National Security & Climate Change

Objective:

Practice what we’ve learnt in module by listening to a video called National Security & Climate Change with Len Hering and do a summary of main ideas

Procedure:

Watch video and Write a report on the main ideas discussed during this talk.

Results:

Objective of the chat by Len Hering is to visualize sustainable solution for global and local environments. Where we stand today? How did we get to today? And what are the projections? Why we need the change? Bottom-line, what we are doing is not sustainable, If we continue to do what our parents set up for us, we are not sustainable, and not possible to survive! Why?

1) Our effect in the environment we are trying to protect. Compounded Rainforest vanishing at rapid rate dying at a rate two time fast in Africa than in south America because it hasn’t rained! Which has a massive effect in the animals that live in those forest (every day 10 species added into endangered list)

2) Ocean reefs vanishing due to pollution, which is 8 times more sensitive to the environment! Example, we’ve fished 97% of adult population, 35% mangroves destroyed, 20% coral reefs destroyed. 50% seafood today is farmed. Oceans became a waste basket. Quick example, despite all issues with plastic we are still deciding if we should ban the plastic bag (shared a few pictures of rivers, example one with 80 tons of trash that took 4 days to get it out of the bay)

3) Population explosion and its effects… the factor of doubling. From time of creation until 1850 we got to 1.5 billion inhabitants… from 1850 to 2014 took from 1.5 to 7.2 …12 million new mouths every month, if we continue at this rate we would add a China and an India by 2050 to the world population….Human migration is a real crisis! Why? Because they don’t have enough food and water

4) Food supply, excessive in consumption (40% of food is thrown out in the US!), a lot of energy consumed to produce that waste…yet, global hunger is on the rise. To feed this massive population we would need to produce more food in the next 40 year than we have in the last 10,000. Discussing ideas of “world food policy” to address this since not sure if the capacity will exist in the future to feed population. 80,000 tons of cereal/products were thrown away because they were not sold by their sell by date, unbelievable

5) Basic element of life: clean water! 785 million have no access to water at all. 40% of Indian population has never seen a toilet. Things are bad and are getting worse. California lost 13% of hydroelectric capacity in the past years, lake need is in crisis. Australia: 10,000 animals were left to die in the fields because of decision to give to family vs animals. Sao Pablo, water was denied to poor people… we waste 7 billion gallons daily, if we reduce the showers by 3 min America would save 64,000 acre feet of water everyday

6) Extreme

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