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The Forum > Article Comments > A matter of survival > Comments

A matter of survival : Comments

By Emma Brindal, published 16/1/2008

Climate change is a justice issue that is already affecting many of the world's people.

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Not a word about population pressure, which has steadily increased in parallel with increasing climate worries.

Until such a fundamental issue is factored into considerations, it will be business as usual for the steady increase of human dysfunction in relation to the environment upon which it depends.

If it wasn't such a tragedy such utter neglect by Friends of the Earth of a major underlying cause, one which affects every aspect of human society, would be laughable.
Posted by colinsett, Wednesday, 16 January 2008 9:04:50 AM
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You are right, colinsett.

About 80% of the greenhouse gases currently in the atmosphere are from developed countries, but China has now passed the United States as the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitter, and not because the average Chinese is living high on the hog.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/06/20/business/emit.php

Global emissions have been growing at 2.5% a year, even though per capita emissions from the developed countries declined by 12% on average between 1990 and 2001.

http://enviro.org.au/enews-description.asp?id=681
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/06/18/1087245110190.html

Like you, I wish Friends of the Earth would pull their heads out of the sand. The best solution might be to have the developed countries disproportionately make an initial contribution to fix the problem, since the existing situation is largely our fault. After that, limits for the individual countries should be based on their biocapacity as a fraction of total global biocapacity. This means it would be up to them to decide if they want a large, poor population or a small, rich one, and they would not be rewarded with a bigger share of the capacity for having more babies
Posted by Divergence, Wednesday, 16 January 2008 10:08:19 AM
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Apart from falling about laughing at the hypocrisy of you 'flying' to the Climate Conference in Bali, you typically lapse into emotional rhetoric in pushing your cause celebre.

Just a few of your gems deconstructed:

"...After years of battling rising sea levels..."

Any proof of your fatuous and fallacious statement?

"...the diversity of groups present was evidenced by the different banners being carried at the march..."

They'd be the ones not constructed from material byproducts of the mining and pertrochemical industries, right?

"...La Via Campesina, the international peasants movement was also out in force..."

How does a peasant movement afford plane tickets and accomodation for a trip to Bali?

Such head-tilting nonsense may garner you a few fans amongst the vapid iPod-generation, who seek to assuage their consumerist guilt by giving oxygen to collectives such as yours.

The rest of us see it for the fact-void that it truly is and delight in tormenting wounded fragile souls such as yours by buying an even bigger plasma TV.
Posted by Ray Luca, Wednesday, 16 January 2008 10:59:32 AM
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quite right, guys. let's establish an 'international lottery organization', overseen by the u.n., that notifies people in every country that their number has come up, they are surplus to requirements, and should report to their neighborhood soylent green factory.

it's too hard. population will be stabilized, even reduced, in the traditional ways. i read today that the black death is making a come back, in africa. just in time...
Posted by DEMOS, Wednesday, 16 January 2008 11:03:11 AM
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When things get really bad any where in time and space the factors that enable survival are often completely random.

What were the factors that allowed some to survive the great plagues of Europe?
Wearing a kingly crown? Having lots of gold?

How did some survive the pandemics that wiped out millions of native Americans who had no built up immune resistance to the relatively mild introduced diseases like measles etc.
How did some survive the Nazi holocaust and even life in the death camps?
How did some survive the bombing of Hiroshima, Tokyo and Dresden and the sieges of Leningrad and Stalingrad?

Nevertheless the rich and powerful have always found ways of protecting themselves to some degree, while the unfortuante masses died like flies.

But the worst case scenario as posited by James Lovelock for example, predicts that billions of people will be wiped out.
Who knows? That may be what does happen.
Comparative wealth wont make any difference whatsoever.

What will happen if an Australian city (or anywhere else in the world) runs out of water? Which is entirely possible.
Posted by Ho Hum, Wednesday, 16 January 2008 5:47:37 PM
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It is a human right to steal or kill (if necessary) for food and water for survival.
Posted by eftfnc, Wednesday, 16 January 2008 10:42:04 PM
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