14 replies to this topic

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Is it climate change?
Lack of water?
Chemicals?
Various wars (which doesn't relate to green necessarily but is still a threat.)
Gmo's?
Polluted air?
Other?

What are your thoughts?

[MakingCents]

I think it's hard to predict because we don't know what the future holds.  Like for instance, lack of water is a HUGE problem in some areas of the world and there is plentiful water in others, so maybe someday it will be easy and cheap to funnel the clean water from one part of the world to the parts that don't have clean water.   Polluted air is a major problem but I could forsee a day where we have more powerful filters that keep the toxins out of the air and greener ways of producing energy.

I think the problem lies in the fact that for the most part the general population don't take these problems seriously so these ideas aren't being worked on to the best taht they could be.

[mariaandrea]

Attitude and education - attitude stemming from a lack of education, I mean.

When people have real facts about a problem and know enough or are educated enough to figure out how to solve it, real change happens. When people are educated, they are less susceptible to brainwashing by people who profit by the status quo. When people are educated they don't confuse "beliefs" with "facts." You don't have to "believe" climate change is happening. The facts speak for themselves. You just have to be educated enough to understand them. And, I don't necessarily mean formal education, although that's good. Anyone can educate themselves on the issues. Our societal attitude has to shift. Too many people label smart, educated people as "elite" and there has been a strong anti-intellectual feeling in this country for a very long time, exploited by politicians and corporate leaders. That attitude will be our downfall because it prevents us from addressing the real threats to ourselves and the planet: climate change, alternative energy, GMO foods, water, air pollution... all of it.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

mariaandrea, on 05 March 2012 - 08:47 AM, said:

Attitude and education - attitude stemming from a lack of education, I mean.

When people have real facts about a problem and know enough or are educated enough to figure out how to solve it, real change happens. When people are educated, they are less susceptible to brainwashing by people who profit by the status quo. When people are educated they don't confuse "beliefs" with "facts." You don't have to "believe" climate change is happening. The facts speak for themselves. You just have to be educated enough to understand them. And, I don't necessarily mean formal education, although that's good. Anyone can educate themselves on the issues. Our societal attitude has to shift. Too many people label smart, educated people as "elite" and there has been a strong anti-intellectual feeling in this country for a very long time, exploited by politicians and corporate leaders. That attitude will be our downfall because it prevents us from addressing the real threats to ourselves and the planet: climate change, alternative energy, GMO foods, water, air pollution... all of it.

Like santorum calling Obama a snob.
"Pass me another glass of that 'shine would ya boys?" Yuk Yuk

[eds]

Shortpoet-GTD, on 05 March 2012 - 04:29 AM, said:

What's our biggest threat?
Is it climate change?
Lack of water?
Chemicals?
Various wars (which doesn't relate to green necessarily but is still a threat.)
Polluted air?

It's just a matter of knowing the difference between a "Cause" and "Effect,"
. . . rather difficult to do, if you can't tell the difference between a "Need" and "Want."
The image of a broken and wasted planet represents a possible and profoundly unpleasant future scenario for humankind. The demands made on the Earth’s resources continue to grow as climate change accelerates and associated natural disasters become more frequent and widespread. New disease patterns threaten the global population, food shortages become commonplace, and inappropriate and excessive use of energy supplies threatens us all.

Source: http://rsta.royalsoc...cover-expansion

[still learning]

Biggest threat...

Shortpoet-GTD, on 05 March 2012 - 04:29 AM, said:

Is it climate change?
Lack of water?
Chemicals?
Various wars (which doesn't relate to green necessarily but is still a threat.)
Gmo's?
Polluted air?
Other?

What are your thoughts?

Climate change.
If we don't do the right things to head the worst off.

It's worldwide.  The time delay between cause and effect is what makes it particularly troublesome.  
It's not really here yet, but it may end up altering the world in ways that will make our decendants sure that, collectively,  we were unthinking selfish profligates.  The people responsible, us, won't live to experience the worst effects occuring many decades from now.

The other hazards listed tend to be either more immediate or less global in effect.  Let the smog sort of air pollution get out of hand in some city and the effects will be more local than global and they'll begin to die out as soon as remedial measures are effective.

Dwindling nonrenewable natural resources coupled with an expanding worldwide population will exacerbate our decendants dealing with whatever climate change effects we bequeath them.

[Phil]

I think chemicals.  GW can be tolerated and even enjoyed if you're one of the winners, (and the US will be), water can be resolved with a little effort, wars will go on for the forseeable future but will be more and more a third world only issue, GMO's can be gotten around, and air pollution is mostly localized and improving, (at least in the US).

Chemicals, once they are in the evnironment, are difficult to remove.  CFC's, acid rain, etc. have long lasting and devistating effects.

The real issue is, we in the US are not the problem.   While we have laws and regulations and are lowering our demands on the environment, the thrid world, China and India in particular, are going full speed ahead with much larger populations.  The future of our environment is pretty much out of our hands and only when the citizens of the third world demand change will we be able to turn the corner.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Phil, on 06 March 2012 - 02:17 PM, said:

While we have laws and regulations

The laws and regulations we have in this country are not even close to adequate.

Just one example is gas fracking. 650+ chemicals are pumped into the well to help extract the fluids,
and thanks to chaney/halliburton; that toxic stew (and the ingredients) do not have to be disclosed.
Numerous companies have "patent protection" on their chemicals, so we, as consumers, don't have a clue
and cannot find out what is being used. Herbicides, pesticides-even make-up (with the chemicals hidden
under the label of fragrance) are everywhere and often not regulated.
See this thread too.
http://www.altenergy...__fromsearch__1
And many laws protect the producers of toxins. $ talks after all.
http://naturalsociet...otect-monsanto/
http://en.wikipedia....hemical_Company
Even just glancing at these stats in this article-and the total tonnage of chemicals produced by monsanto/dow/basf-
it would be next to impossible to regulate all of them.

http://www.answers.c...emical-industry

[Sandra Piddock]

I think polluted air is the one that concerns me most, because it has the potential to cause so much illness, which will place an intolerable burden on health services. We as humans can adapt to climate change and also conserve water,  but if we can't get away from air pollution, at some time, it's going to get us.

[still learning]

Sandra Piddock, on 15 March 2012 - 02:27 PM, said:

I think polluted air is the one that concerns me most,

One thing to remember:  Most (not all) health related air pollution comes about because of fossil fuel burning.

Smog, acid rain, particulates, mercury emissions and others are mainly a result of burning fossil fuels without adequate controls.
While it is possible to reduce any or even all all those health affecting emissions with catalytic converters and filters and whatnot and still burn fossil fuels, it adds cost.

Not burning so much fossil fuel in the first place also reduces those health affecting pollutant emissions.

Take care of the global warming problem and clean up other pollutants as a byproduct.

[zararina]

I think it will be all the pollutions. Air pollution, water pollution, soil pollution and even noise pollution.
It seems that as our earth aged, the problem about pollution is getting worse and on some areas it is worst already. It should be slowed down a lot if cannot be totally stopped for all living things to still manage to live on our earth.

[meowcow]

I think the biggest threat to the society right now is our oil resources. Because it is clearly a structure that has brought us this far, but is rapidly showing its weak points. Not only are we running out of it or going to run out of it soon, but the prices are significantly affecting our wallets and our economy as a whole. It clearly should be phased out and we as a people are holding on to a past structure that is not working for current society anymore.

[yoder]

I believe the biggest threat globally is power without responsibility.  Whether in the Americas, Europe or Asia, the concentration of power has been paired with a precipitous drop in accountability and responsibility by the very people at these nexus of power.

Without accountability, these power centers have continued to destroy the best attempts by the rest to fix what we all know is broken, whether that be pollution, greenhouse gases, corporate responsibility, fossil fuels, social equality, etc.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

I'm changing my answer to the koch brothers.
They own (almost) everything and run (almost) everything.
They spend millions denying climate change so they can keep their oil/gas/coal going at full throttle.
Their various radical right wing groups fund too many politicians/candidates that are only running to hurt us.
http://www.altenergy...ch-octopus-r549

[coyotebait]

staying on this course. Big money wants just what they are paying for. Dems and Reps. are just a smoke screen. We need the united nations (but they are probably. bought off also.) to make the new energy cell
the highest priority thing there is. idiots will laugh. But it is the only thing that will change the flow of power.
again I dont think I need to explain why.  google   Bloom box energy, So much better then a pop bottle flower pot.  give me a break.