Earth and Psyche

Earth Day 2013: Visions of Gaia's Grace

Thought I'd share this beautiful video meditation on this Earth Day 2013:

 

Related articles

Google doodle celebrates Earth Day 2013

Happy Earth Day

Earth Day 2013

Climate Science as Culture War | Stanford Social Innovation Review

Interesting article by Andrew Hoffman on climate science and how it is interpreted and integrated by the American collective, published in the Stanford Social Innovation Review, Fall 2012.

Excerpt:

Today, there is no doubt that a scientific consensus exists on the issue of climate change. Scientists have documented that anthropogenic sources of greenhouse gases are leading to a buildup in the atmosphere, which leads to a general warming of the global climate and an alteration in the statistical distribution of localized weather patterns over long periods of time. This assessment is endorsed by a large body of scientific agencies—including every one of the national scientific agencies of the G8 + 5 countries—and by the vast majority of climatologists. The majority of research articles published in refereed scientific journals also support this scientific assessment. Both the US National Academy of Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science use the word “consensus” when describing the state of climate science.

And yet a social consensus on climate change does not exist. Surveys show that the American public’s belief in the science of climate change has mostly declined over the past five years, with large percentages of the population remaining skeptical of the science. Belief declined from 71 percent to 57 percent between April 2008 and October 2009, according to an October 2009 Pew Research Center poll; more recently, belief rose to 62 percent, according to a February 2012 report by the National Survey of American Public Opinion on Climate Change. Such a significant number of dissenters tells us that we do not have a set of socially accepted beliefs on climate change—beliefs that emerge, not from individual preferences, but from societal norms; beliefs that represent those on the political left, right, and center as well as those whose cultural identifications are urban, rural, religious, agnostic, young, old, ethnic, or racial.

Read the full article at www.ssireview.org

Earth and Psyche | Scoop.it

I now have an Earth and Psyche feed at Scoop.it. I'll be posting links that are related to the content of this Earth and Psyche blog. I'll put this icon in the sidebar as well.

Liberty Smith and Sophie Windsor Clive: A Murmuration of Starlings

The movement of the starlings -- called a "murmuration" -- is awesome enough, but I also connected with what I saw as the joy and amazement of observer Sophie Windsor Clive, which very much resonated with my feelings as I watched the video. Because of that experience I decided to post this video at Earth and Psyche instead of one of the other blogs I write for which the encounter with nature recorded here would have been appropriate.

For me this speaks to how encounters with other species can evoke strong feelings that inspire humankind to explore our relationships to nature more deeply.

Murmuration from Sophie Windsor Clive on Vimeo.

 

USGS: Observations of Climate Change from Indigenous Alaskans (9/13/2011 12:30:35 PM)

The USGS coordinated interviews with Yup'ik hunters and elders in the villages of St. Mary's and Pitka's Point, Alaska, to document their observations of climate change. They expressed concerns ranging from safety, such as unpredictable weather patterns and dangerous ice conditions, to changes in plants and animals as well as decreased availability of firewood. 

"Many climate change studies are conducted on a large scale, and there is a great deal of uncertainty regarding how climate change will impact specific regions," said USGS social scientist Nicole Herman-Mercer. "This study helps address that uncertainty and really understand climate change as a socioeconomic issue by talking directly to those with traditional and personal environmental knowledge." 

via www.usgs.gov

Outrage: As Mountaintop Removal Linked to Birth Defects, Politicians Gut Clean Water Act | Common Dreams

I decided to start posting excerpts from blogs and articles I read in which people are speaking of their relationship to the Earth.

I think this one--from a recent article by MaryAnne Hitt, director of the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal Campaign and someone I know from my work as an activist here in Appalachia--reflects her experience of deadly mining practices as an assault on her child and her homeland.

Some background: This week a new study was released that explores the connection between mountaintop removal mining in Appalachia and an increased risk of birth defects. Within days of the release of this study, in a largely party-line vote, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved H.R. 2018, a bill backed by the top Republican and Democrat on the committee, Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) and Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.).

According to EPA's legal analysis the bill essentially "would overturn almost 40 years of federal legislation by preventing EPA from protecting public health and water quality."

When our leaders fail to act in a way that recognizes the suffering that surface coal mining imposes on citizens, do we wonder why many people would be outraged by Congressional complicity? Betrayal by the leaders elected to serve the people's interests?

So how would you feel if the very place where you live -- the air you breathe and the water you drink -- means that your baby is at greater risk, even if you take perfect care of yourself? The list of birth defects that threaten babies in the Appalachian coalfields, according to this new study, is gruesome, including circulatory/respiratory, central nervous system, musculoskeletal, gastrointestinal, and urogenital problems.

My daughter is an 11th generation West Virginian, and we are turning her heritage into a toxic waste dump, unfit for the next generation of West Virginia's children.

Given this groundbreaking new study, I find it particularly enraging that the US House of Representatives is currently trying to pass a bill (HR 2018) that would actually gut the Clean Water Act in order to make it easier for coal companies to continue blowing up Appalachia's mountains and spewing pollution into the air and water of nearby towns and homes.

via www.commondreams.org