David Suzuki, a well-known Canadian scientist and environmentalist, is retiring, but it's not just his retirement that is depressing. It is the fact that, a man with the backing of many and the ears of many politicians, seems to be giving up. I certainly don't blame him. He fought the good fight for a long time. He did more than most and he certainly deserves to enjoy time with his family. But, it makes me wonder what hope there is for the world.
Environmentalist Suzuki to quit spotlight for simple life
...The second article was a BBC news story about the impending demise of the oceans' fish.
He regrets that after decades of campaigning for everything from cleaner air to sustainable farming, his work has not had more impact.
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"I feel like we are in a giant car heading for a brick wall at 100 miles an hour and everyone in the car is arguing where they want to sit. For God's sake, someone has to say put the brakes on and turn the wheel."
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'Only 50 years left' for sea fish
I have been angry at the fishing industry for years. The driftnet fishing of countries like Japan and Korea waste millions of tons of fish which are caught "accidentally" and then just dumped back into the sea. The trawlers that drag nets across the ocean floor, destroying everything in their wake seem senselessly destructive. Almost all of our modern fishing methods seem to result in the needless capture and destruction of many species. And, even those that catch the fish that they are intending, catch too much. In Canada, we have seen the destruction of the Atlantic cod stocks, and we are always fighting about how many salmon we can catch in a sustainable way. Stories of the early explorers who came to Canada and saw so many fish that they could almost walk across the water on them must seem like unlikely fairtales now.
"The way we use the oceans is that we hope and assume there will always be another species to exploit after we've completely gone through the last one," said research leader Boris Worm, from Dalhousie University in Canada.
"What we're highlighting is there is a finite number of stocks; we have gone through one-third, and we are going to get through the rest," he told the BBC News website.
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"You have scientific consensus and nothing moves. It's a sad example; and what happened in Canada should be such a warning, because now it's collapsed it's not coming back."
And, once again, I wonder when we will learn. I don't blame young people for any of this. I live in Seoul, where the air pollution is bad, but many young people don't know any different. When I talk to them, they don't really understand. But, we older people have known a world were the air was clear, the fish were plentiful, and the land beautiful. We should know better.
4 comments:
Yes, it is saddening. But, I guess, at least David Suzuki tried--made some difference.
I read an article on Granville Island this morning. It made me want to be in Vancouver.
Earlier this Saturday morning, I read something from the Dalai Lama's, "The Transformed Mind." Read about the the law of interdependence. He says, "As human beings, we have intelligence and extraordinary abiltiies...In fact, human beings are responsible not only for other human beings but for the well-being of other sentient beings and our planet as well" (26).
The ignorance and callousness with which we treat the world we live in is appalling. As you so poignantly say, "Stories of the early explorers who came to Canada and saw so many fish that they could almost walk across the water on them must seem like unlikely fairtales now."
Thanks for your comments. I just wish that I could see a serious worldwide move to change.
A very set of posts here, Mark. The pollution in the air here is getting to me, too.
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