Topic: WE'RE STUFFED!!!

[Michael]

I think his criticism is not founded on understanding of how many disciplines function. Like Economics, and Psychology, their action is to step aside from the fray, and look enquiringly into the process. In this way they gain valuable insights into how the processes of the world and humans operate. They acquire realisations.

But to assume from that, they could 'explain' in any final way, or go further and predict, is asking for a child-like simplicity of the world. Recently I heard a Genetics professor describe how many 'conservative' scientists felt they had finally explained the human genome, after the first early discoveries. He showed how the whole genetic study had only just begun, and instead of it becoming clearer, it is becoming more complex and mysterious. That sense of enjoying the wonder of revealing further realisations, is what the enquiring soul loves, not trying to achieve an 'I've finally arrived' state.

This is the same as my criticism of the concept of enlightenment. We always seek the illusion of completion, instead of the illusion of never-ending revelation. The second illusion is just much more fun.

[erik]

Infinite path of revelation for a mortal man, or, for a Mind of Universe, an infinite path of playing with/testing/experiencing all the options and possibilities of materialising the same phenomenon.

At the end of the day, an individual only has a choice of how to look at it, while others take a go at each other with drones, machetes, cutting water and food supply, eating the enemy (I have heard that pygmies became an endangered species during one small dirty war as some guerillas tried to eat them to improve their scountig skills), etc.

[Michael]

What you are raising, is the vexing question of why humans (and animals) continue to perpetrate violence against others, while being not at all pleased if others do the same to them.

I have heard a recent author offer the old reason of insufficient empathy. But I feel the reason is deeper - I suspect it is written into the blueprint of the universe: a command.

Gurdjieff pondered this question and came up with the law of Reciprocal Maintenance, or some similar term. The idea being that the earth requires energy to evolve, so it's denizens provide that energy through mass suffering in violence - pain releases energy.

But the earth would prefer the suffering endured through the effort to attain awareness, so the work of seeking further realisations by serious spiritual effort, offers a far finer energy to the earth's evolutionary requirements. This shows the link between those who conduct war, and those who seek continuing enlightenment.

And he went further, by employing suffering in his own life to heal his body.

[erik]

This shows the link between those who conduct war, and those who seek continuing enlightenment.

How could a science possibly grasp it? It couldn't, and we trundle on while determining new dependent and independent variables, linear and non-linear relationships, complexities, referring to "friction", "uncertainty" and "fog of war", etc.

Anyhow, words seem to fall short regardless of the angle of approach to the subject.

[Michael]

There is another aspect I want to mention.

In the legal system, if a person bashes someone into paraplegia, or murders someone, it's as if there exists a tacit acknowledgement that it is within our acceptable framework - sure they are guilty, and will go to gaol, but sentences are condensed somewhat comparatively.

But, if that person is convicted of paedophilia, or in times not so long past, a woman murdered her husband out of domestic violence despair, they are given much greater sentences (just heard a programme on the radio about this yesterday).

Somehow, our society sees the violent bashing by a male, especially associated with drink, as distasteful yet acceptable, even if the victim is dead or crippled for life. But the sexual abuse of a child, crimes by women or black people, are considered outrageously unacceptable and sentences reflect this.

It is not fair to suggest the latter should receive lower opprobrium by society, but I am amazed at why the former is subtly condoned in some way, as being 'understandable': males will be violent - it's just their nature.

[erik]

Do you reckon these attitudes to male violence characterise mostly Christian culture or is it a pan cultural phenomenon?

[Michael]

In my experience, which is not that extensive, it's a pan cultural phenomenon.

[erik]

It could be very primeval stuff as big, brute and assertive males have always been preferred mating partners. They have carried good genes for survival in primordial chaos and violence. Hence, the subconscious tolerance for male violence and bastardly behaviour.

[Michael]

It could indeed be..

[erik]

CO2 is achieving very remarkable levels. Very. Given, that we do not have detailed data from all preceding years, the reference points we have still point at a proximity of peak concentration of CO2 in the air. Previous estimates say that the full impact of such a rise on daily climate will manifest in next 7-10 years.

CO2 Concentration Highest in 800,000 Years

Mar 14, 2012; 3:42 PM ET

The concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide in 2011 was the highest in 800,000 years, according to Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization or CSIRO.
 
The average, global concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) during 2011 was 390 parts per million. The natural range during the past 800,000 years was between 170 and 300 ppm.
 
CSIRO also noted that fossil-fuel emissions of carbon dioxide increased by over 3% per year between 2000 and 2010.

The CSIRO chart below tracks the amount of global fossil-fuel CO2 emissions since 1990. The orange line is strictly fossil-fuel emissions, while the grey line represents total CO2 emissions, which includes emissions from both fossil-fuel and land-use change.
 
Image courtesy of CSIRO.
 


Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions account for about 60 per cent of the effect from anthropogenic greenhouse gases on the earth's energy balance over the past 250 years. These global CO2 emissions are mostly from fossil fuels (more than 85 per cent), land use change, mainly associated with tropical deforestation (less than ten per cent), and cement production and other industrial processes (about four per cent), according to the new CSIRO 2012 State of the Climate Report.

[Michael]

OK

[erik]

Oceans acidifying at 'unparalleled' rate

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/climatechange/9115699/Oceans-acidifying-at-unparalleled-rate.html

A new study published in the Science journal suggests the increasing amount of carbon dioxide being absorbed by the seas is causing them to turn acidic with "unparalleled" speed.

If the trend continues it could have a variety of serious effects on marine life by slowing rates of growth, causing animals to produce fewer offspring and causing shells to dissolve, experts said.

Oceans currently absorb about a quarter of all CO2 emissions, and as levels of the gas in the atmosphere increase so does the rate at which it dissolves in seawater, making the water more acidic.

Researchers studying 300 million years' worth of data on global warming and acidifying oceans found the current rate of acidification is even greater than four other major periods of climate change in the Earth's history.

These included the impact of the asteroid which wiped out the dinosaurs, and the Permian mass-extinction 252 million years ago, when 95 per cent of life on Earth was destroyed.

Professor Andy Ridgwell, of Bristol University, said: "The geological record suggests that the current acidification is potentially unparalleled in at least the last 300 million years of Earth history, and raises the possibility that we are entering an unknown territory of marine ecosystem change.
 
"Although similarities exist, nothing in the last 300 million years parallels rates of future projections in terms of the disrupting of ocean carbonate chemistry – a consequence of the unprecedented rapidity of CO2 release currently taking place."

[erik]

Ocean acidification speeds up

The oceans are acidifying faster today than at any other time in the past 300 million years say researchers in Spain.
 
Much research into ocean acidification is based on experiments in aquariums simulating future acidification, but researchers from the Universitat Autὸnoma de Barcelona (UAB) analysed geological records using paleontological and geochemical analyses and past acidification episodes to detect possible effects on marine biota.
 
The research detected specific moments in the last 300 million years of the Earth’s history associated with profound acidification.
 
“Due to volcanic emissions and the destabilisation of frozen methane hydrates on the ocean floor, large amounts of carbon were freed into the atmosphere, comparable to levels humans may achieve in emitting in the future,” said Carles Pelejero, a researcher at the Spanish National Research Council.
 
“Large extinctions took place during that period, especially of benthic fauna. Nevertheless, CO2 injections were at least ten times slower than those occurring now, with augurs more catastrophic consequences caused by current anthropogenic changes.”
 
Geological records offer details on the biological changes associated with large-scale global disturbances such as the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum occurring 56 million years ago, or the end of the Cretaceous Period 65 million years ago. These events are thought to be the cause of ocean acidification.
 
However, these events have all been associated with reduced levels of oxygen in the oceans combined with a high rise in temperature. These three environmental effects – global warming, acidification and decrease in oxygen – are the ones most globally affecting ocean presently and researchers conclude that the oceans are acidifying faster now than they ever have.
 
“Considering the effects we detect through fossil records, there is no doubt that we must tackle the problem at its roots as soon as possible, adopting measures, to immediately reduce of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere,” said Patrizia Ziveri, researcher at the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology at the UAB.

[erik]

Acidification threatens Barrier Reef coral: researchers

A new study has found ocean acidification can affect the behaviour of baby corals in the Great Barrier Reef off Queensland.

University of Queensland (UQ) researchers have been analysing how ocean acidification affects the settlement of baby corals in the reef.

UQ Professor Peter Mumby says changes in the ocean are making the corals "stupid".

"It implies that much of the biology of corals in terms of how they behave could be disrupted as the oceans change their chemistry," he said.

"Once the system has become acidified, they just lose that ability and they settle pretty much anywhere and often in very hostile environments.

"Our concern is as the oceans become more acidic, that the survival of new corals could go down.

"If corals effectively become more stupid, which is essentially what we're saying, then it might mean a number of corals settling on a reef will decline."

[erik]

Ocean acidification -a global problem

http://www.dailynews.lk/2012/04/19/fea02.asp

Coral reefs are among the most diverse of all-natural ecosystems and are extremely valuable biologically - a single reef being home to hundreds of different species. One third of the world’s fish species depend on them, and they provide protection to shores by reducing wave energy.

Coral reefs are actually thin layers of living coral colonies over older, dead coral and thicker reef structures. The tiny living corals, called polyps, secrete a hard calcium carbonate skeleton, which provides protection and serves as a uniform base for the colony. This substrate grows at 3 - 100 centimetres per year, depending on species and environmental conditions.

Most corals have a mutually beneficial relationship with microscopic yellow-green algae, which provide corals with their colour. The coral gives these algae protection and access to light and the algae, in turn, photosynthesise food which is shared with the host coral. Because photosynthesis requires light, corals are found in clear, shallow water. They require tropical and sub-tropical temperatures and so exist in a global belt 30 degrees on either side of the equator.

Boxing Day Tsunami
The Indian Ocean is host to 16 percent of the world’s coral reefs, a large part of them in the underwater ridge which connects the Laccadive Islands, via Maldives, to the Chagos archipelago. Sri Lanka is host to a small but extremely significant number of coral reefs, with 183 coral species and over 300 species of reef fish.

Ten years ago, the biggest threats to Sri Lanka’s coral reefs came from coral mining and from fishing with explosives or madel nets. However, following the Boxing Day Tsunami of 2004, action by the government, combined with disapprobation from the victims of the disaster, reduced these activities considerably. Now the biggest domestic hazards are effluent discharge from human settlements and sediment flow due to deforestation and poor agricultural practices.

However, a far greater threat has now emerged, globally. Ten years ago, scientists found incontrovertible proof of the link between increased greenhouse gases, climate change and regional scale bleaching of corals. They found that decline had already started by 1900 in over 80 percent of reefs worldwide.

Global warming
In areas where this process is advanced, for example around Jamaica, corals are moribund, the reef structures are coated with algae, fish are small and few shellfish and other organisms exist. Even the corals of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef are about a third of the way towards extinction.

Global warming has led to widespread coral bleaching and other effects. Rising sea levels could also pose a threat. However, the biggest threat from human activity is in increased carbon dioxide emissions causing increased acidity in the oceans. As the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide increases, more of it reacts chemically with sea water, producing ions (electrically-charged atoms or groups of atoms) of bicarbonate and hydrogen, which increase acidity in water. Historically, the acidification process was kept down because carbonate rocks on the seafloor reacted with the acid, creating a natural buffer. However, this neutralisation takes place over thousands of years and, while enough to counteract acid ions created by geological processes, are not fast enough not to deal with the rapid increase in acidity caused by human activity.

Industrial revolution
Although seawater is typically alkaline, scientists discovered that the typical Ocean pH number, which was 8.2 before the industrial revolution - and its associated acceleration of emissions of carbon dioxide - had decreased to 8.1 (become more acid).

Climate modellers had expected to observe greater acidity first in deep water which - due to dead organisms sinking and decaying - has higher carbon dioxide levels. However, two years ago oceanographers from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration laboratory in Seattle found more acidified waters already reaching the surface.

Because acid dissolves carbonates, it is most likely to affect organisms with calcium carbonate shells, such as algae, corals and shellfish. A study by Australian scientists published two weeks ago suggested that many corals have an in-built mechanism to defeat increased acidity, but coralline algae, which are the ‘glue’ holding coral reefs together, are vulnerable - meaning that coral reefs as a whole are likely to be harmed.

Three years ago, researchers from the Australian Institute of Marine Science found evidence that coral growth in the Great Barrier Reef was being inhibited at an unprecedented rate by acidification and warming of the ocean.

Domestic economies
This week, researchers from the University of Queensland, who has studied acidification effects on baby corals in a remote part of the Great Barrier Reef, revealed new evidence that reefs are likely to suffer - higher acidity levels caused coral larvae to seek unsuitable locations for settlement, effecting their overall survivability.

There is very little a small country like Sri Lanka can do to counter ocean acidification - this requires international will and co-operation. Luckily, polluting nations such as the USA are likely to be pushed in the right direction due to effects of oceanic acidity on their own domestic economies.

In 2005, hatcheries in the US states of Oregon and Washington, part of a multi-million dollar shellfish industry - found huge die-offs of oyster larvae, which were repeated in the following years. At first ‘Vibrio Tubiashii’, ocean-borne larvae-killing bacteria, was suspected. However subsequent investigation showed that increased acidity broke down the carbonate shells of the larvae; also providing an environment for thriving ‘Vibrio tubiashii’ to become dominant pathogens! The billion-dollar Seattle-based deep sea fishing industry, which accounts for half the US catch, is also threatened. Fish such as salmon, pollock and herring in Alaska's North Pacific depend on shellfish for survival in their first year. A drop in shellfish population can cause an even greater decrease in the fish catch.

Early this month, Washington State Governor Chris Gregoire appointed a multi-disciplinary panel to inquire into ocean acidification, which will make its report by October. It is to be hoped that this will be the harbinger of a new, global effort to deal with what is indeed a global problem.