly they have had too much practice in recent years.
All in all, it was a good example what can happen when everyone pulls together, in this case Big Life Foundation, Kenya Wildlife Service, Amboseli Trust for Elephants and the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.
ARREST OF NOTORIOUS POACHER WHO KILLED QUMQUAT
Meanwhile, the poachers’ tracks that the Big Life teams had been following had disappeared where the poachers entered settled country. Even bringing in the dog unit at this stage would have been fruitless.
But as it so often does, Big Life’s informer network came through. We were informed of the location of one of the key poachers, and the following day, the Big Life teams, in partnership with KWS, arrested him.
It was a notorious long-term poacher who, to be honest, we had already arrested a year ago. He had been jailed, but then released far too soon. This time, we are confident he will be put away for a long time. We also know the identity of one of the other poachers, who is in hiding. Generally, they eventually surface, and we will be waiting.
But it’s so disturbing, once again, how the poachers, greedy and brutal, gunned down Qumquat’s daughters, who possessed such small tusks, for just a few extra dollars. All in a day’s ‘work’.
HELP US STOP THE KILLING
After a week in which Amboseli’s elephants suffered the worst single slaughter in some time, we ask ourselves what we need to do differently. We are determined to do more, to make sure that something like this does not happen again. There are two clear solutions:
MOBILE CAMPS
We need rangers in the right place at the right time. The solution – additional mobile camps – is low tech, simple and reasonably cheap. Our permanent outposts would have the capability of setting up 4-man mobile camps that can be deployed into areas as the wildlife moves, or where a poaching threat is deemed serious or imminent. The costs are just over $2000 per mobile camp, one for each of the 14 current outposts.
We believe that it will make a huge difference – not just because it will mean we can get men to the scene faster, but also as a deterrent, because poachers will not know when and where the camps will be deployed.
DIGITAL RADIO NETWORK
Our current radio system, which has to cover the 2 million acres Big Life rangers patrol, is completely inefficient compared to the new digital systems. Amongst many major improvements, all the new digital radios, vehicle or handheld, have built in GPS, and as such can be tracked in real time on screens in the radio room of Big Life HQ.
In an incident such as the Qumquat family killing, we would have known exactly where all our units were and which unit was best placed to respond. We could have then directed them much more efficiently. This could have made the difference in tracking down the poachers in time before they escaped.
There are many more reasons why this system will dramatically improve Big Life operations and ultimately pay for itself. A full breakdown can be read here.
The costs for the above are :
14 x MOBILE CAMPS @ $2000 each $28,000
EXTRA RUNNING COSTS FOR MOBILE CAMPS$12,000
NEW DIGITAL COMMUNICATION SYSTEM$65,000
TOTAL$105,000
$105,000 would pay for these immediate major improvements to our anti-poaching operations.
We would be hugely grateful if you donated today, something, anything towards this amount, knowing that animals’ lives, and the health of an entire precious ecosystem would be improved by your contribution.
Qumquat was a truly special matriarch, who successfully led her herd for many years.
In one hellish afternoon, three generations of her herd were exterminated. But there are thousands of other Qumquats and sons and daughters all across the vast African ecosystem. Please help us to protect them.
Thank you in advance, Nick Brandt & Richard Bonham
Donate at :
www.biglife.org/donations
I was glad to see Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, even amid so many other pressing foreign-policy challenges, committing the United States to doing more to cut the illicit trade in wildlife and related products. There’s no time to lose. Keep track of this issue on Twitter using this tag: #stopwildlifecrime.

Climate Action 2.0: DIVESTMENT

noreply@blogger.com (Kathy Stanley) — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 20:04:00 +0000

Hurricane Sandy Hope River Jamaica

Let’s face it: changing light bulbs and recycling are not working. It’s just not enough. We continue to blast more and more carbon into the atmosphere each year. Scientists tell us the safe limit for carbon in the atmosphere is 350 parts per million. We’re at 392 parts per million and the upward march continues. The climate is warming and Hurricane Sandy is just a harbinger of what’s to come if we continue to gorge on fossil fuels. As Bloomberg Business Review so starkly stated last week: “It’s Global Warming, Stupid.”

So what can we do? How do we turn this thing around when we face an industry that basically owns Congress? That denies climate change is happening, and that operates with total impunity. How do you convince a morally-absent behemoth that its short-sighted profits-before-life business plan needs to change? How do we get a movement together that takes the MATH seriously?

I’m excited about the new path of climate action proposed by Bill McKibben and 350.org that aims to show the fossil fuel industry the power of what a movement can do.

From 350.org: The Do The Math tour will make it clear why the fossil fuel industry is so determined to block progress. As McKibben wrote in a groundbreaking article in Rolling Stone this June, the climate crisis can be boiled down into three simple numbers: 2°C, 565 gigatonnes, and 2,795 gigatonnes.

Even the most conservative governments in the world have agreed that global warming should be limited to no more than 2°C. Scientists say to meet that target we can only emit an additional 565 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. But the fossil fuel industry has 2795 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide in their reserves, nearly five times too much — and everyday they spend millions of dollars looking for more.

“What this math shows is that the fossil fuel industry is a rogue industry,” said McKibben. “You can have a healthy fossil-fuel balance sheet, or a relatively healthy planet – but now that we know the numbers, it looks like you can’t have both.”

I call it Climate Action 2.0. This new approach aims to engage universities, colleges, pension funds and religious institutions around the country to divest from their investments in the fossil fuel industry. This divestment strategy to bring about change to recalcitrant actors has worked before. Witness the demise of the apartheid regime of South Africa which was brought to its knees through the power of collective divestment in South African companies.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu said: “We could not have achieved our freedom and just peace without the help of people around the world, who through the use of non-violent means, such as boycotts and divestment, encouraged their governments and other corporate actors to reverse decades-long support for the apartheid regime. Students played a leading role in that struggle.”

Now it is time to send the fossil fuel industry a similar message.

I attended the 350.org Do the Math tour event in Palo Alto, California on Saturday night. The event was sold out, as it was in Seattle, Portland and other cities last week. This movement is mobilizing and 350.org has a lot of support material to get people informed and set-up to planning and staging successful divestment campaigns on campuses and other institutions. There is already one university that has taken the bold step of divestment. Stephen Mulkey, President of Unity College in Unity, Maine wrote this about the decision of the Board of Trustees to divest:

"I am proud to be a part of the 350.org program of divestment, and I am especially proud of the Unity College Board of Trustees for their willingness to make this affiliation. Indeed, the Trustees have been on the path of divestment for over five years. The Trustees have looked at the College’s finances in the context of our ethical obligation to our students, and they have chosen to make a stand. I can think of no stronger statement about the mission of Unity College.

Our college community will lead by fearless action. We will confront policy makers who continue to deny the existence of climate change. We will encourage those who work in higher education to bravely step out from behind manicured, taxpayer funded hedges, and do what needs to be done. We will not equivocate, and we will meet those who have been misled by climate change denial in their communities.

The time is long overdue for all investors to take a hard look at the consequences of supporting an industry that persists in employing a destructive business model. Because of its infrastructure and enormous economic clout, fossil fuel corporations could pump trillions into the development of alternative energy. Government subsidies and stockholder shares could be used constructively to move these corporations to behave responsibly.

Higher education is the crown jewel of the United States system of education, and it remains the envy of the world. Higher education has always been dedicated to the highest standards of honesty and integrity. If our nation’s colleges and universities will not take a stand now, who will?"

If you live on the east coast, visit the website to see the upcoming tour dates and do not miss this event if the climate and the future of life on earth means anything to you. And if you are considering divestment of your own individual portfolio, the Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment is a good resource.

For the earth.

The Disconnect on Climate Change in the Political Cycle

noreply@blogger.com (Kathy Stanley) — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 23:41:00 +0000

Anyone see this headline of a few days ago? "Climate change deaths could total 100 Million by 2030 if World Fails to Act." Anyone care? Tonight is the 1st Presidential debate and the absence of any discussion on climate change is unbelievable and a serious moral negligence.
Discussion from a Huffpost Live panel:

R.I.P. Caribbean Coral Reefs

noreply@blogger.com (Kathy Stanley) — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 22:19:00 +0000

The latest diagnosis on Caribbean coral reefs is dire. We need immediate action to protect the remaining 10% of reefs struggling to survive in the face of decades of overfishing, climate change and now, lionfish. Overfishing and climate change are reported in this report as the prime causes of Caribbean coral reef collapse. Let us hope that that the newly signed Belize Declaration on Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) will prove to have meaningful outcomes for protecting the Caribbean marine environment from illegal overfishing. Meanwhile, Jamaica, (a participant in the Belize Declaration) whose marine environment has been decimated by overfishing continues to wait for positive local action on conservation. Are Jamaican lawmakers content to sit by with the deplorable reputation of being "the most overfished nation in the Caribbean?" From a Sept 6, 2012 National Geographic Newswatch report:

The Caribbean’s coral reefs have collapsed, mostly due to overfishing and climate change, according to a new report released by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

In the most comprehensive study yet of Caribbean coral reefs, scientists have discovered that the 50 to 60 percent coral cover present in the 1970s has plummeted to less than 10 percent.

“I’m sad to tell you it’s a dire picture,” Carl Gustaf Lundin, director of IUCN’s Global Marine and Polar Programme, said at a news briefing Friday at the World Conservation Congress in Jeju Island, South Korea.

Called “Nature’s Olympics,” the conference will explore five environmental themes over five days. Today’s theme is Nature+ Climate, which focuses on how to combat global warming.

Much of the decline is caused by a massive die-off of sea urchins in the 1970s—possibly due to disease. Without these reef grazers—the “cows in the field” that keep vegetation in check—the number of algae and grasses have skyrocketed, dominating reefs and pushing corals aside, Lundin said.

What’s more, overfishing of grazer species such as parrotfish or surgeonfish is allowing more algae to take over and outcompete the coral, said Ameer Abdulla, IUCN senior advisor on Marine Biodiversity and Conservation Science.

“Coral reef communities are just like human communities—there are different roles that are fundamental to keeping the system going,” Abdulla said.

For example, if all the engineers were taken out of a human society, that would affect how the society functions.

The same phenomenon is happening with the loss of the Caribbean’s grazers, he said.

Global Warming Also at Play

The scientists also said that warmer water—often caused by hurricanes blowing through—have harmed reefs. When the water gets too hot, algae that live inside coral, called zooxanthellae—abandon their hosts, causing the coral themselves to bleach and eventually die.

Though some reefs can bounce back from such periods of warmer water, notably in the Indian Ocean, ”We have heating happening with much higher frequency and for longer duration,” Lundin told National Geographic News.

For instance, some 500-to-a-thousand-year-old corals in the Indian Ocean have died due to warmer water.

“We know with some certainty we haven’t had this happen for a thousand years, that’s a clear indication that something’s afoot,” Lundin said.

“For those that are very skeptical of what’s happening with climate change, I would say reality is not in their favor.”

Caribbean Collapse a First—Others May Follow

Corals are vital for many reasons, from boosting tourism dollars to local communities and even buffeting islands themselves from powerful storm surges, Lundin said.

The good news is that there are ways to protect the remaining 10 percent of Caribbean corals.

“The urgency of improving management is certainly there—our message is we need to encourage the people who are the custodians of the resources to take charge. We do know a lot about what one can do,” said Lundin.

For instance, putting in place marine protected areas can reduce the pressure of overfishing. Governments can also work with local fishers to maintain their livelihoods, for instance by raising the value of individual fish so that the fishers catch fewer animals.

The bottom line, Abdulla said, is that “the Caribbean system is one of first systems to experience collapse—it’s something that will happen across the globe if human use of coral reefs continues as it is.” ~ Christine Dell’Amore, environment writer-editor for National Geographic News, is reporting from the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Jeju Island, South Korea.

Jamaica 50 August 6 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Kathy Stanley) — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 21:20:00 +0000

Look at her...*tears*...our little island nation celebrates her 50th year of independence on August 6! Even with all our challenges and many hurdles yet to cross, I join with every Jamaican who celebrates independence and the achievements of so many of our fellow Jamaicans on the Rock and within our wide diaspora. Check out this recent Toronto Star article titled "Jamaica Punches Above Its Weight" on Jamaica's achievements. There is much to be proud of.

The official Jamaica 50 website has updates and links to all of the events on the island and in the diaspora communities. Me, out here in the outer banks of the diaspora, I'll be cooking up some ackee and saltfish, jerk chicken, rice and peas and celebrating with some Appleton with a few close yardies in Portland (and keeping an eye on our #TeamJamaica at the Olympics).

OUT OF MANY, ONE PEOPLE!

ONE LOVE!!!!!

Jamaica 50

Vandana Shiva talks GMO's with Bill Moyers

noreply@blogger.com (Kathy Stanley) — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 22:16:00 +0000

One of the greatest heroes on the planet, Vandana Shiva, talking to Bill Moyers about the problem with genetically modified food. This is essential viewing for anyone who cares about the health of our food supply and who gets to control it. Vandana Shiva brilliantly distinguishes here the difference between globalization as we have it today with corporations controlling commodities, as opposed to the sustainable flow of interconnectedness which is the path we should be striving towards:

Hijacking of America: Charles Ferguson on Democracy Now!

noreply@blogger.com (Kathy Stanley) — Wed, 30 May 2012 17:35:00 +0000

Compelling, must-watch interview on Democracy Now! with Charles Ferguson, Oscar-winning documentary film-maker of Inside Job and author of the newly released book Predator Nation:Corporate Criminals, Political Corruption and the Hijacking of America. Ferguson lays out the intersection of academic collusion with financial malfeasance in stark terms. The recent boondoggles with the Facebook IPO and J.P. Morgan Chase multi-billion losses are just the latest examples of everything wrong with the financial system in this country.

MARLEY - Movie on the life of Bob Marley opens Friday April 20, 2012 in theatres and on-demand

noreply@blogger.com (Kathy Stanley) — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 15:54:00 +0000

Cannot wait to see this! From the movie website:

Bob Marley's universal appeal, impact on music history and role as a social and political prophet is both unique and unparalleled. MARLEY is the definitive life story of the musician, revolutionary, and legend, from his early days to his rise to international superstardom. Made with the support of the Marley family, the film features rare footage, incredible performances and revelatory interviews with the people that knew him best. Directed by Kevin MacDonald (The Last King of Scotland) ~ In theatres and on demand 4.20.2012

From a Wall Street Journal interview with the director Kevin MacDonald:
What is it about Bob Marley that has made him so enduringly popular more than 30 years after his death?
I think the key for me to understanding him is that he’s really the only third-world superstar. Nobody from the developing world has ever gone on to have that level of fame and international success. The whole reason why dreadlocks are in fashion, that’s because of Bob. No country is as associated with a single individual as Jamaica is with Bob. Go anywhere around the world, especially in the developing world, and you find people who worship him. His mural is all over the place. Even in the Arab Spring, in the closing credits [of “Marley”] we have a clip of people singing “Get Up, Stand Up.” Then you have the whole musical thing—there’s nobody who doesn’t like Bob Marley’s music.

It's the Climate: Connect the Dots

noreply@blogger.com (Kathy Stanley) — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 23:38:00 +0000

Utterly brilliant 2 minute video brought to you by the folks that give a s&*% about what's happening to the earth, the climate, and whether there will even be a habitable earth 7 generations from now. Watch and join the Connect the Dots Climate Impacts Day action on May 5, 2012:

Invitation from Bill McKibben of 350.org:

Dear Friends

Across the planet now we see ever more flood, ever more drought, ever more storms. People are dying, communities are being wrecked — the impacts we’re already witnessing from climate change are unlike anything we have seen before.

But because the globe is so big, it’s hard for most people to see that it’s all connected. That’s why, on May 5, we will Connect the Dots.

In places from drought-stricken Mongolia to flood-stricken Thailand, from fire-ravaged Australia to Himalayan communities threatened by glacial melt, we will hold rallies reminding everyone what has happened in our neighborhoods. And at each of those rallies, from Kenya to Canada, from Vietnam to Vermont, someone will be holding a…dot. A huge black dot on a white banner, a “dot” of people holding hands, encircling a field where crops have dried up, a dot made of fabric and the picture taken from above — you get the idea. We’ll share those images the world around, to put a human face on climate change–we’ll hold up a mirror to the planet and force people to come face to face with the ravages of climate change.

Anyone and everyone can participate in this day. Many of us do not live in Texas, the Philippines, or Ethiopia — places deeply affected by climate impacts. For those communities, there are countless ways to stand in solidarity with those on the front-lines of the climate crisis: some people will giving presentations in their communities about how to connect the dots. Others will do projects to demonstrate what sorts of climate impacts we can expect if the crisis is left unchecked. And still others of us will express our indignation to local media and politicians for failing to connect the dots in their coverage of “natural disasters.”

However you choose to participate, your voice is needed in this fight — and you can sign up here: www.climatedots.org

These will be beautiful events, we’re sure. But they will also have an edge. It’s important for all of us whose lives are being damaged to know that it’s right that we get a little angry at those forces causing this problem. The fossil fuel industry is at fault, and we have to make that clear. Our crew at 350.org will work hard to connect all these dots — literally — and weave them together to create a potent call to action, and we will channel that call directly to the people who need to hear it most.

May 5 is coming soon; we need to work rapidly. Because climate change is bearing down on us, and we simply can’t wait. The world needs to understand what’s happening, and you’re the people who can tell them.

Please join us–we need you to send the most important alarm humanity has ever heard: www.climatedots.org

Onwards,

Bill McKibben for the whole team at ClimateDots.org

Jamaica and Climate Change

noreply@blogger.com (Kathy Stanley) — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 23:06:00 +0000


Havendale flooding, Kingston, Jamaica ~ Tropical Storm Nicole

Hat-tip to our friends over at Green Antilles for the heads-up on this good article re-posted here from IPS News:

Working to Cope with Climate Change, Jamaica Calculates CostsBy Zadie Neufville KINGSTON, April 8, 2012 (IPS) -

Jamaican authorities are aiming to transform an island that experts say faces one of the worst climate risks in the world into a nation "equipped to prepare for and respond to the negative impacts of climate change".

Vision 2030, the National Development Plan, offers strategies to simplify climate change adaptation, merging its principles with both development and local policy frameworks. Charting a course from 2010 to 2030, the plan aims for "a strong and stable economic foundation".

Extreme events have had a significant impact on Jamaica's economy, environment and people. Five major storm events between 2004 and 2008 reportedly caused 1.2 billion U.S. dollars in losses and damage.

Industries that suffer the brunt of each impact include agriculture, which reportedly employs 180,000 people; tourism, employing about 106,000; and fisheries, employing 100,000.

Economists agree that in addition to exposing the country's lack of resources, adaptation planning has uncovered vulnerabilities in the financial sector. They also point to the need for sustainable financing for adaptation and risk reduction strategies – Jamaica's adaptation is being funded by grants, loans and donations from international bodies.

Private sector risks:

The burden of equipping Jamaica to adapt to the impact of climate change does not fall solely on the government. The private sector is also being urged to pay attention to areas where it is vulnerable. Insurance companies, for example, face risks that could cripple the financial sector, environmental economist Maurice Mason said. "Lack of adequate re- insurance means the financial sector is highly exposed," he warned. The economist noted that because businesses are grounded in stock returns, they seem to have overlooked the long-term planning necessary for climate change adaptation. In 2004, Dyoll Insurance Company collapsed after it amassed huge losses resulting from Hurricane Ivan's devastation of several countries and the Cayman Islands. Delayed compensation payments on crop insurance also drove many farmers out of business and hurt agro- processing companies. "With increased intensities and frequencies of hurricanes and storms predicted, the implications for loss are great for local insurers and their re- insurers," Mason concluded.

"Adequate re-insurance options for local insurers and a reassessment of the triggers and parameters used" by the Caribbean Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF), which provides risk insurance for Caribbean governments to cover damages from natural events, are needed, said environmental economist Maurice Mason.

Vision 2030 is built into Jamaica's second national communication to the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (UNCCC). Central to Vision 2030 are a national energy plan, plans for other sectors and a still incomplete climate change adaptation plan.

"Achieving a healthy natural environment" is one of the plan's four goals, as the vulnerable island is heavily reliant on natural resources. The plan's 15 outcomes incorporate the related themes of climate change and disaster risk reduction, tourism, manufacturing, environmental protection and sustainable planning.

In drafting Vision 2030, the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) sought input from Jamaicans from all walks of life. "If our ecosystem development does not allow people to live, they will work to destroy it," said PIOJ head Gladstone Hutchinson.

Pointing to the necessity of a "strong focus" on improved environmental management, he noted, "dysfunction in any of these spheres will impact Vision 2030".

No place left untouched

At risk are Kingston's commercial district and its service infrastructure, the historical town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport. Portmore, a settlement of more than 250,000 people, Jamaica's fastest growing town of Old Harbour Bay and the famous Negril are also threatened.

Scientists at the Geo-Informatics Institute of the University of the West Indies predict sea level rise of a minimum two to three millimetres per year during the first half of this century. Such levels could affect an estimated 102 square kilometres in some of the most densely populated coastal areas.

A one to two metre rise, the UWI study speculated, would devastate low-lying coastal areas and key installations, including major power generation facilities, the oil refinery, airports and seaports. It would also have a serious impact on the natural protection of the Kingston harbour.

High engineering costs means there must be focus on improving access roads and shoring up the capability of response agencies, Mason, who works at the Disaster Risk Reduction Centre at the University of the West Indies, told IPS.

"Where climate change is concerned, everything up to 10 meters is vulnerable. That will put all our critical facilities at risk, our transhipment port in Kingston, both major airports and the north coast - that is effectively 70 percent of our GDP," he said in a telephone interview.

Protecting Jamaica from sea level rise will cost approximately 532 million U.S. dollars, using a 1992 estimated cost of 197 U.S. dollars per person, and even without estimating the impact on natural resources, costs have begun to add up.

Raising about four kilometres of Palisadoes Road by just over three metres above sea level is estimated to cost 65.7 million dollars. The road links the airport and the town of Port Royal to the rest of the island. Recently, it has been blocked due to storm surges, marooning the historic town and airport. But experts also point to the need for reengineering works on roadways such as the main route from Kingston to the south coast. The main escape route for Portmore and other vulnerable communities, it becomes impassable during bad weather, and alternative routes are also prone to flooding and landslides.

The U.N. Adaption Fund has approved funding for the construction of protective structures to halt the erosion of the world famous Negril Beach, a project with a 25 million dollar price tag. Experts estimate one to two metres of the beach is eroded each year. In 2010, the popular destination reportedly brought in a quarter of the island's 2 billion dollars in tourism earnings.

Deploying natural resources

PIOJ's Mary Gooden outlined adaptation strategies that include identifying alternative employment for communities where human activities are hurting forests and wetlands. "We have to teach them to protect the environment while living in it," she said noting that individuals are being helped to develop plans and proposals as well as access start-up funding.

The Forestry Department has replanted more than 300,000 hectares of forests in degraded upper watershed areas to reduce run-off, erosion and silting of waterways. The National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) is restoring natural coastal defences by replanting mangrove trees in some of the island's most vulnerable communities. Mangroves absorb wave energy, thereby reducing impact on the land. They are also a source of fuel wood, animal feed and sticks to build fish pots.

Vision 2030 places high priority on alternative sources of energy to mitigate climate change. Most of the island's energy generation facilities and supporting services lie within a 10-metre vulnerability zone. The energy plan hinges on the state-owned Wigton Wind Farm in central Jamaica. The facility has helped reduce Jamaica's oil purchasing, which topped 1.48 billion U.S. dollars between January and June 2011. The plan aims to reduce the amount of electricity generated from imported petroleum from 95 percent to 30 percent by 2030, with 15 percent from renewable energy by 2020.

In order to lessen the impact of floods and droughts, artificial water recharge mechanisms that return excess water to natural underground storage systems are also being installed, as are rainwater catchment systems. Additional weather stations are also being set up to provide valuable data on rainfall and temperature.

Seeds of Light is building an Orphan Center in South Africa

noreply@blogger.com (Kathy Stanley) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 16:01:00 +0000

I'm pleased to be supporting Seeds of Light as they embark on their biggest project yet: the building of an orphan center that will support hundreds of AIDS orphans in South Africa. From the Seeds of Light website:
Our approach is twofold. We take action with practical projects to support and uplift impoverished and marginalized communities such as : providing access to clean water; creating food gardens; improving overall health of AIDS orphans and vulnerable children; and preserving endangered species and ecosystems. We also offer a range of trainings to enhance life-skills.

Watch the latest update:
From the latest newsletter:

Several months ago we announced our plans to help build an orphan center, Ekurhuleni Center for Orphans and Vulnerable Children ("Place of Peace"), Seeds of Light's biggest project ever! The Center will feed and care for 300-500 AIDS orphans daily, and eventually will house some of the neediest of those children. In December, we were offered a matching grant from a U.S. foundation, and we are thrilled to say that we raised the full $45,000 match for the grant! Thank you for making that possible! Since we last wrote to you, there has been another very exciting development. The Foundation who sponsored the matching grant in November offered us an additional matching grant of $72,000. This means if we raise the full match, we will have a total of $145,000 needed to finish Phase 1 of the Orphan Center! Will you please help with a one-time donation or a monthly donation? Or would you be willing to organize a fundraiser of some kind--garage sale, bake sale, raffle, etc.?

To get involved or join in supporting this great cause, please visit the Seeds of Light website.