envir 2.0

reinventing the environmental initiative through innovative technologies and the web ....

Thursday, July 27, 2006

Topsoil and Civilizations ....

In a landmark paper entitled “Conquest of the Land Through 7,000 Years” Dr. Walter Clay Loudermilk postulated that all the great civilizations of the world have fallen not because of war or pestilence, but through the lack of stewardship of the earth – the loss of topsoil. We are facing the same crisis today and no one is saying much about it. Loudermilk wrote this pioneering work while in China and later in the Middle East. Without an appreciation for history, we are doomed to repeat it … his work was done in 1938 – 1939.

It has been further postulated that many of the ever increasing ills that insidiously creep into our daily lives can be traced to our foods and their increasing lack of nutritional value. It has been shown that current agricultural practices of most of the world are working to recreate a situation of epic proportions. The use of chemical amendments and overuse of the land without renewal is painting a bleak picture for our current civilization.

Anecdotally, in Africa, there is a movement to use organic compost as the key to sustainable and notably more nutritious organic crops. The use of these organically grown crops has been shown to effectively enhance the immune systems of those fighting the HIV/Aids pandemic ravaging the continent. Enabling the body’s own immune system shouldn't be the aim for only the sick, it should be a goal of all people.


Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Vision ....


Here is a mindmap of the vision driving ENVIR 2.0 ... This will give you an idea of the flow of ideas that will be written about and some of the technologies that will be part of the solution ... this is diagramatic representation of a complex strategy built upon presently available technologies that will be harnessed to solve at least in part the problems that are identified ... check back often as we flesh out this critical process that can create a legacy for all of us ... if you are interested in what we are doing, please email or leave comments ... most of all though, please ask at least one other person to read this ... one person at a time we will build an awareness and create a community ...

Monday, July 24, 2006

Global Warming ...

As popularized by Al Gore's, "An Inconvenient Truth" now in theatres, global warming has come front and center in discussions of the environment. Our portion of the world's emmissions are significant (approx 25%), CO2 and Greenhouse Gas emmissions can be measured in units called CO2 equivilency ... the units are multiplicative, some examples:

Methane = 21 times
Nitrous Oxide from fertilizers = 310 times
HFC's foam refrigerants = up to 11,700 times

In the US, 82% of the pollution arises from power generation and automobile use.

The remaining emmissions are attributed to fugitive methane production of which the largest polluters are methane gas from landfills, natural gas production, livestock, coal mining and manure. The problem is enormous in consequence and the US is one of the largest polluters ...

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The Reality of the Present ....

In dealing with environmental issues for the last 7 years or so, I have come to the realization that there is a way for all of us to help empower a solution to create a positive legacy for future generations. While dealing with problems we have gathered several key technologies that can be used together to create an effective solution to many of the ills that we face today ...

Let me describe in this first entry some of the problems that I see as significant:

1) global warming

2) pollution of all genres

3) the continuing loss of topsoil (arable land)

4) related but different, the desertification of land

5) population migration to urban centers

6) the decline in nutritional value of the food we consume

7) the increasing failure of our immune systems to protect us

In the following entries I will address these and other points and hopefully create a dialogue and community to spread the ideas and solutions ...

Welcome to ENVIR 2.0 ... our website dealing with the harnessing of technology and the power of the web to create a quantum leap for dealing with the interaction of the environment and mankind ...

We have failed miserably in our stewardship of the planet and stand on the precipice of a remarkably barren legacy ... it is our belief that action must be taken NOW ... it is our belief that we all have a vested interest in the outcome of our actions ... and it is our belief that within this framework we can build a viable solution to many of the world's problems by attacking from the ground up with existing methods bound together by a common vision ...

Let this be the start of a long journey ... but one that must be taken ... it starts one step at at time ....