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Rolla Peace News May 8, 2018 |
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Dear Friends: http://tomsager.org/Peaceletters/peaceletter050818.html In this newsletter is: 1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2018 2. OUR LEADERS DON'T WANT PEACE 3. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) Climate Change Accelerates 1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2018 We vigil for peace in front of the Rolla Post Office THIS THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2018, (and most subsequent Thursdays until peace is established) from Noon to 1:00 PM. Please try to join us. The temperature is predicted to be in the 80s. If you do not feel comfortable standing with us in front of the Post Office, please consider driving by and showing your support for our message by honking your horn and flashing a peace sign. 2. OUR LEADERS DON'T WANT PEACE Reading Adam Johnson's article, it becomes clear that our Mainstream Media (MSM for short) has an axe to grind regarding the talks between North and South Korea. Almost without exception, newspaper, magazine and television news coverage of this event has been negative, or at least skeptical. The only positive coverage I've run across has been in the so-called “alternative press.” Such a uniform message suggests that somebody or bodies is dictating what should be said. When one knows, as most of us do, that the MSM in this country is controlled by a few large corporations, and that our political leaders are also mostly controlled by large corporations, it becomes obvious that the interests of the wealthy and powerful are served by discouraging peace and fanning the flames of war, and that the MSM is their vehicle for doing so. If you still don't believe that our leaders prefer war to peace, read this! In spite of the fact that a large majority of Americans are in favor of the nuclear accord with Iran that Trump just scuttled, our leaders are leading us toward yet another war. Also read this. Enough said! 3. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) CLIMATE CHANGE ACCELERATES I've been updating my 120-month climate graph religiously every month, although it has been a number of months since I have written about it for this newsletter. Here are some interesting statistics, all according to the temperature anomaly data as reported by NOAA. 1. Each month over the last ten years has been over 0.4° C warmer than the 20th century average for months of the same name.If that is not enough to make you think seriously about accelerating global warming consider that average monthly CO2 concentrations at Mauna Loa topped 410 ppm in April 2018 for the first time ever since record keeping at Mauna Loa began in 1958. (The April 1958 average was 317 ppm) And look at what's happening on the ground. Extreme weather events involving flooding and heavy rains are up 50% over the past decade and 400% since 1980. Think about the 2017 hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria. Last Saturday, Ankara, Turkey experienced flash flooding “like never before.” In Late April, a flash flood in Israel killed nine hikers on a pre-army course. (By contrast, no Israeli casualties have been reported in 5 weeks of the Palestinian Great March of Return during which Israel has killed at least 43 unarmed Palestinians. Nor has Iran killed a single Israeli during this period.) Other extreme weather events involving drought, storms and heat-waves have also increased, doubling since 1980. Think about the recent six year California mega-drought that ended last year amid torrential rains and flash flooding. The Middle East and South Asia have also endured unprecedented flooding, drought and heat, sparking wars, massive movement of refugees and instability. Middle Eastern and South Asian wars have cost the United States a whooping $4.3 trillion so far, with trillions more to come. Nawabshah, Pakistan set a record this year for the highest April temperature ever recorded in Eurasia (and possibly the entire world), 122.36° F. And that's not all. Consider the melting of glaciers and ice caps, weakening of the gulf stream, and the drying up of a 140 mile wide band of prime agricultural land across North America. So are we doomed? Not unless we fail to act. Action is possible. Three countries: Scotland, Portugal and Costa Rica are now on virtually 100% renewable energy. Suppose the rest of the world followed suit? But effective action to preserve what is still preservable appears less likely every month. As Mayer Hillman points out, it would require international cooperation and (in spite of the Korean breakthrough) there seems to be far too little of that. Our own president has reneged on two very important international agreements (Iran nuclear agreement and Paris climate agreement). Who is going to trust us now? As the climate continues to warm, there will be winners and losers. Humans are among the big losers. We have lost prime agricultural land and fresh water resources. Likely we will be losing a lot more in the near future. A big winner is the San Quintin kangaroo rat, back from 30 years of presumed extinction. When agriculture failed in the Baja California peninsula due to the Great California Mega-drought, the San Quintin kangaroo rat made a surprise comeback from near extinction. Here is a poem for the San Quintin kangaroo rat. Can humanity also return from near extinction? I won't be around to find out; but I hope our species can learn to live in Harmony with each other and all of God's creatures. Earth's climate changes constantly. Often life forms are the prime-movers of climate change. 2.5 billion years ago it was cyanobacteria which produced free oxygen, a very corrosive gas without which humans can't live. In the Anthropocene (present) it is humanity that is driving climate change. There have been times in Earth's history, like the Eocene Epoch, when temperatures and CO2 concentrations soared far higher than our models now predict and life seems to have thrived. So likely, life on Earth will continue. But the survival of genus homo is far from assured. The sooner we face up to this crisis, the better our chances. Rolla Peace News is distributed by email once a week on Tuesday evenings (except on rare occasions) and is posted on the web at http://tomsager.org (click on Grassroots Rolla: near the top of rightmost column). If you don't wish to get notices of peace events in the Rolla area, let me know and I'll take you off this list. If you want to be added to this list, let me know. Wage peace, Helen helenm (at) fidnet.com |