@jeanne-mayell Add solar receptive sails and it would not only match The Ministry... but also a vision of the future I saw about five years ago... slower, simpler... combined with ingenious technological solutions... tapping into ancient techniques like permaculture... our better future is already beginning to dawn.
There's no reason at all that small sailboats couldn't ply coastal waters replacing some of the north/south shipping that now goes to diesel trucking and diesel rail traffic (at least no reason that I'm aware of.. tax issues? Right of way? Customs between countries).
Solar drones for Amazon deliveries? I think the US is already wrestling with the issue of air traffic... humm... I do love the new rolling battery-operated carry drones that follow people from store to city apartment... they follow their master just like the "Luggage" described in Terry Pratchett's hilarious, clever DiscWorld series.
On the same theme, I'd love to somehow help the "half earth" concept evolve... more open corridors for animals (and plants) to move more freely north/south, east west... slowly but surely expanding wild territory which bars human habitation and exploitation. This would tie into my vision of the future, too... humans surrounded by the wild, protected by hugh barriers to save the wild from humans and humans from some of the dangerous wild creatures (this also was in my vision). Similar ocean corridors could be established first nationally then internationally. Designated protected areas are already beginning to be established off US coastal waters...
We need to encourage a return to large stretches of sand dunes, marshes, wild land off our oceans and around our rivers and lakes.
Question is how do we get started? Or more to the point how to I as an individual get started? Surely there are organizations that are already trying? Sierra Club? The Nature Conservatory? Does anyone know of some source for finding/assessing such groups? I don't even know how to find/assess them in my own state (NJ).
Hopefully someone in our group is more clued into "the movements?" Are there publications? National/international?
We need more climate solution activists sneaking right past the political dinosaurs!
Finally, how do I get rid of the letter "P" that shows up at the end of every one of my entries? LOL. I'll stop nattering on now... Love to you all, Freya
@freya I don’t see any P’s at the end of your entries, but if you are referring to when you use Microsoft Word then the reversed “P” is a paragraph mark. I use Microsoft for Ipad, and in the upper right hand corner is a paragraph formatting drop down. Click on Paragraph Mark to eliminate the P.
Your visions of a world where humans and other animals are co-existing in greater harmony fills me with joy. I'm just beginning to inform myself about the topic, and there is so much to learn that at times it can be a bit overwhelming.
The Wildlife Corridors Conservation Act of 2019 was approved in the House but didn't make it out of committee in the Senate. However, this letter in support of the legislation, signed by dozens of conservation groups, might be a good place to find an organization that resonates with you.
But while this piece of legislation didn't pass, the subsequent Bipartisan Infrastructure Law allocated billions of dollars to conservation. Here are some of the highlights, including wildlife corridors!:
- $350 million for a first-of-its-kind grant program to construct wildlife-friendly roadway crossings and reconnect fragmented migration corridors.
- $250 million for the Legacy Roads and Trails Remediation Program to improve access to Forest Service public lands and safeguard fish and wildlife habitat from harmful runoff and pollutants caused by roads in disrepair.
- Reauthorization of the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund, which pays for fisheries conservation, access improvements, and education for anglers and boaters.
- $1.4 billion for natural infrastructure solutions through the Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-Saving Transportation (PROTECT) Grant Program.
- $14.65 billion for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund Program, which supports estuary restoration and stormwater management projects.
- $400 million for WaterSMART grants, with $100 million set aside for natural infrastructure solutions that enhance resilience to drought and wildfires, facilitate water conservation, create new habitat, and improve water quality.
- Significant investments in programs aimed at enhancing the resiliency of Western watersheds to climate change and drought, including $300 million to implement the Colorado River Drought Contingency Plans, $3.2 billion to modernize aging agricultural infrastructure and generate benefits for fish and wildlife, and $50 million to support ongoing Endangered Species recovery efforts that sustain habitat for native fish.
And here's an update from the Department of the Interior on the wildlife corridors.
A book that I found absolutely life-changing is Wilding by Isabella Tree. It's the story of a farm in southern England that the owners turned over to nature, and the incredible benefits that have resulted. While the UK's conservation issues are of course somewhat different from ours in the US, the underlying theme is the same: the necessity of creating space for our fellow creatures and plants on this dear planet of ours, and the fact that they will stabilize and then thrive, if we let them.
Hope this is helpful. I don't know of any New Jersey-focused organizations, since I'm based in Texas.
@gbs Wow. Good research. Thank you for the list of pending legislation and the link to the list of participating organizations. I’ll check it out.
The second time I went back to look at the world 100 years hence I took a trip via a helicopter-like vehicle up to see Greenland. Bad news? Greenland was completely ice free which does not bode well for us. Good news? The ocean south and west of Greenland was bursting with healthy marine life. I sensed their joy as marine mammals jumped and twirled in the air before re-entering the water.
That same energy seemed to fill the human communities I observed in my vision… the human species was undergoing a renaissance… we had experienced loss… but met the painful challenges and were bursting with enthusiasm. We had a colony on Mars. We were monitoring our beautiful planet’s air, water, soil, geology, weather and it’s interconnected web of life. I heard clearly: “this time we kept our technology and our collected knowledge.”
Here's an article title I found encouraging.
CNBC: Why tech workers are quitting great jobs at companies like Google to fight climate change.
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/26/tech-to-climate-career-changes-why-these-workers-left-jobs-like-google.html
Maybe this...
Interesting Engineering: Fertilizing the oceans with iron could help remove a gigaton of carbon dioxide per year.
https://interestingengineering.com/science/fertilizing-the-oceans-with-iron-could-help-remove-a-gigaton-of-carbon-dioxide-per-year
Yes, in fact, there have been unauthorized experiments with iron filings. One big worry is that there are no international agreements regarding geoengineering to mitigate climate change. A nation or private company could undertake efforts with potentially major unintended consequences.
Unfortunately, I think we will need some sort of effort to cool the planet quickly.
Sky News: Scientists propose controversial plan to refreeze North and South Poles by spraying sulphur dioxide into atmosphere.
Looks like this might happen sooner than expected?
@lenor Don't know why I missed your response before. Thanks for trying to help... but it's not a paragraph mark... I've used MS Word for decades (after I left corporate; I was a hack freelance writer for over a decade)... so I know what a backwards P means... it's not that. In the scheme of things... it has no importance at all... LOL. Tah.
Will the world start geo-engineering the atmosphere to cool the earth? In the 2020 cli-sci that is the subject of this thread, climate action begins in earnest after one country has one horrific heat wave, causing that country to start spewing aerosols into the atmosphere to cool the planet. In real life, this past summer China had nearly such a heat wave causing the country to consider seeding clouds for rain. Manipulating the weather is against international law, so these actions, which are clearly going to come to a head in the future, will become big news in the not-too-distant future.
Climate activist Bill McKibben lays out the geo-engineering issues, including the pros and cons, and global implications, in this New Yorker article that will help anyone come up to speed on an issue that could well be a big news story during the next El Niño.
Dimming the Sun to Cool the Planet is a Desperate Idea, Yet We're Inching Toward it