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It's hard to overstate the sheer scale and pace of the economic change that's going on in the developing world right now, particularly in China and India. They're playing catch up, adopting economic methods already pioneered by the developed world. And they're doing it an astonishing rate that's putting enormous pressure on the global ecosystem.
You can see that in the study's projections. China's waste output into the ocean is expected to double between 2010 and 2025, and India will far more than double. The United States will increase as well, but at a much smaller rate and from a much lower baseline.
This dynamic is actually common. The economics of ecosystem use is still pretty young, but what you generally find is that poor and up-and-coming countries — in South America, Africa, and Asia — do the most damage in areas like land use, ranching, farming, water consumption, etc. If you break down the data from the Global Footprint Network, China exerts far more pressure on its ecosystems per capita than America in terms of crops, grazing, foresting, and fishing.
But where America blows everybody out of the water is carbon emissions per capita. That's what gives you those numbers about how we'd need four or five planets for everyone to live like Americans do.
The critical thing to realize is that China and other similar countries largely have to be in this position. They're trying to lift the living standards of hundreds of millions of people, and the decrease in extreme poverty over the last three decades is one of the great global humanitarian achievements. As Jambeck says, economic development is both the cause and the solution: as China and others pass through to the other side of the process, their waste management infrastructure will catch up, bringing their per capita waste creation more in line with America's. It should play out the same way in areas like cropland use, forestry, etc.
originally posted by: M5xaz
1.NOAA seems to be implying that while the plastic issue is important, there is no great garbage patch:
response.restoration.noaa.gov...
2.With respect to CO2, temperatures have been flat for over 18 years, according to satellite data
lh3.googleusercontent.com...
3.Moreover, CO2 is actually added to greenhouses to boost plant growth to 4 times normal levels or more. Greenhouse operators actually install machines to create MORE CO2
www.johnsongas.com...
E.G. Added CO2 is very good for the plant growth and the planet - not a pollutant. CO2 levels were far higher during the time of the dinosaurs, a time where biodiversity was very high
The current hype has more to do with attempts at justifying gov control of our lives and lining politicians pockets with OUR money.
Don't fall for it
originally posted by: lostbook
What says ATS?
originally posted by: M5xaz
a reply to: lostbook
Gore's movie made 35 predictions that ALL FAILED:
scienceandpublicpolicy.org...
Like many politicians, Gore cares only about F*king you over TO TAKE YOUR MONEY
...And GORE CARES ABOUT actually F*king people over, period
www.huffingtonpost.com...
Politicians - scaring you for sex and money....bastards....
The device consists of an anchored network of floating booms and processing platforms that could be dispatched to garbage patches around the world. Instead of moving through the ocean, the array would span the radius of a garbage patch, acting as a giant funnel. The angle of the booms would force plastic in the direction of the platforms, where it would be separated from plankton, filtered and stored for recycling.
Read more: 19-Year-Old Student Develops Ocean Cleanup Array That Could Remove 7,250,000 Tons Of Plastic From the World's Oceans | Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building