Lovelock: It's Too Late

I just reserved James Lovelock's latest two books from the library: "The Vanishing Face of Gaia - A Final Warning" and the previous one, "The Revenge of Gaia - Earth's Climate Crisis & The Fate Of Humanity." Nice "light" reading. He says that some will survive the coming apocalypse, but not many. I may be entering a dark period soon. Collapsitarianism, anyone? Hmmm....maybe I shouldn't bother, and just skip merrily, obliviously along my way.

Scientist Lovelock Believes It’s Too Little, Too Late For the Environment
June 4, 2009
By Andrea Frascione, staff writer

MONTREAL (RPRN) 6/4/2009–In his latest book, The Vanishing Face of Gaia, English scientist-author, James Lovelock, discusses the very real possibility that there is absolutely nothing we can do to save planet Earth. In a recent interview, he compares our era to the interglacial periods of the past where the Earth has heated up far too much and far to quickly in recent years to be able to reverse its warming effects.

‘‘Until now, Earth has always been a planet that regulates itself,’’ says Lovelock in a press statetement, ‘‘however, based - not on theory - but on observation, it may be too late for it to deal with (these changes), making annihilation inevitable.’’

Lovelock states that as many as seven-eighths of the human race will be ‘wiped out’, save for the U.S. and Canada. His book explains why North America, ironically, is somehow one of the most resistant continents of the globe. He warns that border patrols can expect a rapid influx of immigrants from around the world once the ‘apocalypse’ ensues. While this may all sound a tad dramatic, Lovelock insists that there is very solid historical evidence to predict our impending doomsday, alluding to an era fifty-five million years ago that forever changed the climatic face of Greenland as we know it today.

‘‘We pulled a trigger by accident in the system.’’ says Lovelock, and the effects we witness today, created, for the most part, in the last century, are irreversible.

He especially criticizes politicians who, due to their popularity rather than acquired knowledge, attempt to propagate otherwise. He ensures us that we may, however, slow down the inevitable process minutely, by converting to renewable energy sources such as wind farms, solar panels and by harnessing nuclear energy in overcrowded populaces such as London, England. He explains that regions of the globe utilizing energy sources inherent to their landscape - as Iceland does with its hot rocks - are best off.

A proposed mass conversion to a renewable energy resource in Venice, Italy means that soon, 50% of it will be powered by biofuels, obtained largely by scraping green algae from the underside of boats and canal walls, converted in a laboratory to renewable fuel. This government initiative will serve to reduce carbon emissions released into the atmosphere by its motorboats and water-transport vehicles and also beautify the mucky waters for gondola-riders and tourists strolling the banks of this ancient European city.

Earthships are another effective way to begin living green. Any abode whose structure is composed of recycled material, with south-facing windows for maximum sunlight absorption, thickly insulated walls, and uses off-the-grid resources can be considered an earthship. Using greenhouses for food, collecting rainwater, generating power through the use of windmills and solar panels, these complete green homes resemble sci-fi huts of Star Wars colonies but are, in fact, the way of the very real future.

And, of course, let’s not forget the recent grocery-chain giants’ initiative of charging a whopping five-cents for plastic bags, in favor of their green cloth ones instead. One small step for over-consuming mankind; One giant leap for ridding our dumps of non-biodegradable waste seldom used more than once. Although, with all the handy carryall options available to shoppers out there nowadays, one wonders if it really is necessary to continue selling the plastic ones at all, much less at a price that hardly puts a dent in the average American’s wallet…or change-purse, in this case.

Many on-line promotional distributors are making the move to greener product lines as well. Barry Sokol of P.L. Marketing is making recycled and eco-friendly products affordable to all his customers, toting a brand new E-catalog boasting mouse pads made from recycled tires, recycled USB keys, bags made from recycled plastic bottles and even recycled drink ware - all at price points comparable to their less Eco-friendly counterparts! Tote bags can even be made out of recycled billboard material, making small sections of large-scale advertisements visually interesting, close-up.

Lovelock admits that environmentalists don’t like him very much because he paints a very bleak portrait of our dying planet and the ultimate fate of mankind, despite its overall enthusiasm and sincere attempts at going green as of late. But, he reluctantly concludes his interview by saying, ‘‘Even scientists can never really be 100% certain about anything.’’ Let’s hope this statement rings true.

This story can be found here.

Lately, it really does feel like things are just falling apart, and no one has the political will to really do much about it: healthcare, energy, food contamination, water scarcity, poverty, torture, war, excessive military spending, financial fraud, you name it, we're just coasting along, perhaps waiting for some divine intervention. I wonder if every generation has felt this way? Anyway, have a nice day!!