HeartBeet Farm and Permaculture Center

09/26/2024

The World is in Crisis
This is why

by Rachel Donald
Sep 23, 2024

"Over dinner last week, I was asked to give a sweeping overview as to why the planet is in crisis. As I was talking, I realised I am yet to amalgamate that same information for my subscribers in one post. So, here goes..."

"We are beings of language, speaking the world into being & trapping it in the written word. We have created constancy where there is only temporality. We have even created individuals where there are only relationships. When it comes to money, we consider ourselves alchemists, creating something out of nothing. But the world of words falls away under the pressure of reality, whether we see it or not. Some of us fall with it. Some of us retreat. Some of us scramble for different words. Some of us scream. Almost none of us stop to look."

This is why

08/16/2024

" impact scholar Johan Rockström offers the most up-to-date scientific assessment of the state of the planet and explains what must be done to preserve Earth's resilience to human pressure."

We're nearly halfway through the 2020s, dubbed the most decisive decade for action on climate change. Where exactly do things stand? Climate impact scholar J...

07/23/2024

oldguy52
@techhub.social
"Today was a heavy work day for volunteers at Oxley [UK]. We should finish replacing Timbers along the main trail (as requested by the director) next week. Recent rains have helped soften the soil making work a little easier. We placed 37 timbers today with a crew of 3 (72 year-olds).

I am noticing fewer pollinators, and fewer birds in the woods, likely due to the rapidly worsening climate emergency. Since Sunday was the hottest day ever recorded (globally), it will only get worse. Action is desperately needed."

07/20/2024

"A paper from Cornell by scientists that showed that in 2023 the ability of plants and to absorb basically dropped to almost nothing. The Tropics were so hot & so dry that they are net emitters & the northern latitudes capacity dropped by *50%*.
The implications are three fold.
1. IPCC models did not predict this until much, much later which means they are assuming that the soil and trees will be absorbing carbon that won't be absorbed. Yet again, the IPCC models are wildly understating the impacts of climate change.
2. In 2022, the oceans absorbed MORE carbon than usual, which may (this is speculative) explain why they are warming so fast - & it is possibly because they also are hitting absorption limits.
3. Unless something changes there is no reason to believe we are not going to experience runaway global warming, & probably are already experiencing it."
https://arxiv.org/abs/2407.12447
Incidentally, this has already gotten 122 shares on Mastodon, where algorithms don't delete or hide your posts, like on Facebook.

In 2023, the CO2 growth rate was 3.37 +/- 0.11 ppm at Mauna Loa, 86% above the previous year, and hitting a record high since observations began in 1958, while global fossil fuel CO2 emissions only increased by 0.6 +/- 0.5%. This implies an unprecedented weakening of land and ocean sinks, and raises...

07/17/2024

Bread and Circuses
@climatejustice.social wrote:

"Capitalism is NOT an ‘economic system’. Capitalism is legalized crime. It is an extortion racket set up to steal from the poor and give to the rich. It’s a centuries-long con game, and it’s working better in 2024 than it ever has.

You can read about this, learn the history. The information is out there in the open, available to anyone. But capitalism’s propaganda machine has been so successful — and the institutions they’ve built to provide a façade of legitimacy are now so entrenched — that it’s hard for most people to see what’s really going on.

If you want to understand, I’d suggest starting with the books below. ⤵️ And I’m sure there are others here who can recommend additional reading or videos that tell even more of the story.

📖 A People's History of the United States, by Howard Zinn (published 1980, updated 2003)
https://bookshop.org/p/books/a-people-s-history-of-the-united-states-howard-zinn/6436127?ean=9780062397348

📖 Confessions of an Economic Hitman, by John Perkins (2004)
https://bookshop.org/p/books/confessions-of-an-economic-hit-man-3rd-edition-john-perkins/18537747?ean=9781523001897

📖 The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, by Naomi Klein (2007)
https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-shock-doctrine-the-rise-of-disaster-capitalism-naomi-klein/12304745?ean=9780312427993

📖 The Divide: Global Inequality from Conquest to Free Markets, by Jason Hickel (2017)
https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-divide-global-inequality-from-conquest-to-free-markets-jason-hickel/16609401?ean=9780393651362

More than four billion people--some 60 percent of humanity--live in debilitating poverty, on less than $5 per day. The standard narrative tells us this crisis is a natural phenomenon, having to do with things like climate and geography and culture. It tells us that all we have to do is give a bit of...

07/16/2024

Creates toxic algae in rivers and lakes, too.

"Oxygen concentrations in our planet's waters are decreasing rapidly & dramatically—from ponds to the ocean. The progressive loss of oxygen threatens not only ecosystems, but also the livelihoods of large sectors of society & the entire planet.

Lakes & reservoirs have experienced oxygen losses of 5.5% & 18.6% respectively since 1980. The ocean has experienced oxygen losses of around 2% since 1960. Although this number sounds small, due to the large ocean volume it represents an extensive mass of oxygen lost.

Marine ecosystems have also experienced substantial variability in oxygen depletion. For example, the midwaters off of Central California have lost 40% of their oxygen in the last few decades. The volumes of aquatic ecosystems affected by oxygen depletion have increased dramatically across all types." https://phys.org/news/2024-07-loss-oxygen-bodies.html?

Oxygen concentrations in our planet's waters are decreasing rapidly and dramatically—from ponds to the ocean. The progressive loss of oxygen threatens not only ecosystems, but also the livelihoods of large sectors of society and the entire planet, according to the authors of an international study...

07/07/2024

Matt Willemsen
@mastodon.social wrote:

"Mark Zuckerberg must realize that if Trump wins, Project 2025 will have instant access to all Meta products and users. And once that happens, Meta loses at least half of its value."

06/26/2024

LAST CHANCE!!! If you don't want FB / Meta's AI to r**e /scr**e all your images and content, you have less than 12 hours to do something about it. Here are the complete instructions on how to opt out. FB/M didn't make it easy, but it worked fine when I followed ALL the steps.

SHARE WIDELY ASAP

You only have until June 26, 2024 to say no to Meta taking your personal photos and words and using them to train their generative AI. Here are step-by-step directions for opting out.

04/23/2024

"There have been five mass extinctions of life in Earth’s history, caused by cataclysms such as volcanic eruptions or meteorite impact. Scientists warn that human activity is now causing species to go extinct at a *thousand* times the normal background rate. Leading experts in the field predict that half of the world’s estimated eight million species will be extinct or at the brink of extinction by the end of this century unless humanity changes its ways.

Why don’t we react in unbridled outrage to the devastation of the natural world taking place before our eyes? A major reason is that we don’t realize what we’ve lost. Whatever conditions people grow up with are the ones they generally consider normal. This is a tribute to the amazing plasticity of the human mind, but it means that we tend to take for granted things that should never be accepted.

The somber truth is that the vast bulk of nature’s staggering abundance has already disappeared. We live in a world characterized primarily by the relative silence and emptiness of its natural spaces. It’s only when we read accounts of wildlife from centuries ago that we realize how much is gone.

The next time you go for a hike in nature, and marvel at its beauty, take a moment to realize that you are looking at a pale, shrunken wraith of what it once was. An accumulation of studies around the world measuring the declines of species and ecosystems indicates that overall we’ve lost around 90% of nature’s profusion.

We live in a ten percent world."

Underlying this devastation is the ideology of human supremacy—claiming innate superiority over nonhuman forms of life.

03/13/2024

Plastic people.
"Scientists do have evidence that microplastics could make us sick. In lab settings, microplastics added to human cells have been found to trigger cell death, tissue damage and allergic reactions. In a study released last week, researchers in Naples found that heart disease patients with microplastics in their tissues were twice as likely to suffer a heart attack or stroke, or to die within three years. In another study, mice exposed to microplastics exhibited “dementia-like” behavior changes.
Many of the chemicals in plastics also can cause cancer or disrupt hormones. “We know with certainty that there is an extensive human literature on the effects of phthalates, BPA, PCBs and flame retardants,”"
https://archive.is/prpd6 -1063.0-1107.208
(no paywall / ad wall)

02/18/2024

Thanks for publishing this story:
Oakland Heals The Hood!
Permaculture instructor journeys to East Oakland, , to visit the legendary plant nursery Planting Justice, which primarily hires formerly incarcerated people. They provide a fair wage & benefits to former with unbelievable results: a 2% recidivism rate, compared to 60% for the State of California.

The nursery itself has an incredible of edible and useful species & varieties, custom selected to grow an epic permaculture .

Permaculture instructor Andrew Millison journeys to East Oakland, California, to visit the legendary plant nursery Planting Justice, which primarily hires fo...

01/25/2024

"“The Assignment” is a production of Scirens, in association with the Center for Science and the Imagination at Arizona State University.

This film is a trailer for The Climate Action Almanac."

“The Assignment” is a production of Scirens, in association with the Center for Science and the Imagination at Arizona State University.This film is a traile...

01/17/2024

Surprised to encounter NO paywall / adwall on this. Maybe my plugins broke through¯\_(ツ)_/¯

"An unprecedented flu strain is attacking hundreds of animal species. Humans could be next.
The panzootic has struck some 320 bird & mammal species, including elephant seals.
The beaches of Valdes Peninsula in Argentina, normally so packed with elephant seals that time of year it is impossible to stroll along the shore, were desolate except for hundreds of dark, rotting carcasses — nearly a whole season of seal pups dead, with gulls pecking at the remains."

An avian flu panzootic — a pandemic among animals — has struck some 320 bird and mammal species, including elephant seals.

01/16/2024

If you are an admin for a page or group you may have gotten some alarming spam / fishing messages that your page is at risk of being deleted. Don't buy it and DON'T click on the link!

Have you received alarming messages that your page is at risk of being deleted? These may be fraudulent messages trying to steal your login details.

01/10/2024

I just watched this illuminating political / historical exploration of the societal relationships to wild boar, which were all over what became Europe 400,000 years before humans showed up.

Now that they are also residents of the 'New World' it behooves us to understand their species-diversity-enhancing effects on the general landscape & reevaluate them in ecological terms.

Wild Boar have been living in this country for 700,000 years. Multiple times have they been driven to extinction. Today, they're back. But for how long?In th...

01/04/2024

wrote: "I once thought that I knew what love is. I am still learning that I had no idea I could love anyone so deeply. I would lay my life down for him in a heartbeat, & will viciously attack any who dare threaten it.

There are those that threaten it every day.

Those that, in the past, I have professed to love & who, in turn, profess to love my son:

They are my parents.
They are my older sisters.
They are my Aunt, & my Uncle.

They move their mouths as they profess their love for my son, but I know in my heart that it’s not true. They are lying to both him & themselves.

They are lying because they are climate change deniers.

Because they vote for people, parties, policies & platforms that are actively contributing to the destruction of the planet my son depends on for his future survival. Or, they don’t vote at all."

Shun the Climate Change Deniers By Eric Anderson On October 25, 2018 Comments Guest Post by *Eric A. Anderson* Guest Post I have a little boy. He is my first, and most likely, only child — and he is everything to me. I once thought that I knew what love is. I am still learning that I had no idea I...

01/04/2024

"The wealthy oligarchs of American industry — particularly fossil fuel and chemical industry oligarchs — hated the EPA from the get-go.

Environmental regulations cut into their profits, and they felt persecuted after generations of their predecessor fatcats had poured their poisons into our air and water without a peep from the government. It was almost as infuriating as having to pay a 74% income tax on everything they earned after their first $3 million (in today’s dollars).

In response to public opinion, the sentiments of the morbidly rich back then went along the lines of, “So what if kids got cancer? We didn’t live in the neighborhoods of our refineries and manufacturing facilities: screw them! They should be happy we keep them employed and shut up about all this hippy-dippy environment stuff!”

While many trace the beginning of the modern rightwing fascist-friendly MAGA-type movement to the 1954 Brown v Board decision and the way it put the John Birch Society on steroids, another interesting origin story for today’s GOP base is grounded in...

01/02/2024

Whoa.

Chris Taylor
a day ago
·
"things to remember as this world dies
you did not come here to pay bills and die
nor did you come to build the fortunes
of those destroying the Earth
Imagine instead
that you came to gather precious things
fallen from the pockets of Ancient Ones
as they fled the desert’s march -
each a reminder of something
they pledged never to forget
Things like
how to call birds by name with your whistle
which news to tell the bees
and which to share only with the moon
how to tell a parliament from a conspiracy
a colony from a convocation
Things like
Nature has no race or nation, class or creed
except when humans seek to deceive -
division designed to sever you
from kith and kin and buddha-mind
Things like:
the antidote to oppression
is not freedom but belonging
the opposite of domination is communion
the medicine you need
is always outside your door
and there’s likely a wise woman
two streets away
to show you how to use it
These things were left to help us remember
how each world before has ended
and how each death became a door to new life
and how this world wants to take you in her arms
and make of your a lover
and have you listen to the land
talk to the stream
find meaning in the silence of trees
and wisdom on the singing breeze
Listen awhile to discover
the right season for all the ten thousand things
the ninety-nine names we use for our own divinity
how to share power
so it cannot be captured by the vain and greedy
how to step into the flow of life
and make of the Earth a common treasury for all beings
how to map the stars
learn the lesson of each constellation
and still know there is more in heaven and earth
than any of us were ever meant to know
So fill your pockets as this world dies
knowing some of it will guide you to the next
and some will fall to the ground
in time to be found
by those who’ll bring the world back to life."