Musings of a Wiccan nature-lover
Well, it seems that the G8 Nations have flunked their climate report-card with blazing craptacular colours. Not only does Pres. Bush lack the talent to even pretend to care about the rising levels of greenhouse emissions, but the U.S. and, I'm ashamed to say, Canada, were far, FAR, from the top of the list. The U.S. was at the bottom, and I'm fairly sure that Canada was just a single measly space above it. Only Tony Blair seemed keen on the idea of working towards saving what's left of the world's ecosystem when it comes to the topic of greenhouse gases, but, being a politician, this may just be a show for the public. Time will tell.
But seriously, how can we ignore the fact that we're destroying the Earth? If this keeps up, not only will the ozone layer be completely obliterated, but we'll be dying on a hunk of a planet that lacks clean air, clean water, and ecosystems that are the bloodline of the planet. Hell, there are only 400 or so Right Whales left in the world! Not to mention that large numbers of Orca/Killer Whales are dying because of the huge levels of pesticides and chemicals that infect their food and their own flesh. And that's just the tip of the iceberg (those are going too!)
Hell, in Asia, the human population has destroyed so much natural land and taken over so much, that elephant attacks kill 500 people a year! Elephant attacks!! Dumbo ain't happy no more, kiddes.
And look at it from their point of view. If large droves of annoying, noisy, dirty, smelly creatures came onto my homeland, destroyed the land, killed my food, and turned it all into farmland - all the while shooting at me because I was invading their farms - I'd get pissed and trample them too. People always seem to blame the animals. That's how much of a God-complex Humanity as a Whole seems to have.
But! There is hope! Using government funds, a private landowner in Scotland has taken it upon himself to plant 2.5 Million trees over the next five years to regain the nation's lost woodlands. Which figures (in a good way!!) Instead of trying to go through the government to get them to do something (because honestly, we humans just don't live long enough to put up with all red tape and politicians), some smart guy said 'screw this, I'll do it myself'! And lo and behold, it is done!
And I bet, that once the Gov't saw that it wouldn't have to do anything except say 'that's a great idea' and 'here's some money, you go to work now', they jumped on it. Of course, there's the hope - and I do hope - that the Gov't didn't do things that way, but after seeing what my own government is like, I sadly doubt it.
And then, when one man is trying to bring back the forests of Scotland, others are tearing those forests down. Apparantly, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), has plans to sacrifice millions of trees to save a bog. It seems kind of counter-productive to restore one forest while simultaniously destroying another. Yes, I agree that the bog, an important ecosystem must be protected, but I'm not so sure that I want to cut down millions of trees in the process. Yes, the trees that are in and around that bog may not be the trees that the RSPB want.... but by now, hasn't that ecosystem matured or evolved into something different? And if we go and suddenly change it drastically, what happens if we destroy everything instead of saving it?
And, in a very sad turn of events, there is the frightening chance that, in my lifetime, the Brazil Rainforest will vanish off the face of the planet. According to scientists, the rainforests stand a chance of reaching a 'point of no return' in as little as 15 years. And considering that the article I found was printed in 2001, that's even more unsettling.
As is the news that Commerical Whaling still has a chance of becoming legal across the world's oceans. And as much as I love Japan for bringing everything anime and manga, I'm appalled to see that they are at the head of the pro-whaling debate. This scares me. It truly does. These are whales! They're beautiful, intelligent, peaceful creatures, and a lot of them are endangered. How can anyone look at a humpback whale, know that it is endangered, and still want to kill it? I realise that whaling does dance along the 'food' hunting and gathering thing. But these aren't deer, or cows, or pigs. These majestic animals can't just bounce back, or be 'home grown' in specialised farms. They don't grow as quickly, or have as many young that survive to adulthood, and yet, the ban on whaling still dances along a knife's edge of becoming legal.... how horrible a species humanity has become....
If we lose the rainforests and whale and dolphin population, I'm going to bend over and kiss my ass goodbye, because when that happens - there is no 'if' anymore, it's all a matter of time - the Earth will be beyond saving.
It terrifies me that it may already be too late, that the voices of the ones screaming out to protect and nurture the Earth will be heard far too late, or continue to be drowned out by the ravings of those who only care about power, money, and their own personal gain.
And wouldn't that be a lesson? To have Humanity realise on the brink of oblivion that after all our great achievements, and after all our work at curing diseases, building a better house, a better city, a better family, a better life, a better us, that we, as a whole, are, and have always been, our greatest enemy and our own Grim Reaper.