Abstract
All that we think, imagine, desire, remember, all that we do and everything that we are, comes from the earth, the beautiful blue orb that we share with all other living beings, in an intricate and interdependent biotic community. Even thoughts of heaven are idealized versions of the earth—springtime, flowers blooming, birds chirping, peace, and tranquility.
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Notes
- 1.
John S. Dryzek, Richard B. Norgaard, and David Schlosbert, “Climate Change and Society: Approaches and Responses,” in Oxford Handbook of Climate Change and Society (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2011), 3.
- 2.
Rachel Carson, The Sea Around Us (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989). First published in 1952. Also, Silent Spring, Fortieth Anniversary ed. (Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin First Mariner, 1962). First published in 1962. Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac (New York: Random House Publishing Group, A Ballantine Book, 1966). First published by Oxford University Press in 1949 under the title A Sand County Almanac with Sketches Here and There.
- 3.
Charles S.Peirce, “The Fixation of Belief,” The Popular Science Monthly, 12 (November, 1877): 1–15.
- 4.
That is why Peirce defines “Truth” as what the community of inquirers are ideally destined to reach over time. Peirce also recognizes that human beings are fallible and we should always keep the door of inquiry open. Implicit in the Fixation essay is that newly confirmed results raise new questions, new frontiers, of scientific research.
- 5.
An example of the denial of environmental destruction, at just the time when major steps could have been taken to stop biotic harm, is Allan K. Fitzsimmons, Defending Illusions: Federal Protection of Ecosystems (Lanham, Boulder, New York and Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield, 1999).
- 6.
Kendall R. Jones et al., “The Location and Protection Status of Earth’s Diminishing Marine Wilderness,” Current Biology (July, 2018).
- 7.
Alex D. Rogers, “Editorial: Introduction to the Special Issue: The Global State of the Ocean,” International Programme on the State of the Ocean (IPSO), Marine Pollution Bulletin, 2013. Access at: www.elsevier.com/locate/marpolbul. This issue contains papers from 2011 and 2012 conferences at Oxford.
- 8.
On dumping, access the London Protocol at: https://www.epa.gov/ocean-dumping/ocean-dumping-international-treaties. “The London Protocol is intended to be more protective of the marine environment. The London Protocol expressly prohibits incineration at sea and the export of wastes and other matter for the purpose of ocean dumping. Under the London Protocol, dumping of all wastes and other materials is prohibited except the following materials listed in Annex I of the London Protocol (‘the reverse list’), which may be considered for dumping but a permit must be obtained, and annual reports from all London Protocol signees must be submitted:
Dredged material.
Sewage sludge.
Fish wastes or material resulting from industrial fish processing operations.
Vessels and platforms or other man-made structures at sea.
Inert, inorganic geological material.
Organic material of natural origin.
Bulky items primarily comprising iron, steel, concrete and similarly unharmful materials for which the concern is physical impact, and limited to the circumstances where such wastes are generated at locations with no land-based alternatives.
Carbon dioxide streams from carbon dioxide capture processes for sequestration in sub-seabed geological formations.”
- 9.
See Melanie Friedel, “Forests as Carbon Sinks,” Loose Leaf. Access at: https://www.americanforests.org/blog/forests-carbon-sinks/. This essay contains the chemistry of carbon absorption through photosynthesis.
- 10.
Jelle Bijman, Hans-o-Portner, Chris Yesson, and Alex D. Rogers, “Climate Change and the Oceans—What Does the Future Hold?” Marine Pollution Bulletin, 74 (2013): 495.
- 11.
Rogers, “Editorial…”.
- 12.
Bijman et al., 498.
- 13.
Ibid., 500.
- 14.
James Hansen, Makiko Sato et al., “Ice Melt, Sea Level Rise and Superstorms: Evidence from Paleoclimate Data, Climate Modeling, and Modern Observations That 2 Degrees Celsius Global Warming Could Be Dangerous,” Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 16 (2016): 3761–3812; 3799.
- 15.
Bijma et al., 502.
- 16.
See Anthony D. Barnosky et al., “Has the Earth’s Sixth Mass Extinction Already Arrived?” Nature, 471 (2011): 54.
- 17.
Tony J. Pitcher and William W. L. Cheung, “Fisheries: Hope or Despair?” Marine Pollution Bulletin (2013). Access at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016.
- 18.
Ibid. The Code is part of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation, Fisheries Department. Access at: http://www.fao.org/docrep/003/x9066e/x9066e01.htm. It states that the U. N. “....will monitor the application and implementation of the Code and its effects on fisheries….”
- 19.
Center For Biological Diversity, “Ocean Plastics Pollution. A Global Tragedy for Our Oceans and Sea Life.” Access at: https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/ocean_plastics/. So-called biodegradable plastic refers to plastic that will degrade only in places like landfills where the temperature is at or above 112 degrees.
- 20.
Marine Litter Solutions, “What Is Marine Litter?” Access at: https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/ocean_plastics/.
- 21.
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, “Almost all seabirds to have plastic in gut by 2050.” Based on research by Dr. Chris Wilcox, Dr. Denise Hardesty, and Dr. Erik van Sebille, 1–5. Access at: https://www.csiro.au/en/News/News-releases/2015/Marine-debris. Just as I type this footnote news from Jakarta, Indonesia, is that a sperm whale was found dead with over 1000 pieces of plastic in its gut, including rubber sandals (“flip-flops”): “Indonesia: Dead Whale Had 1,000 Pieces of Plastic in Stomach,” The Guardian, November 20, 2018. Access at: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/nov/20/indonesia-dead-whale-had-1000-pieces-of-plastic-in-stomach.
- 22.
Access 4Oceans at: https://4ocean.com/. Access The Ocean Cleanup at “Controversial Plastic Trash Collector Begins Maiden Ocean Voyage,” Science, September 11, 2018. 4Oceans puts the amount of plastic entering the oceans annually at 16 million tons; Another estimate is 8 million tons per year: Laura Parker, “Eight Million Tons of Plastic Dumped in Ocean Every Year,” The National Geographic, February 13, 2015.
- 23.
NASA, access at: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/CarbonCycle.
- 24.
There is a “fast” carbon cycle and a “slow” carbon cycle. The fast cycle is the absorption of carbon dioxide by the cells of plants and plankton. With energy from the sun and water and CO2, sugar is formed for the plant’s energy and oxygen is released (CO2 + H2O + energy = CH2O + O2). The slow cycle is carbon stored in rocks through water and CO2 forming carbonic acid and weathering rock eventually forming limestone; this carbon can be stored for millions of years. See NASA earth observatory on the carbon cycles. Access at: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/CarbonCycle.
- 25.
“How Long Do Greenhouse Gases Stay in the Air?” The Guardian, January 16, 2012; “What Are the Main Man-Made Greenhouse Gases?” The Guardian, March 21, 2011. Access at: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/feb/04/man-made-greenhouse-gases; and NASA, “Global Climate Change: Vital Signs for the Planet. A Blanket Around the Earth.” Access at: https://climate.nasa.gov/causes/.
- 26.
“Paris Agreement,” United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, access at: https://unfccc.int/files/essential_background/convention/application/pdf/english_paris_agreement.pdf. See Article 2.1(a) and Article 4.9.
- 27.
S. M. Rand, “Anthropogenic Pollutants: A Threat to Ecosystem Sustainability?” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society Biological Sciences, 10 (October 15, 2009): 1–25.
- 28.
S. M. Rand, “Anthropogenic Pollutants.… Sheep and Rats,” 6–8.
- 29.
World Wildlife Federation, “Deforestation,” 2018. Access at: https://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/deforestation.
- 30.
Union of Concerned Scientists, “What’s Driving Deforestation?” Access at: https://www.ucsusa.org/global-warming/stop-deforestation/whats-driving-deforestation#.W3mcZhu0XX4.
- 31.
World Resources Institute, Mikaela Weisse, and Elizabeth Dow Goldman, “2017 Was the Second-Worst Year on Record for Tropical Tree Cover Loss,” June 26, 2018. Access at: http://www.wri.org/blog/2018/06/2017-was-second-worst-year-record-tropical-tree-cover-loss. Data was derived from research from the University of Maryland. I have modified their chart from a column to linear paragraph. “Tree cover” is not the same as deforestation; tree cover loss refers to removal of a canopy from human or natural causes, whether it be a plantation or natural growth. A “hectare” = 2.47 acres.
- 32.
The opening scenes of the movie “The Emerald Forest” vividly depict bulldozers lined up with heavy steel chains near the ground, linking the bulldozers together, in order to clear a swath of trees and vegetation.
- 33.
Union of Concerned Scientists, “What’s Driving Deforestation?” McDonald’s Corporation issued a sustainability report claiming it buys beef from tropical rainforest land already cleared. But is this a tactic to deceive the public? What is to stop others from clearing the rainforest and then sell/leasing it to McDonald’s? Access their sustainability report at: https://corporate.mcdonalds.com/content/dam/gwscorp/scale-for-good/McDonald%27s-Beef-Sustainability-Report.pdf.
- 34.
Union of Concerned Scientists, “Palm Oil.” Access at: https://www.ucsusa.org/global-warming/stop-deforestation/drivers-of-deforestation-2016-palm-oil.
- 35.
World Wildlife Federation, Jon Grayson consultant, “Timber Scorecard 2017: Sustainability Progress Among Buyers of Timber and Wood Products.” This is an analysis of companies conducting timber and wood business with the United Kingdom. Access at: https://www.wwf.org.uk/sites/default/files/publications/Jul17/WWF_Timber_Scorecard_2017_0.pdf.
- 36.
International Union for Conservation of Nature (UCN), “Praising the Profile of Primary Forests and Intact Forest Landscapes,” March 23, 2018. https://www.iucn.org/theme/forests/our-work/slowing-global-deforestation-rate-and-primary-forests/raising-profile-primary-forests-and-intact-forest-landscapes. IUCN is comprised of 1300 member organizations and 1300 scientists.
- 37.
Mary Edmonds and Natalia Pinzon, “Soil Life: Microbiology on the Farm,” The Rodale Institute, December 12, 2012. Access at: https://rodaleinstitute.org/soil-life-microbiology-on-the-farm/.
- 38.
Ibid.
- 39.
See the studies of soil in Brazil published in Revista Brasileira de Ciência do Solo. On soil compaction: Vanderlei Rodrigues da Silva, José Miguel Reichert, Dalvan José Reinert, Edson Campanhola Bortoluzzi, “Soil Water Dynamics Related to the Degree of Compaction of Two brazilian oxisols Under No-Tillage,” Revista Brasileira de Ciencia do Solo, 33 #5 (September/October 2009). The authors state that “For adequate percolation of water into the soil, there should be no layers in the profile that impede water dynamics, since the steady-state water infiltration rate depends on the hydraulic conductivity of the layer of greatest impediment. The closer to the surface the obstructive layer, the greater will be the delay in the process of water infiltration….”
- 40.
Michael Mazurana, RenatoLevien, Alberto Vasconcellos Inda Junior et al., “Soil Susceptibility to Compaction Under Use Conditions in Southern Brazil,” Ciencia e Agrotechnolgia, 41 #1 (January/February 2017). “Resilience can be defined as the intrinsic capacity of the soil to return to its equilibrium state or a new state, after some form of disturbance (for example, pressure application).” The pressure deforms the soil structure.
- 41.
Union of Concerned Scientists, “Hidden Costs of Industrial Agriculture.” No author or date cited. Access at: https://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/our-failing-food-system/industrial-agriculture/hidden-costs-of-industrial.html#.W4bklBu0XX4.
- 42.
Beyond Pesticides. Access at: https://beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/category/chemicals/methyl-isocyanate-mic/.
- 43.
Beyond Pesticides, January 23, 2019.
- 44.
Ibid., July 27, 2012.
- 45.
Ibid., Wednesday, February 14, 2018.
- 46.
Ibid, November 30, 2018.
- 47.
Ibid., December 21, 2018.
- 48.
Ibid., April 26, 2018.
- 49.
Michael Mazurana, “Soil susceptibility…,” He notes that “…most mechanized assemblies…have diagonal type tires which have a higher tire inflation pressure and transmits [sic] more pressure to the soil, as compared to radial tires….” 7.
- 50.
Ralph Pearce, “What’s the Deal with Soil Compaction?” Country Guide, October 4, 2016. It is estimated that “it costs the U. K. 2 billion per year in yield losses attributed to compaction.”
- 51.
Union of Concerned Scientists, “Healthy Farm Practices: A Landscape Approach,” 1–4. Access at: https://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/solutions/advance-sustainable-agriculture/landscape-approach.html#.W4xA5hu0XX4.
- 52.
On the transformation of the Negev Desert in Israel, see Jonathan D. Auerbach, “Turning Sand into Land. Desert Farms in Israel Grow Lush Crops from Sand and Salty Water.” The Christian Science Monitor, May 19, 1987. Access at: https://www.csmonitor.com/1987/0519/dsand.html This southern region of Israel has underground salty aquifers, but Israeli agronomists have developed salt-resistant plants and used plastic tubing to release brackish water with fertilizer. Because the soil is sand and the computer controlled “fertigation” uses far less water, there are far fewer insects. Unmentioned is what happened to any indigenous fauna or flora. On tree planting in the Sahara and Australian Outback using desalination plants and Eucalyptus trees, see David Adam, “Forests in the Desert: The Answer to Climate Change?” The Guardian, Wednesday, November 4, 2009.
- 53.
Edward O. Wilson, The Future of Life, 58–59; See the pioneering work on the area-species principle in R. H. MacArthur and E. O. Wilson, The Theory of Island Biogeography (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1967). Reprinted 2001, Princeton University Press. This spawned a great deal of research. Eric D. Dibble and Sidinei Thomaz, for example, use fractal math and 5th root analysis: “Use of Fractal Dimension to Assess Habitat Complexity and Its Influence on Dominant Invertebrates Inhabiting Tropical and Temperate Macrophytes,” Journal of Freshwater Ecology, 2009; Access online (2011): https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/02705060.2009.9664269.
- 54.
- 55.
Wilson, The Future of Life, 51–52.
- 56.
Ibid., 58.
- 57.
Sarah Kaiser, “Restoring Santa Cruz Island Means Removing the Invasive Species,” Island Conservation, September 2, 2016. Access at: https://www.islandconservation.org/restoring-santa-cruz-island-means-removing-invasive-species/. Restoration of this island is a major success story. Native plants are now flourishing, bald eagles are nesting here again, the Santa Cruz fox is increasing its numbers. Also see The Nature Conservancy, “Santa Cruz.” Access at: https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/places-we-protect/santa-cruz-island-california/.
- 58.
Pam Wright, “Invasive Carp Species Killing Off Native Southeast Fish, Threatens Great Lakes Fishing Industry,” The Weather Channel News, April 24, 2018. Access at: https://weather.com/science/environment/news/2018-04-24-invasive-carp-killing-off-native-southeast-fish.
- 59.
Wilson, The Future of Life, 53.
- 60.
Joanna Cagan, “Brown-headed Cowbird,” Columbia University, Invasion Biology Introduced, March 1, 2002. Access at: http://www.columbia.edu/itc/cerc/danoff-burg/invasion_bio/inv_spp_summ/Molothrus_ater.htm.
- 61.
Dennis May, “Study Suggests Tree Ranges Are Already Shifting Due to Climate Change,” US Forest Station Northern Research Station, Research Review, #11, 2010. Access at: https://www.fs.fed.us/nrs/news/review/review-vol11.pdf
- 62.
“Climate Change Indicators: Bird Wintering Ranges.” U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (author and date not indicated): “Among 305 widespread North American bird species, the average mid-December to early January center of abundance moved northward by more than 40 miles between 1966 and 2013 … Trends in the center of abundance moving northward can be closely related to increasing winter temperatures.” For some species movement north was greater, up to 200 miles. Access at: https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/climate-change-indicators-bird-wintering-ranges. This article relies upon scientific research conducted by the National Audubon Society: Daniel K. Niven and Gregory S. Butcher, Birds and Climate Technical Report, “Northward Shifts in the Abundance of North American Birds in Early Winter: A Response to Warmer Winter Temperatures?” 2014 update of 2009 report.
- 63.
Ben Goldfarb, “Feeling the Heat: How Fish Are Migrating from Warming Waters,” Yale Environment 360, June 15, 2017. Access at: https://e360.yale.edu/features/feeling-the-heat-warming-oceans-drive-fish-into-cooler-waters.
- 64.
Tom Kerr and Michelle Hershman, “Energy Sector Methane Recovery and Use,” International Energy Agency, December, 2009, p. 13. Access at: https://www.iea.org/publications/freepublications/publication/methane_brochure.pdf.
- 65.
IUNC, “Raising the Profile of Primary Forests and Intact Forest Landscapes.” Access at: https://www.iucn.org/theme/forests/our-work/slowing-global-deforestation-rate-and-primary-forests/raising-profile-primary-forests-and-intact-forest-landscapes.
- 66.
Joan Maloof, Nature’s Temples: The Complex World of Old-Growth Forests (Portland, OR: Timber Press, 2016).
- 67.
Edward O. Wilson, The Future of Life, 161. Wilson too demands “Cease all logging of old growth forests everywhere.”
- 68.
IUNC, “Raising the Profile of Primary Forests….”
- 69.
IUCN, Critically Endangered List.
- 70.
Wilson, The Future of Life, 160–161.
- 71.
Ibid., 165.
- 72.
It must be conceded that ecosystems have fuzzy borders, but that does not mean we cannot identify the bulk of it as so-and-so.
- 73.
Holmes Rolston III, Environmental Ethics. Duties to and Values in the Natural World (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1988), 143–146. Rolston rejects Darwin’s contention that the name species is “… one arbitrarily given for the sake of convenience to a set of individuals closely resembling each other” (Citing Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species [Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1968], 108). Species which are a significant threat to our existence, such as smallpox bacteria, can be exterminated. We have a right to defend ourselves.
- 74.
The Future of Life, 77.
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DeArmey, M.H. (2020). The Destruction of the Earth. In: Cosmopolitanism and the Evils of the World. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42978-2_7
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