Waves of humanity
Sprawling Mexico City rolls across the landscape, displacing every scrap of natural habitat

‘If our species had started with just two people at the time of the earliest agricultural practices some 10,000 years ago, and increased by one percent per year, today humanity would be a solid ball of flesh many thousand light years in diameter, and expanding with a radial velocity that, neglecting relativity, would be many times faster than the speed of light.’ -Gabor Zovanyi

Oil spill fire
Aerial view of an oil fire following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico

‘We must realise that not only does every area have a limited carrying capacity, but also that this carrying capacity is shrinking and the demand growing. Until this understanding becomes an intrinsic part of our thinking and wields a powerful influence on our formation of national and international policies we are scarcely likely to see in what direction our destiny lies.’ William Vogt

Feedlot
Industrial livestock production in Brazil

‘Despite the industry’s spin, concentrated animal feeding operations are not the only way to raise livestock and poultry. Thousands of farmers and ranchers integrate crop production, pastures, or forages with livestock and poultry to balance nutrients within their operations and minimise off-farm pollution through conservation practices and land management. Yet these sustainable producers, who must compete with factory farms for market share, receive comparatively little or no public funding for their sound management practices.’ Martha Noble

South City Mall in Kolkata, India
Consumer culture spreads to the global south
‘In the developing world, the problem of population is seen less as a matter of human numbers than of western over-consumption. Yet within the development community, the only solution to the problems of the developing world is to export the same unsustainable economic model fuelling the overconsumption of the West.’ Kavita Ramdas

Greenhouses grow greenhouses
As far as the eye can see, greenhouses cover the landscape in Almeria, Spain

‘We are slaves in the sense that we depend for our daily survival upon an expand-or-expire agro-industrial empire – a crackpot machine – that the specialists cannot comprehend and the managers cannot manage. Which is, furthermore, devouring world resources at an exponential rate.’ Edward Abbey

British Columbia clear-cut
Sometimes called the Brazil of the North, Canada has not been kind to its native forests as seen by clear-cut logging on Vancouver Island

‘Human domination over nature is quite simply an illusion, a passing dream by a naive species. It is an illusion that has cost us much, ensnared us in our own designs, given us a few boasts to make about our courage and genius, but all the same it is an illusion.’ Donald Worster

Trash wave
Indonesian surfer Dede Surinaya catches a wave in a remote but garbage-covered bay on Java, Indonesia, the world’s most populated island

‘Water and air, the two essential fluids on which all life depends, have become global garbage cans.’ Jacques-Yves Cousteau

Rectangular fields
No room for nature, the entire landscape is devoted to crop production in China

‘Globalisation, which attempts to amalgamate every local, regional, and national economy into a single world system, requires homogenising locally adapted forms of agriculture, replacing them with an industrial system – centrally managed, pesticide-intensive, one-crop production for export – designed to deliver a narrow range of transportable foods to the world market.’ Helena Norberg-Hodge

Cows and smoke
Ground zero in the war on nature – cattle graze among the burning Amazon jungle in Brazil

‘Throughout history human exploitation of the earth has produced this progression: colonise-destroy-move on.’ Garrett Hardin

Oil wells
Depleting oil fields are yet another symptom of ecological overshoot as seen at the Kern River Oil Field in California

‘I don’t understand why when we destroy something created by man we call it vandalism, but when we destroy something created by nature we call it progress.’ Ed Begley, Jr.

Dead bird
On Midway Atoll, far from the centres of world commerce, an albatross, dead from ingesting too much plastic, decays on the beach – it is a common sight on the remote island

‘Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals – the same fate awaits them both; as one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath.’ Ecclesiastes 3:19

Hill-side slum:
Slum-dwelling residents of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, face bleak living conditions in the western hemisphere’s poorest country

‘Squatters trade physical safety and public health for a few square meters of land and some security against eviction. They are the pioneer settlers of swamps, floodplains, volcano slopes, unstable hillsides, rubbish mountains, chemical dumps, railroad sidings, and desert fringes ... such sites are poverty’s niche in the ecology of the city, and very poor people have little choice but to live with disaster.’ Mike Davis

Clear-cut
Industrial forestry degrading public lands, Willamette National Forest in Oregon

‘What an irony it is that these living beings whose shade we sit in, whose fruit we eat, whose limbs we climb, whose roots we water, to whom most of us rarely give a second thought, are so poorly understood. We need to come, as soon as possible, to a profound understanding and appreciation for trees and forests and the vital role they play, for they are among our best allies in the uncertain future that is unfolding.’ Jim Robbins

SO DO WE GO BACK TO CAVE DWELLING
DON'T WORRY WHEN IT GETS AWRY WE'LL THINK OF SOMETHING

Educative & informing...

mikolo80:
SO DO WE GO BACK TO CAVE DWELLING
DON'T WORRY WHEN IT GETS AWRY WE'LL THINK OF SOMETHING

Typical Nigerian Response we are already there in Nigeria look at your streets and mangroves and you haven't been able to think of anything.

Acheme86:
Educative & informing...

Im glad you think so

Jbenue:


Typical Nigerian Response we are already there in Nigeria look at your streets and mangroves and you haven't been able to think of anything.



Im glad you think so

AND WHAT IS YOUR SOLUTION MR ATYPICAL NIGERIAN.BURYING YOUR HEAD IN THE SAND IN HIGH SOUNDING HYSTERIA?

mikolo80:
AND WHAT IS YOUR SOLUTION MR ATYPICAL NIGERIAN.BURYING YOUR HEAD IN THE SAND IN HIGH SOUNDING HYSTERIA?

In Nigeria My advice would be for Goverment to put in place a program that encourages smaller families, we are reproducing too quickly which is not sustainable for our economy or environment. And also we need to promote engineering and sciences in our schools to develop clear and more sustainable forms of energy and agriculture ( This one will be difficult due to a lack of capital) but as an alternative develop mass transit and discourage private car ownership. lastly we need to get into the habit of recycling both organic and in-organic waste.

Please elaborate how I am burying my head in the sand.....

Jbenue:


In Nigeria My advice would be for Goverment to put in place a program that encourages smaller families, we are reproducing too quickly which is not sustainable for our economy or environment. And also we need to promote engineering and sciences in our schools to develop clear and more sustainable forms of energy and agriculture ( This one will be difficult due to a lack of capital) but as an alternative develop mass transit and discourage private car ownership. lastly we need to get into the habit of recycling both organic and in-organic waste.

Please elaborate how I am burying my head in the sand.....

YOUR WHOLE 'WOE IS ME' rant(albeit copy and pasted) and attacking my nigeriansess instead of suggesting...scratch that(SINCE YOU HAve already)...instead of implementing said solutions. ANYWAY SIMPLY EMPOWERING PPL TO IMPROVE THEir productivity will lead to drops in birth rates while recycling will handle most of the rest. The earth has quite a bit more carrying capacity than we give it credit for.

This isn't complete without the Pavalas in Brazil.

mikolo80:
YOUR WHOLE 'WOE IS ME' rant(albeit copy and pasted) and attacking my nigeriansess instead of suggesting...scratch that(SINCE YOU HAve already)...instead of implementing said solutions. ANYWAY SIMPLY EMPOWERING PPL TO IMPROVE THEir productivity will lead to drops in birth rates while recycling will handle most of the rest. The earth has quite a bit more carrying capacity than we give it credit for.

What can be described as ranting in anything I have posted? I read an interesting pictorial on what I think is an important issue and decided to share it on a forum. What is bad here? and your first suggestion (I dont know whether you were joking) was a typical Nigerian thing to say. Thats the attitude we have to maintenance of infrastructure as well "AHH We Will Fix It When It Breaks Down" Am I lying?? Look where that has gotten us.

useful post

This is quite educative and scary.

Not everybody will understand this though.

If you see the activities of loggers here in the north, you will be amazed as young shrubs are not spare from being made firewood.
Deforestation kept going on without checks, the government only made a weak law that promotes tree planting in residential areas but the little shrubs in the large semi arid lands are being cut for firewood on daily basis.

The story is the same down south as the activities of charcoal makers has increased, you will see bags of charcoal inside trucks everyday and you can't help but wonder how they came about it.

I think the government need a lot to do regarding this issue, a lot of policies should be put in place that will see into the activities of this loggers.


It is really a very serious issue because the consequences will affect all and spare no one.

Desert encroachments are becoming visible in many not-too-northern states in Nigeria due to negligence in the part of the government.

Natural gas that is wasting away in our refineries can be liquefied and made available to consumers at cheap prices, that alone will reduce deforestation to some extent.


Loggers should be made to plant trees in replacement for any mature one fell for wood in the forest. People should be encouraged to plant trees in their surrounding.

Jbenue:


What can be described as ranting in anything I have posted? I read an interesting pictorial on what I think is an important issue and decided to share it on a forum. What is bad here? and your first suggestion (I dont know whether you were joking) was a typical Nigerian thing to say. Thats the attitude we have to maintenance of infrastructure as well "AHH We Will Fix It When It Breaks Down" Am I lying?? Look where that has gotten us.

AHH WHEN IT BREAKS DOW
N WE WILLTHINK OF SOMETHING IS NOT A NIGERIAN THING TO SAY
IT'S A HUMAN THING

WE WILL FIX IT WHEN IT BREAKS DOWN IS ALSO NOT EXCLUSIVE TO NIGERIA(LACK OF MAINTENANCE CULTURE)
IT'S WHAT YOU SAY WHEN YOU BELIEVE THAT THE SOLUTION IS BEYOND YOU(EARTHQUAKE,VOLCANO ETC)

LLIKE LACK OF MAINTENANCE CULTURE WORLD PROBLEMS(UNEMPLOYMENT,POLLUTION,ALLEGED GLOBAL WARMING ET AL) ARE PUBLIC BADS
NOT NIGERIAN BADS AND SO NOBODY IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THEM EVEN THOUGH WE ARE ALL RESPONSIBLE FOR THEM
SO NO SOLUTIONS WILL EVER COME FORTH UNTIL THEY ARE EITHER PROFITABLE OR COLLECTIVELY COSTLY(WHEN THE WORLD CATCH FIRE )
SO STOP THE SANCTIMONIOUSITY,IT DOESN'T WORK AND IT DOESN'T SUIT YOU EITHER. MAN UP AND EMBRACE THE SUCK AND STOP WHININIG LIKE A LITTLE GIRL

mikolo80:
AHH WHEN IT BREAKS DOW
N WE WILLTHINK OF SOMETHING IS NOT A NIGERIAN THING TO SAY
IT'S A HUMAN THING

WE WILL FIX IT WHEN IT BREAKS DOWN IS ALSO NOT EXCLUSIVE TO NIGERIA(LACK OF MAINTENANCE CULTURE)
IT'S WHAT YOU SAY WHEN YOU BELIEVE THAT THE SOLUTION IS BEYOND YOU(EARTHQUAKE,VOLCANO ETC)

LLIKE LACK OF MAINTENANCE CULTURE WORLD PROBLEMS(UNEMPLOYMENT,POLLUTION,ALLEGED GLOBAL WARMING ET AL) ARE PUBLIC BADS
NOT NIGERIAN BADS AND SO NOBODY IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THEM EVEN THOUGH WE ARE ALL RESPONSIBLE FOR THEM
SO NO SOLUTIONS WILL EVER COME FORTH UNTIL THEY ARE EITHER PROFITABLE OR COLLECTIVELY COSTLY(WHEN THE WORLD CATCH FIRE )
SO STOP THE SANCTIMONIOUSITY,IT DOESN'T WORK AND IT DOESN'T SUIT YOU EITHER. MAN UP AND EMBRACE THE SUCK AND STOP WHININIG LIKE A LITTLE GIRL

First I was Ranting now I am Whining like a Little Girl

I rarely say this to people but you are an I.diot. What are you trying to prove? I raise a relevant global issue, you give a frivolous comment and then I am being sanctimonious Haba. There is no need to be a rebel without a cause if you have nothing to contribute to discussion dont comment.

Jbenue:



First I was Ranting now I am Whining like a Little Girl

I rarely say this to people but you are an I.diot. What are you trying to prove? I raise a relevant global issue, you give a frivolous comment and then I am being sanctimonious Haba. There is no need to be a rebel without a cause if you have nothing to contribute to discussion dont comment.

WHY YOU GETTING MAD?
IS THIS HOW YOU WANT TO WIN WORLD ISSUES DEBATE
WOW AND WHEN I CAALLED YOU AA RANTER YOU PROLLY THOUGHT I WAS INSULTING YOU
OH WELL GOOD LUCK SAVING A WORLD THAT DOESN'T WANT TO BE SAVED

Jbenue:


Typical Nigerian Response we are already there in Nigeria look at your streets and mangroves and you haven't been able to think of anything.



Im glad you think so

typical Nigerian response is 'e go better ' or 'God de '
and no we are not yet. we are still buying galaxy s 6 and I phone six and Range Rover and doing ikomo,and borrowing money for marriage and freedom parties and funerals. so no we not there yet.when we do we will go back to farms and manufacturing and vote better leaders instead of sitting at home lamenting online and in drinking joints