October 2011 Atmospheric CO2 Content 388.92; October 2010 387.15; October 2009 384.34

Naw, humans have nothing to do with it.

That's the Republican position on it.

Even when it's right in front of their freaking faces.

Idiots in complete denial of the facts.

you know, by the time we actually get some movement on policy or whatever, it's too freakinglate

by now, i wonder if our only best option is to hope for the benevolent aliens to come and heal the planet with their amazing technology...and no, i am not kidding :(

That applies to all the crises the world is facing today: climate change, biodiversity loss, soil and water depletion, Peak Oil, financial corruption, the corruption of governance, the destruction of the social contract...

Only once the whole experiment as demonstrably fallen apart will we decide to change.

Ever since I was a child he impressed upon me that people only change due to crises. This is why I'm vigilant. I voluntarily decided to avoid travel.

An intelligent society is what I thought we were. And an intelligent society shouldn't need leaders to tell them to do what is obviously right. But then if we reached 7 billion, it's also obvious that people are not nearly as intelligent as I expected.

This is not about book knowledge. This is about the ability to observe reality. Anyone with eyes can see that San Francisco now is not anything remotely like San Francisco in 1930. It was idyllic. Now it's madness. Frogs in warming water. Some frogs realize it's just not right. They try to shut off the gas.


By the way- now that I'm replying to you, I want to share something a brilliant friend was telling me the other day. It may be bs. And yes, technically we're still in an ice age right now. But after every ice age, the animals have emerged in a new and evolved state. I suppose this time, after a million years or so, humans may actually come out of the freeze with an evolved structure that makes the current specie look like dinosaurs. I'm curious what you think of that silly thought. The guy I mention is someone I'm working with to produce a fuel cell hot water heater. We're actively trying to cut down the number of "camp fires" on the planet.

To me your friend's thought feels like an implicit recognition of the possibility of apotheosis inherent in the human.

The future is utterly unknowable, so literally anything is possible - if not equally probable. Most of our thoughts about the future state of the world are projections of our own current inner state. That applies whether one is a doomer or a cornucopian, a technological or spiritual singularitarian, a believer in the irresistible power of human ingenuity or the irresistible power of biophysical circumstances.

Over all, it's better to have a belief that something positive awaits, no matter how we have to qualify that idea. The problem can be how to fight through an awareness of the deterioration of the present to get to a place of equanimity and qualified hope. It looks like your friend got to that place.

I am a pessimist. I just can't deny it. But I'm working very hard to break the habit. I guess it's things like watching the ice caps break up that gives me the illusion that things are not alright. Or that I'm selling my fifth ranch in a row that has been less than what I consider to be a tolerable home due to world population. And that I fear there is no longer a place for people like me on this planet. I find it difficult to view things as positive when evidence is to the contrary. In fact, that is exactly what the conversation was with my friend. Yet I now realize that I'm only one person. It's strange. One person can't change the world, yet 7 billion "one person" can kill it. Therein lies the trouble. And the answer. I honestly think that faith is crucial. Without it, I think it's a bleak situation. Unless we're just lucky enough for things to happen to work out for the better. And then again, even if we were to maintain this planet, the sun will go supernova. I don't know. I don't know.

Once you have fully integrated the awareness of the Predicament, it never leaves. However, if that's the only way you see reality, the unbalance will slowly destroy you. There are several ways to try to cope with that situation. The one most people try is to change their attitude about it, usually by adopting some outer work that might help ameliorate the Predicament. This can be useful, but it's usually not sufficient because the span of influence of personal action is so small compared to the scope of the Predicament.

What seems to help a lot of people is to recognize that their inner distress comes from unbalance. The awareness of the Predicament is valid and permanent, but it's psychologically one-sided - that's why it manifests as pessimism and causes suffering. When a person is immersed in the distress that comes from that unbalanced awareness, what can help is to find out what balancing force is missing, and address that issue instead. In other words, don't try altering your existing perception, instead build up a view that will balance it out. If you can achieve a balanced perception, the suffering generally subsides.

The awareness that balances the Predicament tends to come in the side door, and is usually unrelated to the Predicament itself. One of the most common responses I've seen (and it was mine too) is the recognition that one is missing an essential sense of the numinous. This is a common unbalance in Western scientistic culture, where a direct experience of the numinous is provided by neither science, religion nor material consumption - in fact, it's actively discouraged by all three forces.

How one goes about acquiring that experience is deeply personal, and depends as much on chance as effort. I found that simply recognizing that this was the direction I needed to travel made the journey possible.

As in all things personal, YMMV.

I had to look up "numinous".

I'm right on target. Your sharing is helpful even if it only confirms that.

Right now I have given up a certain amount of my concerns, efforts, power to what I believe is that higher power. It may be chance, a god, my unconscious efforts. I don't know. But I now realize I am not fully in control of the universe. Perhaps in control of only very small pieces of this life. Two lattes this morning, or three. But no matter what, a direction. And then the consequences that follow may or may not be of my volition.

I'm 55, and have begun what I should have done when I was 20. No alcohol. 4 hours of stretching and and good exercises per day. Proper food. This is my new path. I feel it's the best path possible. But that's all personal stuff.

Thanks. I'm grateful for your sharing.

I've been enjoying your exchange.

One thing that helps to balance what I see as humanities decline into pollution, etc. is to enjoy sunrises, the color of the leaves, cloud formations, the feel of the breeze, etc.

The other thing I've been doing is researching ancient religious ideas that centered on snakes and peacocks, as well as water and earth goddesses. Historically people have looked to the stars to find answers and create myths. It's also good to keep in mind the vastness of the universe.

I spend quite a lot of time each day in the redwood forests in my backyard. I quit my engineering job in Silicon Valley in the early 90's so that I could move to the country. It helps, but only while I'm there. And even then it can be ruined by jet noise, among other things, like logging.

But that last one you mentioned is really interesting. I discussed it with someone this weekend. The vastness of the universe is a stunning display of energy and variety and unknown. I get a perspective that works well. It is so hard to be at this time, where all of humanity has lived in a pretty much pristine environment. Uh oh, my movie is coming on...


:)

IMO these are the two most important facets of awareness that shift people in a positive direction.

Feeling connected to something much larger than oneself is crucial. Perhaps connection isn’t even the best word – the sense is more like feeling embedded in the larger context. To me that means feeling like an integral part of it – essential to its functioning, but at the same time dependent on it for my own physical, psychological and spiritual wholeness.

Ecological consciousness flows from the awareness of connection, as we realize that every bit of the cosmic ball of string is interdependent with every other bit. Nothing can be altered in isolation, and if any piece is removed the whole is diminished.

Indigenous religions are a wonderful portal to this awareness, as are paganism, Wicca, and Druidism – as well as philosophies like Buddhism and Deep Ecology, and sciences like cosmology, QM and of course ecology.

It’s like part of a Twelve-Step Program for recovering growthaholics.

From 2009-2010, it jumped almost 3 ppm.

From 2010-2011, it only increased 1.8 ppm.

http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/webdata/ccgg/trends/co2_data_mlo_anngr.pdf

It looks just like the temperature graphs.

..can you show me how to use this site to get last month's number as well...I tried navigating through the site and cna't seem to find it...I just want to see how much it has risen in the last 30 days...

http://co2now.org/Current-CO2/CO2-Now/Current-Data-for-Atmospheric-CO2.html

And it's probably fallen over the last 30 days - typically the annual cycle doesn't turn upward until late fall/early winter, depending on how quickly cold weather arrives in the northern hemisphere (and how cold, of course!).