Image by Dandelion Salad via Flickr
Jul 26, 2012 by NRDCflix
We dump billions of tons of carbon pollution into the atmosphere each year. As a result, the concentration of carbon dioxide has increased by 40%. Excess carbon dioxide traps excess heat in the atmosphere. Excess heat causes extreme heat waves, droughts, and storms.
This year’s extreme weather follows last year’s. The last twelve months were the hottest on record for the United States. Texas saw its hottest and driest summer on record in 2011 by a wide margin, and research published recently shows that carbon pollution dramatically increased the probability of such extreme heat and drought. The data are in. This is what global warming looks like.
Share this video and help get the word out.
Credits:
Concept: Dan Lashof
Director & Producer: Francesca Koe
Editing and Visual Effects: Global Vision Studio
Art Direction: The Compound
Composer: Timo Chen
Photographs: Getty Images with permission[More info: www.nrdc.org/]
This is What Global Warming looks like 2.0
see
Medieval Warm Period: Fact vs. Fiction
It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like… Autumn! by Lo
“Welcome to the Rest of Our Lives” + Yes, Virginia, Sea Level Really is Rising
Climate Change: Lines of Evidence
“This Is Just the Beginning”: Forest Fires, Deadly Storms, Record Heat Reveal a Changed Climate
Dandelion Salad 
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It’s unfortunate that all large green organisations, “wildlife” organisations and government continue to ignore 2009 report by World Watch Institute which reveals that 51% of greenhouse gases are from animal use industry. It’s online for public viewing.
The most important reason to be vegan? Because using animals as “property” is violence and morally unjustifiable, but an ancillary benefit of being vegan, is it ends our participation in the ecological nightmare of animal use. Not vegan? Please start here http://www.vegankit.com
Thanks, Veganism is Nonviolence.
Also, remember that the US Military is the largest user of fossil fuels. Time to cut military spending.
Unfortunately it’s highly unlikely that corporate-dominated government is going to cut funding to the military industrial complex which assists the US in its economic imperialisation. However, being vegan is something we can all do as individuals. It’s very easy to be vegan.
We can all do all sorts of things to help with the environment, but we still need to change the system that is exploiting our natural world. Capitalism kills.
Eating organic is also expensive, something most of us cannot afford to do.
56 billion other animals are being tortured and murdered for our pleasure each year, and a further 2 trillion plus sea animals are being tortured and murdered for our pleasure each year. I invite people to view this documentary http://www.earthlings.com/ All of this violence is mostly for our gustatory pleasure. We do not need to eat animal products to be healthy, in fact they are deleterious for our health. There’s no such thing as “humane” use of animals. All use is abuse.
Animal use industry is responsible for 51% of greenhouse gases, so one could say that is just one of many reasons to become vegan. Capitalism may kill, but as Tolstoy said, everyone wants to change the world, but no-one wants to change themselves. Speciesism is not only great violence and kills billions but it is also killing the planet. Each of us can be vegan. It’s easy and affordable. We don’t need to change governments, donate to anyone or any organisation. It’s all within our power. All we need to do is change ourselves.
One doesn’t need to eat “organic” to be vegan. Being vegan is very budget friendly and although veganism is more than a diet, vegan food is delicious.
I’ve been a vegetarian for over 30 years, but can’t afford the vegan substitutes to go vegan completely. I also believe eating organic is the best diet.
Out of curiosity, how much do you spend for food per month?
Just to be clear to readers who might be looking on, being vegetarian still involves eating, wearing and using animals. A vegan does not use animals for food, clothing, entertainment and other reasons.
If you are talking about analogues, I used to eat them occasionally when I was first vegan, but I rarely if ever eat them now. I’ve been vegan for over six years. Soy milk and other vegan milks are comparable in price and one can also make them. I don’t know what prices are like in the US for fruit and veggies, but they are a little expensive in Australia but everyone needs to eat them, so I’m not paying any more than non-vegans. Flesh and other animal products are expensive– financially, health-wise and for the planet. But my point is that animal products are products of violence. Great violence.
“We intentionally breed, raise, and murder approximately 56 billion innocent land animals annually, worldwide. That’s about 1.07 billion weekly, or about 153 million daily. The total of the highest estimates, with some double counting, of all humans killed in all wars, all genocides, and all other human-caused atrocities in recorded human history is about 619 million. That means we kill as many innocent, sentient nonhumans in less than five days days (for food choices alone, excluding animals who live in water) than we have killed humans in recorded history.
If we cut animal product consumption by 90% worldwide, we would murder about 15.3 million daily, and within 41 days, we would murder about 627.3 million (compare to the 619 million human mass-murder total in all recorded history).” from “Killing by the Numbers” http://unpopularveganessays.blogspot.com.au/2011/02/killing-by-numbers.html
The other issue which was my original point is World Watch Institute 2009 report reveals that animal industry contributes 51% of greenhouse gases. That’s significant.
Rather than looking to corporate dominated government to address global warming which is unlikely, *WE* can do something by becoming vegan, firstly because animal use is great violence and 2nd, because it is killing us and the planet. As I’ve said, being vegan is easy, it’s not expensive and it’s our first step to a nonviolent life.
I think you may be placing too much emphasis on the individual as if we are to blame for the increased temperatures when the military and agribusiness use far more fossil fuels. We need to change the system.
And it is expensive to buy vegan substitutes for butter, cheese, eggs, etc.
If one reads and believes the World Watch Institute report that reveals that 51% of greenhouse gases are from animal use industries, then *we* the people can address problems individually by becoming vegan. It is *very* unlikely that government will do anything about fossil fuels
when government are in the hip-pocket of corporations. If you have been following Chris Hedges, it’s clear the oligarchy and corporations
(the 1%) have no interest in saving the planet. That’s why the occupy movement exists because politicians will not change the system. It has
always been people who change the system. And that’s my point. Instead of waiting for the unlikelihood that governments are going to seriously
address climate change, *WE* can do something by becoming vegan.
If you go to http://www.gentleworld.org it has a number of articles on the disaster animal agriculture is to the environment.
I don’t know where you shop, but I disagree that substitutes for eggs, dairy etc are expensive. Some people seem to be under an illusion that being vegan is difficult and expensive. It’s neither. Forgive me but this is often an argument put forth by those looking for reasons not to be vegan. Why do poorer countries tend to eat plant-based diets than they do animal products? Because it’s inexpensive.
But most importantly, we must not overlook the statistics I posted which indicate unimaginable violence that is perpetrated against billions of nonhumans each year. Have you watched “Earthlings”? It’s free online http://www.earthlings.com I invite you to view it and then view this http://www.vegankit.com
I do mostly agree with you. The more people eating non-animals for food the better. As I said before I have been a vegetarian for over 30 years. I would encourage anyone to become vegan/vegetarian. What I’m disagreeing about is the emphasis on the individual making changes verses the whole system that needs to be changed.
I’m not waiting for the corporations and/or govt either. And that’s why the Occupy Movement is so important.
PS: I forgot to mention, that if it weren’t for subsidies to the meat industry, a “steak” would cost around 20 dollars. I imagine that would be the similar for the dairy industry.
Good point about the subsidies. More people would be vegetarians/vegans if animal products were not subsidized out of not being able to afford them.
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