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"Future historians will inevitably judge all 21st-century presidents on just two issues: global warming and the clean energy transition. If the world doesn’t stop catastrophic climate change — Hell and High Water— then all Presidents, indeed, all of us, will be seen as failures and rightfully so.
How else could future generations judge us if the U.S. and the world stay anywhere near our current emissions path, warm most of the inland United States 10 to 15°F by century’s end, with sea levels 3 to 7 feet higher, rising perhaps an inch or two a year, with the Southwest from Kansas to California a permanent Dust Bowl, and much of the ocean a hot, acidic dead zone — impacts that could be irreversible for 1,000 years if we don’t reverse emissions soon and sharply. This will require an unbroken — and indeed escalating — response by our political leadership throughout this century.
But so far we have only had “half an Obama” on this. "
"...Chicken sharing actually makes a lot of practical sense. Let's say you, like most people, eat eggs, and you are thinking about getting chickens (and by that, I really mean hens; roosters make noise, not eggs, and they are often illegal to keep in high-density residential areas). If you live in an urban or even suburban area, this could meaning devoting a significant portion of your yard to building a coop and giving the chickens a little free range. Many people wouldn't go to all of this effort for just one or two chickens. But what if you get 15 chickens, have a coop building party with seven of your neighbors, and start taking turns caring for the chickens? You could even take down part of a fence so that the chickens can have more space to roam into your neighbor's yard. Each neighbor is assigned one day of the week to feed the chickens and collect eggs.
What do you get? Fifteen hens will produce, on average, around 7 dozen eggs per week. This means that each neighbor will have a dozen fresh and delicious eggs."
"... The IUCN periodically updates its Red List of Threatened Species. The most recent update to the list was last fall; this report provides an analysis of the revised list. The numbers are, unsurprisingly, dire: one quarter of the worlds mammals, one third of its amphibians, and one eighth of its birds are “threatened” or worse. Across all taxonomic groups, extinction risk continues to climb.
Iberian lynx (IUCN)
The reasons, according to the IUCN, are familiar. Direct habitat destruction still easily tops the list of threats, with pollution, overexploitation, and introduction of invasive species following behind. Climate change is not yet a major problem, but it looms large on the horizon. The report concludes that roughly 35% of bird species, 50% of amphibians, and 70% of corals have traits that make them especially susceptible to global warming.
The bottom line message is clear: conservationists need to work on two tracks, fighting climate change and simultaneously fighting the more traditional threats, which are far from being conquered. Climate change cannot be ignored, but concern about climate change cannot be allowed to swamp out attention to other threats."
Desert Vision by David Lanz
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