---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: r kanth <involutegandhian@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Aug 20, 2018 at 1:30 AM
Subject: Fwd: From Rajani: The End of Evolution?
To: Michel Bauwens <michelsub2004@gmail.com>
Doomsday? May not be far away.
Remember Barry Mcguire?
His song was titled ‘Eve of Destruction’.
Could be an anthem for us all, in these times.
Let me explain.
Turns out I am not the only gloom-sayer around.
The really hard act here is Dr. Guy Mcpherson, Biologist and Concerned Citizen(he’s all over Youtube).
He is predicting an early , abrupt, extinction for us anthropic beings ( I detest the term ‘ homo sapiens’: Homo Baceolus might be more apt?).
Here’s a digest.
Firstly, our Habitat.
Our species has been around for a bit.
But 99% of all species are now extinct.
Are we next?
Yes, likely.
In 1750 – the baseline year of Industrialisation - - planetary temp was at 13.5 Celsius.
The species has survived, Guy estimates, at no more than about 2 Degrees above that, and that may be the highest that permits a real habitat for humans.
Today we are already 1.6 Degrees above the 1750 baseline.
Close.
Second, ‘Civilisation’ – his term, not mine – is a veritable heat engine.
Only way to turn off this heating is a total collapse of this’ civilisation’ tout a fait.
But , Third, such a collapse of this ‘civ’ brings about, in turn, yet another crisis: global dimming.
Industrial activity produces particularates that blanket the earth and block sun’s rays this ‘cooling’ the earth ( by some 3 degrees).
If we stop that engine then the planet heats up some more , maybe , by another 4.5 Degrees.
There goes our Habitat.
Fourth, is what he calls the Sixth (Mass) Extinction: the ominicide extant that is killing off as many as , perhaps, 200 species a day.
Their death presages ours.
Plus, the steady melt of Arctic ice could release trapped methane in abrupt fashion.
All that could shoot Planetary temp up to 19 Degrees, within a year or two, at most:
ergo, crop failures, droughts, starvation, et. al (note, he sees the ‘commencement ‘ of this scenario within but a year or so).
Pop goes the weasel.
Why aren’t the powers that shouldn’t be telling us?
Fear, of mass panic.
Even science journals are loth to print such radical ideas.
So, what can be done?
Nothing, says Guy, since it’s out of control already.
We are doomed.
Instead, he asks us to remain calm, pursue excellence, and pursue love.
Whew.
Tall order.
I like the last, the second to last is but an old affectation, and the first may be well beyond reach.
I register only 2 informed objections – to his analysis - neither of them minor.
No, ‘Western Civ’ is not ‘civ’, by any stretch ( I have explained this in many Works): it in fact a ‘culture of death’ , to use a telling phrase of environmentalist Vandana Shiva, that has brought us to this catastrophic pass.
Second, if we are counting, it’s not the 6th, but, in fact, the 7th Extinction.
The Sixth was the genocide against Non-Europeans, carried out by Europe, non-stop since 1492.
Yes, non-stop.
Have a look around.
Other than that, his logic and facts appear sound.
We need to listen to Barry.
And to Guy.
It’s time for soothsayers to step up: all others have, more or less, failed us.
[©R.Kanth 2018]--P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net
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