positive Environment (Mindfulness)
Am I working toward sustainable environment?
Each person should take the opportunity to ask themselves these questions. Is what I am doing today positive and beneficial for the environment and for others who follow me? If I am removing a tree, am I planting at least 2 more to take its place? If I am having fun in the environment, am I doing something to help that environment be healthier after I leave? Am I polluting the air or the water? Am I disturbing and harming nature? Am I finding ways to make the environment healthier (promoting clean air, water, soil, etc? Am I helping the biodiversity of the planet? Am I conscientious about creating more space and a healthy, beautiful environment for everyone to enjoy and walk in? Am I using more water than the land provides where I live? Am I eating more food at the expense of others, wasting food, water, soil, plants, and trees? If I am making money off of the land, am I making up for whatever destruction I cause? Am I leaving the world a better place for those that follow? Am I leaving the world more beautiful place with a biodiversity of wildlife, plants, and trees? Am I recycling?
If I don't think about any of these things, then maybe it's time to learn all that there is to learn about ecology. I designed a healthcare program. In that program, I asked myself daily what I did to enhance and improve the environment. I often do not think about sustainability as much as I prefer to think about improving the environment to create a healthier planet for everyone to enjoy, share and appreciate.
Yellowstone
GYE
- Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem: Yellowstone is part of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE), which spans over 22 million acres. This ecosystem supports diverse wildlife populations, including grizzly bears, gray wolves, bison, and elk1. The GYE is one of the largest nearly intact temperate-zone ecosystems on Earth.
- Bison Conservation: Yellowstone's Bison Conservation Transfer Program has been successful in maintaining a viable, wild, migratory population of bison. This program transfers brucellosis-free bison to American Indian Tribes, helping to preserve the species and maintain grassland health2.
- Wolf Reintroduction: Wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone between 1995 and 1997. Since then, their population has grown, and they are now widespread throughout the GYE1. This reintroduction has had significant ecological impacts, including controlling elk populations and promoting vegetation growth.
- Sustainability Efforts: Yellowstone National Park has been at the forefront of environmental preservation for over 145 years. The park's sustainability program focuses on managing operations and adapting facilities in a sustainable manner to preserve resources for future generations3.
- Research and Monitoring: Yellowstone conducts extensive scientific research and monitoring to inform resource-related decisions. This includes studying bison grazing, grassland health, and the impacts of climate change on the ecosystem2.
These examples demonstrate Yellowstone's significant contributions to biodiversity and environmental preservation.
Stockhome resilience centre
Stockholm Resilience Centre discusses the importance of addressing interconnected environmental problems simultaneously to find solutions that provide synergies. Key points include:
- Interconnected Problems: Major environmental issues like climate change, biodiversity loss, and water and nutrient cycles are interconnected and must be analyzed together to avoid solutions that might solve one problem but worsen another.
- Collaborative Approach: Economists, social scientists, and natural scientists need to collaborate to develop effective solutions.
- Policy Instruments: Effective policy instruments, such as carbon dioxide taxes and support for new technologies, are essential but must consider the income distributional effects and perceived fairness to be politically feasible.
- Anthropocene Era: Human activities and consumption patterns are pushing the Earth beyond its planetary boundaries, risking irreversible changes.
COP 28
COP28, held in Dubai in 2023, brought forward several positive recommendations aimed at accelerating global climate action:
1. Global Stocktake (GST): Highlighted the need for deep, rapid, and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Emphasized transitioning away from fossil fuels in a just, orderly, and equitable manner to achieve net-zero by 2050.
Renewable Energy and Efficiency: Called for tripling global renewable energy capacity and doubling the annual rate of energy efficiency improvements by 2030.
Non-CO2 Emissions: Focused on significantly reducing non-CO2 emissions, particularly aiming for near-zero global methane emissions by 20301.
Fossil Fuel Subsidies: Urged phasing out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies that do not address energy poverty or facilitate just transitions1.
2. Tripling Renewables, Doubling Efficiency
Energy Infrastructure: Massive investment needed, estimated at $4.5 trillion by 2030, to build new clean power infrastructure.
Global Commitment: 117 countries agreed to triple renewable energy capacity and double energy efficiency improvements by 2030.
Private Sector Support: Significant private sector involvement, including a $3 billion fund from Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners for renewable energy projects in emerging markets.
Future Technologies: By 2050, 50% of emissions reductions must come from technologies not yet available at scale1.
3. Reshaping Demand to Slash Emissions in Agriculture
Food Systems: Account for 30% of global emissions. COP28 emphasized sustainable agriculture and resilient food systems1.
Emirates Declaration: Supported by 134 countries, focusing on including agricultural emissions in national climate action plans1.
First Movers Coalition for Food: Launched to create market demand for sustainably produced and low-emission agricultural commodities1.
4. Enabling a Holistic Nature and Climate Action Agenda
Ecosystem Collapse: Nearly 1 million species are at risk of extinction. Interventions towards a nature-positive economy by 2030 can generate over $10 trillion annually and provide up to 30% of emission mitigation targets.
Convergence of Agendas: The UAE and China issued a statement to align climate and nature strategies. COP28 launched initiatives with a $1.7 billion commitment to meet climate and biodiversity goals.
Ocean Action: Emphasized the importance of oceans as carbon sinks. 21 countries joined the Mangrove Breakthrough to restore and protect 15 million hectares of mangroves by 2030. Over $2.5 billion was mobilized for nature conservation and restoration.
5. Addressing Adaptation and Supporting the Most Vulnerable
Global Goal on Adaptation: Defined seven targets for 2030, including resilience to water-related disasters, climate-positive food and water production, and climate-resilient health services.
Adaptation Fund: Mobilized $188 million for 2023, though short of the $300 million annual target and the $215 billion needed per year for developing countries.
Loss and Damage Fund: Secured over $726 million to support countries most affected by climate change, representing 0.2% of the required funding.
These efforts highlight the critical steps needed to address both climate and biodiversity crises, emphasizing the importance of integrated and well-funded strategies.
SUSTAINABLE PopulationS
Population
The article " Measuring the Doughnut: A good life for all is possible within planetary boundaries - ScienceDirect suggests "planetary boundaries considered can be respected for 8.0 and 10.4 billion people with a probability of 81% and 73% respectively. However, this requires a fossil-free energy system, and an essentially vegan diet as well as no additional cropland conversion. To actually create and enlarge a safe and just operating space, carbon dioxide emissions, biodiversity, Phosphorus and Nitrogen emissions would need to be further reduced, mainly by improved agricultural practices and material circularity."
Here are my reasoning questions:
1. Can we get people to consider and go along with such practices?
2. Is zoonosis or zoonotic disease a continuing threat?
3. Isn't a lower sustainable population more feasible, practical, sustainable, less apt to be destructive of each other and the earth while creating a more pleasant environment for all to enjoy and share??
4. Are we emotional reasoning or justifying cognitive bias rather than finding a way to manage population growth?
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Creating a better forest climate.
Reforestation
- Cloud Formation and Cooling Effect:
- Princeton University researchers discovered that reforestation may be more effective at cooling Earth’s atmosphere. Forests absorb solar radiation due to their low albedo (reflectivity), but denser cloud formations associated with forested areas offset this effect. Clouds have a cooling impact by reflecting sunlight and seeding clouds, making reforestation advantageous for climate purposes.
- Tropical forests alone cool the global average temperature by over 1 degree Celsius, primarily through carbon sequestration. However, other processes, such as water vapor release, aerosols, and uneven forest canopies, also contribute to this cooling effect as well.
- Tree Planting Goals:
- Environmental initiatives aim to plant a trillion trees globally by 2030. Saudi Arabia targets 10 billion, China aims for 88 billion, and the U.S. plans to add 1 billion trees within a decade.
- If every person on Earth planted a tree annually for 20 years, we could add roughly 160 billion new trees.
In summary, planting trees is a powerful natural climate solution, and reforestation plays a crucial role in mitigating global warming