Well you should be.
Still we go on belching out pollution on a daily basis with little or no regard for the future. We merrily hack down the rain forests that might just help alleviate the problem, we watch the coral reefs die and sigh.
However this is nothing compared to a recent report
Scientists have discovered that the phytoplankton of the oceans has declined by about 40 per cent over the past century, with much of the loss occurring since the 1950s. They believe the change is linked with rising sea temperatures and global warming.
I will let that sink in, the basis of the oceans food web has been reduced by 40%. Phytoplankton are the building block upon which all life in the ocean depends.
Are you fucking scared yet? Well you really should be.
We are relentlessly destroying our habitat by throwing oil at it, by carving off tops of mountains, digging up whole areas for tar sands, belching carbon dioxide into the air like there is no tomorrow.
So if you see the ocean turning blue start to worry, because that deep green is the very heart of our oceans.
Keep up this irresponsibility and the future looks very grim indeed. How much of humanity depends upon the bounty of the oceans?
You can regard phytoplankton as small scale chemical plants, they take carbon dioxide out the air via photosynthesis and produce glucose and oxygen. They are the basis for a global food web, without them all local species will die. If this doesn't scare you then the rapture cant come soon enough.
The data for global warming is damn near unarguable
Scientists have also released what they described as the "best evidence yet" of rising long-term temperatures. The report is the first to collate 11 different indicators – from air and sea temperatures to melting ice – each one based on between three and seven data sets, dating back to between 1850 and the 1970s.
We don't have time to whinge and whine and wait for the political debates to end, we cant turn this around in a day it will take decades to halt the increase, and decades more to reverse the trends.
Call it doom and gloom if you like, I really don't fucking care just act now.
The hard scientific evidence builds up day after day yet still we do almost nothing. Its nothing less than suicidal, and no matter how deeply you jam your head in the sand the facts will not go away.
In the geological history of the Earth, there have been five periods of great natural extinction that have happened because of geological changes and huge disasters. But now, thanks to humanity's influences, the rate of species' extinction has increased to 1,000 times that of ancient period, and Earth is coming into the sixth extinction period, according to Beijing Daily's report.
One species would disappear per hour on average
According "Nature," more than 1 million species will disappear from this planet 50 years from now, and one species will be extinct per hour on average because of human activities, which is 1000 times faster than ever.
I wonder when we will be added to the list, well if we keep killing the primary production organisms at this rate its a dead certainty.
Every little bit helps, every little thing we do in our daily lives adds up, but to stop this inexorable slide we need to act together now.
Ring your representatives ever day if necessary until they get the massage. Write to all state and town officials, educate don't berate. Join local, national and international groups be active.
Keeping fighting because our planet is worth it.
Just a note:
I'm a Buddhist and part of my philosophy is that all things are related one to another, they cannot be separated spiritually nor can they survive one without the other. The same goes for our ecosystems.
PS
On a positive note there was a good story about miniature cattle yesterday
When you hear the words "mini cows" they sound as if they are the result of someone's daft hobby. But miniature cattle could be the future of environmentally-friendly beef.
Its well worth a read.