Countryside Walk

[Lucy Jayne]

I slowly walk across the field. Each footstep thoughtfully placed so I avoid the large cracks in the parched ground. Under my paws what remains of the dry grass crumbles into smaller fragments. Birds no longer fill the air with sweet song, or gracefully dance above my head.

A forest runs right up to the fence that lines the edge of the field. Many branches attempt to reach over as they jostle for space. With new leaves no longer able to grow they are now nothing more than elegant sculptures.

I remember how green everything was before the humans arrived.

[pondspider]

... a jolly thought with which to end my day.

Yep. We sure do know how to f*** a planet.

[strawman]

For millions of years, this planet was extremely hard on us. We finally get good at adaptation, and now people want to go back? Well, exCUUUUSE us!

Sounds like a new religion to me.

[pondspider]

OK, I'll bite...
It's not about "going back" to some non-existent Golden Era. It's about recognising that we share this planet with thousands of other species, that it's not ours to do with as we will, regardless of the consequences, that we are now able to destabilize things in all sorts of ways, not just the climate. If religions have anything to do with this, it's in the way they tend to encourage pillage of nature because an eternity in the afterlife is all that really matters. Some of us beg to differ

[SpareInch]

OK, I'll bite...
It's not about "going back" to some non-existent Golden Era. It's about recognising that we share this planet with thousands of other species, that it's not ours to do with as we will, regardless of the consequences, that we are now able to destabilize things in all sorts of ways, not just the climate. If religions have anything to do with this, it's in the way they tend to encourage pillage of nature because an eternity in the afterlife is all that really matters. Some of us beg to differ

I think I know where you can get some wooly baa-lambs going cheap.

Damned Bio-Tech!

[strawman]

OK, I'll bite...
It's not about "going back" to some non-existent Golden Era. It's about recognising that we share this planet with thousands of other species, that it's not ours to do with as we will, regardless of the consequences, that we are now able to destabilize things in all sorts of ways, not just the climate. If religions have anything to do with this, it's in the way they tend to encourage pillage of nature because an eternity in the afterlife is all that really matters. Some of us beg to differ

My point was that before we learned to adapt to nature, it did its damdest to kill us off. Everything worked against our survival. Now that we have central heat and air, the new Ethos has decided we must view humanity as a blight on the planet.

What could the wild beasts have done about climate change? Not a darn thing, is what.
That makes me a contrarian.

[pondspider]

My point was that before we learned to adapt to nature, it did its damdest to kill us off. Everything worked against our survival. Now that we have central heat and air, the new Ethos has decided we must view humanity as a blight on the planet.

What could the wild beasts have done about climate change? Not a darn thing, is what.
That makes me a contrarian.

I was trying to broaden this to more than "just" climate change, but really, if you're content for humanity to do "Not a darn thing" about it, we can all look forward to tough times ahead.

[strawman]

Don't mind me, I'm just the atheist at the tent revival.
The most common element in nature is irony.

Everyone with an opinion produces carbon emissions, so I was in favor of killing off as many opinionated people as possible, (myself excluded, of course) until someone pointed out that would deprive plants of their nutrition, and that more atmospheric carbon increases food yields.

20 years ago the corn agribusinesses convinced everyone the way to achieve all the things on that cartoon would be by government subsidies for ethanol made from their product.

Now we discover ethanol is bad for the environment, but the subsidies go on, and will forever. People who eat corn are spending three times as much for it to feed their families. Who benefited? Big corporations and the politicians who took their money in the name of sustainability and the environment.

With multi-trillions of dollars on the line, I don't believe these hucksters have turned into angels. Used to be a joke that everyone talks about the weather, but no one does anything about it.

Irony = Fey = Doomed

[Sorry to have gotten the thread untracked. I'm guilty. If you'd like to continue it, we should jump over to the "Off Topic" thread.]

[pondspider]

[Sorry to have gotten the thread untracked. I'm guilty. If you'd like to continue it, we should jump over to the "Off Topic" thread.]

I'm sooooo tempted... But I'd just get depressed.

Twabbles on the subject...

• Consequences
• Tough times
• A Trouble Shared

[strawman]

Good move! Drabble on the subject...

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=6080

[SpareInch]

I did hear somewhere that far more methane is released into the atmosphere by cows belching than by industrial processes.

So forget that Quorn Burger! If you want to do something about greenhouse gasses, chow down on a good ol' fashioned Quarter Pounder!

[SpareInch]

I did hear somewhere that far more methane is released into the atmosphere by cows belching than by industrial processes.

Of course, that's only anecdotal. I don't have a full list of scientific journals and every paper ever published in them to hand just at the moment.

[strawman]

Of course, that's only anecdotal. I don't have a full list of scientific journals and every paper ever published in them to hand just at the moment.

Fortunately, the peer review process eliminated that conclusion about the one thing more destructive than cow methane... the production of papers and journals.

[pondspider]

I did hear somewhere that far more methane is released into the atmosphere by cows belching than by industrial processes.

So forget that Quorn Burger! If you want to do something about greenhouse gasses, chow down on a good ol' fashioned Quarter Pounder!

Your logic appears flawed... if you want to reduce the methane produced by cattle, eliminate the cattle rearing process

I reckon we'll have to get used to eating insects for our animal protien needs. Yummmm!

[strawman]

I reckon we'll have to get used to eating insects for our animal protien needs. Yummmm!

You've got to admit it's generally true that every dish improves with practice. When we have practiced grilling insects on the barbie as much as we have practiced filets, who knows?

People used to think chicken wings were trash.
Insects just need their Buffalo.

Chalk up another DC contest idea.