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Benno Hansen

Proving the 'shifting baselines' theory: how humans consistently misperceive nature - 0 views

news.mongabay.com/...3-hance_shiftingbaselines.html

misperceive shifting baselines conservation environment

shared by Benno Hansen on 24 Jan 10 - Cached
  • what we see as pristine nature would be seen by our ancestors as hopelessly degraded, and what we see as degraded our children will view as ‘natural’
  • two different types of shifting baselines: generational amnesia and personal amnesia
  • Generational amnesia is when knowledge is not passed down from generation to generation.
  • ...9 more annotations...
  • National Parks are often view by Americans as the emblem of nature—even with roads running through them clogged with traffic.
  • The evidence for personal amnesia comes from an analysis of the responses of those people who thought that the bird fauna of the area had not changed
  • evidence of “generational amnesia
  • Personal amnesia is when people forget how things used to be during the course of their own lives, for example they may not remember that things which are rarely sighted now were once common
  • over one-third of participants had a static view
  • “If we don't realize what we are losing we stand the risk of sleepwalking through the destruction of the natural world without taking action to remedy the situation,”
  • in the western United States wolves have been locally extinct for so long that no one remembers when they were plentiful. As far the community is concerned wolves are not a part of the natural environment
  • The problem is especially exacerbated when scientific data is not available regarding past conditions of an ecosystem
  • human perception of nature is subject to all sorts of failings, due to short life spans, poor communication (generational amnesia), and unreliable memory(personal amnesia)
firozcosmolance

Places in the World that Will Take You Closer to the Wildlife - Gossip Ki Galliyan - 0 views

gossipkigalliyan.com/ake-you-closer-to-the-wildlife

Wildlife

shared by firozcosmolance on 07 May 19 - No Cached
  • firozcosmolance on 07 May 19
     
    From tracking Polar bears, Arctic fox, and ringed seal to swimming with sea lions, penguins, whales and seals in the Sea of Cortez, the world is full of incredible wildlife adventures that you need to experience at least once. If you are a sucker for animals, you won't want to miss these unforgettable wildlife vacations. The wonders of nature are spread in the forms of forests, waterfalls, flowering pastures, mountains, rivers and valleys. When wild life enters the beautiful nature, it attracts travelers from far and near. The natural spectrum of wild lands always encourages people to travel the scenic lands. In this way, tourists explore the way to enjoy life from a different angle.
forwester

Buy Cheap Hermes Replica Birkin 30cm in Natural Barenia Brushed Palladium Hardware - 0 views

www.haute-gallery.com/alladium-hardware-p-13128.html

shared by forwester on 04 Jun 15 - No Cached
  • forwester on 04 Jun 15
     
    Buy Cheap Hermes Replica Birkin 30cm in Natural Barenia Brushed Palladium Hardware, We offers High Quality Hermes Birkin, 100% Genuine Leather, Free Shipping.
Benno Hansen

Do nations go to war over water? : Article : Nature - 1 views

www.nature.com/...458282a.html

war nature climate change water israel palestine nile egypt sudan ethiopia india pakistan conflict

shared by Benno Hansen on 25 Mar 09 - Cached
  • There are 263 cross-boundary waterways in the world. Between 1948 and 1999, cooperation over water, including the signing of treaties, far outweighed conflict over water and violent conflict in particular. Of 1,831 instances of interactions over international freshwater resources tallied over that time period (including everything from unofficial verbal exchanges to economic agreements or military action), 67% were cooperative, only 28% were conflictive, and the remaining 5% were neutral or insignificant. In those five decades, there were no formal declarations of war over water2.
  • it is foolish for Israel, a water-short country, to grow and then export products such as oranges and avocados, which require a lot of water to cultivate
  • water 'embedded' in traded products could be important in explaining the absence of conflict over water
  • ...8 more annotations...
  • as poor countries diversify their economies, they turn away from agriculture and create wealth from industries that use less water. As a country becomes richer, it may require more water overall to sustain its booming population, but it can afford to import food to make up the shortfall
  • Israel ran out of water in the 1950s: it has not since then produced enough water to meet all of its needs, including food production. Jordan has been in the same situation since the 1960s; Egypt since the 1970s. Although it is true that these countries have fought wars with each other, they have not fought over water. Instead they all import grain.
  • Palestinian and Israeli water professionals interact on a Joint Water Committee, established by the Oslo-II Accords in 1995. It is not an equal partnership: Israel has de facto veto power on the committee.
  • Inequitable access to water resources is a result of the broader conflict and power dynamics: it does not itself cause war.
    • Benno Hansen
      Benno Hansen on 25 Mar 09
       
      From causation to hen/egg
  • although India and Pakistan have fought three wars and frequently find themselves in eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation, the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, arbitrated by the World Bank, has more than once helped to defuse tensions over water
  • predictions of armed conflict come from the media and from popular, non-peer-reviewed work
  • I offered to revise its thesis, but my publishers pointed out that predicting an absence of war over water would not sell.
  • most importantly, improve the conditions of trade for developing countries to strengthen their economies
Benno Hansen

Learning From Past Civilizations : TreeHugger - 0 views

www.treehugger.com/...earning-past-civilizations.php

jared diamond collapse sustainability

shared by Benno Hansen on 12 Aug 09 - Cached
  • our early twenty-first century civilization is not the first to face the prospect of environmentally induced economic decline. The question is how we will respond.
  • Today, our successes and problems flow from the extraordinary growth in the world economy over the last century.
  • While the economy is growing exponentially, the earth’s natural capacities, such as its ability to supply fresh water, forest products, and seafood, have not increased. Humanity’s collective demands first surpassed the earth’s regenerative capacity around 1980. Today, global demands on natural systems exceed their sustainable yield capacity by nearly 30 percent. We are meeting current demands by consuming the earth’s natural assets, setting the stage for decline and collapse.
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  • In our modern high-tech civilization, it is easy to forget that the economy, indeed our existence, is wholly dependent on the earth’s natural systems and resources.
  • the carbon stored in the Amazon’s trees equals roughly 15 years of human-induced carbon emissions in the atmosphere
  • we will either mobilize together to save our global civilization, or we will all be potential victims of its disintegration
Maluvia Haseltine

Ecovative Design - 1 views

www.ecovativedesign.com

Sustainability Permaculture

shared by Maluvia Haseltine on 20 Feb 10 - Cached
  • Maluvia Haseltine on 20 Feb 10
     
    At Ecovative, we are passionate about sustainability. That's why we're working with nature to replace unsustainable plastics and foams with natural composites. Using innovative new materials and radical new technologies, our products perform at least as well as current state-of-the-art synthetics, but at a lower cost to both you and the environment. Ecovative: Making truly sustainable products smart and affordable.
Jean Peterson

Artificial Grass Perth are Good Alternative to Natural Grass - 2 views

I once used natural grass on my lawn in Perth. However, due to the nature of my work, I had no time to take care of my lawn until it all withered up. But, still I wanted to have a green look in my ...

synthetic artificial grass lawn

started by Jean Peterson on 12 Jan 11 no follow-up yet
Arabica Robusta

Pambazuka - 'The real enemy is humanity itself' - 2 views

pambazuka.org/...82402

sustainability environment energy climate change environmentalism food green

shared by Arabica Robusta on 26 May 12 - No Cached
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  • the first “Earth Summit,” was held in Rio, leading to the Agenda 21 “blueprint for a sustainable planet,” UN conventions on climate change and biodiversity, and the creation of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (UNSCD). Since then, an entire ecosystem of global, national, governmental and non-governmental organisations has emerged to advocate and implement the closer integration of human productive life with knowledge about the environment: to observe the “limits to growth.” The most notable of these is the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), under which a global agreement to limit greenhouse gas emissions is being sought.
  • There is vast disparity between what the advocates of political environmentalism have claimed and reality. So why are world leaders set to meet next month in Rio at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development?
  • The 1972 Stockholm meeting discussed the “need for new concepts of sovereignty, based not on the surrender of national sovereignties but on better means of exercising them collectively, and with a greater sense of responsibility for the common good.” In other words, the world can be fed, clothed and housed at the cost of autonomy. This surrendering of autonomy is a price worth paying, according to its advocates, whose argument has been reduced to a neat little slogan: global problems need global solutions.
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  • For instance, while trying to understand why scepticism of climate-change policies seems to correspond to a conservative persuasion, the Guardian’s Damian Carrington recently opined: “The problem is that global environmental problems require global action, which means cooperation if there are to be no free-riders. That implies international treaties and regulations, which to some on the right equate with communism.”
  • James Lovelock, has distanced himself from the more extreme implications of his hypothesis. Where Lovelock once predicted “Gaia’s revenge,” he has reflected in a short interview for MSNBC.com on his alarmist tome, and criticised others such as Al Gore for their over-emphasis on catastrophic narratives. This is a remarkable volte face in itself, but reflects a broader phenomenon: the coming to fruition of environmentalism’s incoherence.
  • The idea that there are too many people, or that the natural world is so fragile that these things are too difficult for normal, democratic politics to deliver, flies in the face of facts.
  • The truth of “sustainability,” and the meeting at Rio next month, is that it is not our relationship with the natural world that it wishes to control, but human desires, autonomy and sovereignty. That is why, in 1993, the Club of Rome published its report, The First Global Revolution, written by the club’s founder and president, Alexander King and Bertrand Schneider. The authors determined that, in order to overcome political failures, it was necessary to locate “a common enemy against whom we can unite.”
  • Arabica Robusta on 26 May 12
     
    On one level, the critique of the "managerial ethos" is commendable.  On another level, the author seems content with presenting arguments that range perilously close to the James Inhofe "climate change is a hoax" camp.  This is fine, but it is not enough to claim that sustainability is all about politics.  One should offer good arguments in support of this, and in response to strong arguments from opposing perspectives.
  • rextag on 17 Mar 17
     
    If humanity don't act in time it could be the end of our lifetime soon natural gas report.
Benno Hansen

Big business goes to Rio -- New Internationalist - 0 views

www.newint.org/...ility-big-business-corporation

business green economy sustainability environment

shared by Benno Hansen on 18 Jun 12 - No Cached
  • Harmless-sounding phrases like ‘green economy’ and ‘sustainable development’ have become grounds for bitter dispute, as different governments and business interests attempt to redefine these terms to meet their own agenda.
  • This row of well-meaning policy sandcastles have spent the past 20 years being eaten away by a rising tide of fundamentalist free-market economics, unfettered financial speculation, and consolidated corporate power.
  • any environmental and social gains from the first Rio summit look small next to the destruction wrought by a voracious corporate sector and by governments obsessed with growth in GDP before all else.
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  • A shift to a genuinely sustainable society will require us to challenge these negative forces, rein in the excesses of corporations and markets, and build an entirely different economy based on wellbeing for the many rather than profits for the few.
  • Silvia Ribeiro from the campaign group ETC Mexico points out: ‘Collapsing financial markets in Northern countries mean that banks and other investors are now looking desperately for new areas of expansion and speculation. We can see these desires leaving their mark on the Rio+20 process. The “Green Economy” now under discussion would unleash a wave of risky but lucrative new technologies such as synthetic biology, nanotechnology and climate technofixes. This isn’t about finding the best environmental solutions: it’s about creating profitable new investments.’
  • we cannot afford to live in a world where ecosystems are protected if, and only if, there is more profit to be made by protecting them than by trashing them.
  • Large polluting industries, business lobby groups and financial institutions are welcomed in as well-meaning ‘stakeholders’ – like mafia bosses invited to a meeting on reducing gang violence.
  • The businesses with the most wealth and power are those that have flourished in an economy based on the unrestricted use of natural resources and the exploitation of many of the world’s people. Those with the most to lose from a shift to true sustainability are therefore those with the most power to block that change.
  • the Stockholm Environment Institute calculated that the economic value of the oceans could be reduced by up to $2 trillion per year if climate change is left unchecked
  • Tom Goldtooth, Executive Director of IEN, said: ‘Systems such as “payment for ecological services” and using forests in carbon offset markets do nothing but make Mother Earth into the World Trade Organization of nature.’
  • According to Lucia Ortiz of Friends of the Earth Brazil: ‘Trades Unions are getting very concerned about the “green economy” agenda, because it represents a deepening of neoliberal policies, and threatens to undermine the social rights already secured by past struggles. They are working in solidarity with environmentalists, indigenous peoples, farmers and women’s rights activists, calling instead for a transition to a sustainable and just society free from the exploitation of workers and of nature.’
Alex Parker

Gas-fired - the five biggest natural gas power plants in the world - 1 views

www.power-technology.com/...er-plants-in-the-world-4214992

environment energy green

shared by Alex Parker on 16 Apr 14 - No Cached
  • Alex Parker on 16 Apr 14
     
    Japan hosts three of the world's five biggest natural gas-fired power plants while the other two, including the biggest, are in Russia and Taiwan.
Benno Hansen

We Don't Know What We're Missing | Psychology Today - 2 views

www.psychologytoday.com/...we-dont-know-what-were-missing

psychology sustainability environment

shared by Benno Hansen on 26 Dec 11 - No Cached
nehasharma786 liked it
  • Across generations people construct a conception of what is environmentally normal based on the natural world encountered in childhood
  • with each ensuing generation, the amount of environmental degradation increases, but each generation tends to take that degraded condition as the non-degraded condition, as the normal experience
  • None of us living today have experienced certain forms of interaction with nature that were common even one or two hundred years ago.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • Today the Highlands of Scotland are one of the most deforested lands in the world. Perhaps equally disturbing, the Scots of today, according to Hand, have virtually no conception of a forest, of its ecological vastness and beauty.
  • environmental problems can be understood as equally serious across generations even while the problems worsen.
Benno Hansen

Environmental progress looks south | Blog | Ode Magazine - 0 views

www.odemagazine.com/...ronmental_progress_looks_south

environment law kenya ecuador

shared by Benno Hansen on 27 Sep 10 - No Cached
  • the overdeveloped nations of the world need to follow the example of their poor neighbors to the south, which dump far fewer pollutants into the global commons
  • these are the places where precious biodiversity, rainforests and other ecological treasures still exist - the natural ecosystems of Europe and North American were largely ravaged a century ago
  • In 2008, Ecuador became the first nation in the world to enshrine the rights of nature in its constitution. The document now asserts that nature "has the right to exist, persist, maintain and regenerate its vital cycles, structure, functions and its processes in evolution"
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • Kenya adopted a new constitution that declares in Article 42, "Every person has the right to a clean and healthy environment, which includes the right - a) to have the environment protected for the benefit of present and future generations through legislative and other measures."
  • Article 69 of the new constitution also holds the state responsible for maintaining tree cover over at least ten percent of the nation’s land; for encouraging public participation in protecting and managing the environment; protecting indigenous knowledge of biodiversity; and establishing systems of environmental impact assessment.
Benno Hansen

A Day to Prevent Exploitation of the Environment in War - 0 views

www.ens-newswire.com/...2008-11-06-02.asp

un congo ecowar environment war

shared by Benno Hansen on 10 Nov 08 - Cached
  • "The natural environment enjoys protection under Protocol 1 of the Geneva Conventions," Ban said. "But this protection is often violated during war and armed conflict. Water wells are polluted, crops torched, forests cut down, soils poisoned, and animals killed, all in order to gain military advantage."
  • Since the outbreak of fighting in August 1998, the conflicts have been rooted in struggles for control of natural resources such as water, timber, diamonds and other minerals as well as various political agendas.
  • "The United Nations attaches great importance to ensuring that action on the environment is part of our approach to peace," Ban stressed today. "Protecting the environment can help countries create employment opportunities, promote development and avoid a relapse into armed conflict.
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  • Ban said that the UN is studying the environmental impacts of conflicts around the world, from the Balkans to Afghanistan, from Lebanon to the Sudan.
  • Lasting peace in war-torn Darfur will depend in part on resolving the underlying competition for water and fertile land, Ban said, adding that there can be no durable peace in Afghanistan if the natural resources that sustain livelihoods and ecosystems are destroyed.
  • "We have seen how environmental damage and the collapse of institutions are threatening human health, livelihoods and security," he said. "These risks can also jeopardize fragile peace and development in post-conflict societies." "Let us renew our commitment to preventing the exploitation of the environment in times of conflict," said the secretary-general, "and to protecting the environment as a pillar of our work for peace."
Maluvia Haseltine

Green Products | The Natural Abode - 0 views

www.thenaturalabode.com/index.htm

NaturalBuilding

shared by Maluvia Haseltine on 12 Feb 10 - Cached
  • Maluvia Haseltine on 12 Feb 10
     
    Very nice site to find natural building, furnishing and decorating materials
Benno Hansen

United Nations News Centre - On international day, Ban underscores bond between peace a... - 0 views

www.un.org/...story.asp

united nations peace environment

shared by Benno Hansen on 06 Nov 12 - No Cached
  • “War and armed conflict shred the fabric of sustainable development,” Mr. Ban said
  • “There can be no peace if the resource base that people depend on for sustenance and income is damaged or destroyed – or if illegal exploitation finances or causes conflict,”
  • “Let us reaffirm our commitment to sustainably managing and safeguarding vital natural resources in times of peace and war,” Mr. Ban said in his message. “Let us do more to prevent conflicts over natural resources and maximize their benefits for maintaining and building peace.”
Jack Travis

The Electricity through the Natural Renewable Energy Sources - 0 views

nextek-power-system-blog.blogspot.in/...ectricity-through-natural.html

alternative energy dc direct coupling solar panel renewable power solutions lighting system lamps ballasts

shared by Jack Travis on 21 Mar 13 - No Cached
  • Jack Travis on 21 Mar 13
     
    It is a well known fact that the electricity is very important for the proper functioning of the various things, without which nothing can be possible.
CA window tinting California

Window Solutions Offers Safety Window Films - 0 views

cawindowtinting.tumblr.com/...california-window-tinting

tinting tint film filming window window tinting window tint window film window filming residential residential window filming residential window tinting 3m 3m window tint 3m window film

shared by CA window tinting California on 25 Mar 13 - No Cached
  • CA window tinting California on 25 Mar 13
     
    Window filming provides the privacy without reducing the natural light inside your room!! Visit http://www.windowsolutions.com/Residential.aspx
Benno Hansen

World is facing a natural resources crisis worse than financial crunch | Environment | ... - 1 views

www.guardian.co.uk/...imatechange-endangeredhabitats

environment resources climate change sustainability food energy

shared by Benno Hansen on 14 Jan 12 - Cached
  • humans are using 30% more resources than the Earth can replenish each year, which is leading to deforestation, degraded soils, polluted air and water, and dramatic declines in numbers of fish and other species
  • we are running up an ecological debt of $4tr (£2.5tr) to $4.5tr every year
  • populations and consumption keep growing faster than technology finds new ways of expanding what can be produced from the natural world
  • ...6 more annotations...
  • by 2030, if nothing changes, mankind would need two planets to sustain its lifestyle
  • Sir David King, the British government's former chief scientific adviser, said: "We all need to agree that there's a crisis of understanding, that we're removing the planet's biodiverse resources at a rate which is as fast if not faster than the world's last great extinction."
  • 50 countries are already experiencing "moderate to severe water stress on a year-round basis"
  • 27 countries are "importing" more than half the water they consume - in the form of water used to produce goods from wheat to cotton - including the UK, Switzerland, Austria, Norway and the Netherlands.
  • A person's footprint ranges vastly across the globe, from eight or more "global hectares" (20 acres or more) for the biggest consumers in the United Arab Emirates, the US, Kuwait and Denmark, to half a hectare in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Afghanistan and Malawi.
  • The global average consumption was 2.7 hectares a person, compared with a notional sustainable capacity of 2.1 hectares.
  • Benno Hansen on 14 Jan 12
     
    2008
GreenPlanetGrass.com.au artificial lawn Perth

ARTIFICIAL GRASS: MY LANDSCAPE DREAM COME TRUE - 1 views

Having a well-manicured lawn has always been my dream but the maintenance cost of using natural grass has stopped me from making it a reality. Thinking about the constant lawn mowing, installation ...

Synthetic courts Artificial grass Tennis acrylic surfaces

started by GreenPlanetGrass.com.au artificial lawn Perth on 21 Nov 11 no follow-up yet
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