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Everyone Is
Fiddling as California Burns
As of October 31,
2007, my home state has been burning for the
past 10 days. So far over 2000 homes and
more than 500,000 acres of forestland have been
destroyed. Is this a glimpse into our near
future?
Coincidentally, on
Sunday, October 21, 2007, the day the fires in
Southern California broke out, the TV news
program, 60 minutes, ran the segment,
“The Age Of Mega-Fires;” reporting how the size
of large wildfires has increased over the past
decade from 100,000 acres to 200,000 acres. They
predicted that out-of-control infernos might
soon consume 500,000 acres and more—they had no
idea how soon “soon” would be. According
to
60 minutes’ investigators, this escalation
is due to global warming. Climate change
has resulted in longer, drier fire seasons. Such
tinderbox conditions had not been predicted to
occur for another 40 years.
The rate of growth
of mega fires is not the only climate change
prediction scientists have recently had to
update.
Mark Serreze, senior research scientist at
National Snow and Ice Data Center termed the
decline of Arctic ice, “astounding.” “Most
researchers had anticipated that the complete
disappearance of the Arctic ice pack during
summer months would happen after the year 2070,”
he said, but now, "losing summer sea ice cover
by 2030 is not unreasonable.” Seems like
we have much less time to fix things than we
once thought we did.
Not Much
Interest in Our Destructive Diet
To some
degree every person these days is aware of the
damage caused by human activities to our
environment and most of us are making
corrections: recycling, fluorescent light bulbs,
and hybrid cars. This is all good.
But what have people done about our
planet-destroying diet? Nothing! This lack
of attention to food troubles me greatly because
of the potential good that could be done for
humankind.
One year ago, the
407-page United Nations’ report, Livestock’s
Long Shadow, reported that 18% of the
greenhouse gasses produced annually are a direct
consequence of farming cows, pigs, and chickens
and that animal husbandry is among the top
polluters of Planet Earth. (Recall that 13.5% of
greenhouse gasses are produced by all
transportation.)
Over the past
year, to appease the public’s lust for cheap
calories, Hardee’s has introduced the
900-calorie Country Breakfast Burrito and
McDonalds’ upped their rendition of “a heart
attack in a bun” with the Angus third-pounder.
Robert Atkins is barely cold in his grave, yet
his earth-polluting recommendations have already
been reincarnated by Gary Taubes in his new book
Good Calories, Bad Calories. These
trends tell me the public still has no clue—and
many of those who do understand just don’t care
enough to take action, because life is still
good.
Based on what has happened with fire and ice
over the past few years, our “comfy lives” may
be changing sooner than we had expected.
Let These
Events Inspire Us to Speak Out about Our Food
Begin now by
educating yourself and everyone around you.
No longer tolerate people saying, “You have to
eat meat to get protein, starches make you fat,
and milk is necessary for strong bones.”
These are not innocent lies. Deception and
dishonesty threaten your children’s and
grandchildren’s futures.
Change is
inevitable. When people become desperate
enough they will ask for real solutions. You and
I need to be ready to provide real answers and
real leadership. Those of us who know the
truth have an obligation to take action now and
in the future.
For more
information on this subject see my
December 2006 and
January 2007 newsletters.
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