One of our carbon "sinks" has been overestimated...

according to research at Stanford University, et.al.

 https://earth.stanford.edu/news/one-earths-biggest-carbon-sinks-has-been-overestimated#gs.xl3lt0

If these findings remain solid vis-a-vis other studies, the management of grassland and forest ecosystems may be significantly altered/impacted.  Furthermore, how we manage soil might be changed.

Soil is a highly complex, crucial system that too often is ignored or marginalized by politicians, planners, policy makers, and the petrochemical industry.  Hopefully, that will change for the better, and soon.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Solutions to Our Socio-Eco-Econ-Ethical CRISIS

 These all speak for themselves.  You may be familiar with some of them.  I'll bet my Stetson you won't be familiar with all of them.  😊

file:///C:/Users/abstr/Downloads/sustainability-13-01263.pdf

If the above link doesn't work, this one should - 

https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/3/1263/htm

https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/14/5548/htm

https://inequality.org/great-divide/the-pre-existing-condition-that-doomed-the-u-s-covid-response/

https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S0921800921000161?token=C6EB71D48606824B54E300D3D1CE7EFFEEABBC1397DEE469E7B9A17DCA4B40C417BDED2500C266EA7C44146B3E68EF38

https://researchportal.northumbria.ac.uk/files/20387227/Accepted_How_the_Rich_are_Destroying_the_Earth.pdf

Here's a full-length book for your personal library on sustainability.

http://feineigle.com/static/books/2014/beyond_growth/Beyond%20Growth_The%20Economics%20of%20Sustainable%20Development-Herman%20E.%20Daly-(1997).pdf

https://steadystate.org/population-and-a-dose-of-common-sense/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378014001368

https://media.rff.org/archive/files/document/file/RFF-DP-16-24.pdf

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800919312273

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921344917303701

https://www.int-res.com/articles/esep/2002/E21.pdf

The above are but a few of the considerations we must take seriously if we are to have a sustainable future.

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Not only my opinion.  Happy Trails

Transformations and Rethinking Development - Thanks to the Pandemic

 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X20303600?dgcid=raven_sd_recommender_email

From the journal, World Development Volume 138, February 2021, 105233 -

Article title: " Post-pandemic transformations: How and why COVID-19 requires us to rethink development".

SSDD simply won't do anymore.  Neoliberal economics, the Oligarchy & Plutocracy Era, and the days of Crony-Casino-Disaster-Surveillance Capitalism are all at the beginning of their end.  Most likely, the combination of democratic socialism plus Adam Smith capitalism*** (a Mixed Economy) - which most free countries now have to varying degrees - will become stronger.  That, coupled with a genuinely eco-ethical approach to Nature & its resources, will be the new paradigm.

[*** As I've pointed out before, Adam Smith was in favor of small business, not mega business.  He denigrated the concept of monopolies, and rather than support them, he decried the so-called "Masters of the Universe" - the Big Biz men who thought they ruled the world.  His idea was for small business to benefit common people.]

Perhaps then, more people will understand that when we damage ecosystems because of genuine necessity, we should take care to keep the damage as small as possible.  Why?  Because one of the many key services provided by the ecosystems of Nature is:  they are natural barriers to the spread of disease.

The article at the link above addresses the following topics re post-pandemic development:

1.  science and policy;

2.  resilient economies;

3.  the nexus between the citizenry and the State; and

4.  new ways of thinking & acting in relation to all the above and sustainability.

While the article is about world development, especially re the North-South (in general) global inequality, I believe its concepts can be applied more regionally and locally, and to more equitable "development" in "developed" countries.  These ideas, I think, should start at the grassroots level (county, city).  Then State or Province and National politicians will be more amenable to instituting needed support at their levels.  From the bottom up is usually (not always) better than from the top down.  Those at the top sometimes seem to be out of touch with the practical reality of the everyday/common people.

It's highly probable that many researchers and some politicians, policy makers, and a few private companies (& others) have been working on sustainability & equity (in the ethical sense) since at least the 2008 Crash.  Now we need to kick that into high gear.  A massive shift is on the horizon, and there's no time to waste in getting to it.

Tick-tock.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Five pillars for post-neoliberal development

 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X2030485X

Like Germany, Austria, Ireland, Portugal, Denmark, and several other countries outside North America, the Netherlands [with the journal article at the link above] demonstrates that it is light-years ahead of the USA when it comes to the concept of sustainability.  Kudos.

The article is right on the mark.  The full title is:

"Planning for a world beyond COVID-19: Five pillars for post-neoliberal development".

This is the type of thinking we need if organized human existence is to survive and thrive in the Anthropocene.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Ten Essentials

 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214629617304413#sec0080

The article, found in the Journal Energy Research & Social Science Volume 40, is titled "Ten essentials for action-oriented and second order energy transitions, transformations and climate change research".  According to its multiple authors, if we as a species are to transition to a low-carbon and sustainable world, then there must be a paradigm shift in research approaches, entrenched disciplines, institutions, and political systems.  Researchers thus far have been great at grasping the problem and proposing solutions, but not so great at identifying HOW to make the transition happen.

The article at the link above is about three years old.  I'm curious as to whether or not any of the "ten essentials" have been implemented anywhere.  Some of you may know the answer to that.

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Not only my opinion.  Stay Well

Too many appear to be unaware of the severity of these problems -

ONE MORE TIME: 

 https://mahb.stanford.edu/blog/thresholds-cascades-and-wicked-problems/

Not only my opinion. Be Well

A final word from a conservative on the criminal, plus - a commonly held reason by two opposites for ____________

 Here's my latest email to family and a few friends.  It contains must-see and must-read materials at the links provided.

........................

A guy who might just be a real conservative (not a neoconservative) speaks out re the criminal who no longer is in office.  Schmidt is well-versed in the Repub Party, & every person who still supports the dangerous buffoonish criminal should listen & watch this extremely short clip.  What he says is painfully obvious.

https://twitter.com/RealTimers/status/1360467985136193538?s=20

Then there's this: a common reason why some support the above criminal, while others support people like Bernie Sanders & Elizabeth Warren - https://www.noozhawk.com/article/randy_alcorn_its_time_for_america_to_defuse_economic_disaffection_20210207?emci=9ada8b01-a96f-eb11-9889-00155d43c992&emdi=5fc2ad15-c06f-eb11-9889-00155d43c992&ceid=6171896

Forget "White Nationalism" (even though there is some of that), forget "Socialism" (even though there's some of that) - here's the MAIN REASON why people support such disparate politicians.

............... Not only my opinion. Be Well