Blog Action Day – Climate Change: Wildlife Species Will Become Extinct

This post is my call to you to think about the wildlife. It is my contribution to the Blog Action Day 2009: Climate Change.

Dead crocodile in dried river

When world leaders discuss climate change, the picture that is in their minds is of people caught in drought and floods, melting snow and icecaps in the mountain ranges and polar regions, and the polar bear. Well, that is not the worst case scenario. Less obvious wildlife (as compared to the polar bear) will suffer too – and perhaps more than humans.

You see human kind – as a species – will survive this rapid change in climate better than wildlife. Humans, in short, will survive. But some non-human inhabitants of mother Earth will not. It’s a given that wild species of animals and plants survived the beginning and end of the Ice Age, but they did so naturally. The climate change then was not as rapid as the climate change we are witnessing today. We all know the reason why – humans had not invented the steam engine, hadn’t discovered coal and petroleum and industrialisation was not even a seed in the little mind our ancient ancestors.

Now greenhouse gas emissions and an opulent consumerism has renderd the natural systems weak and the pace at which global warming and other climate change factors are progressing is mind boggling – and wildlife cannot keep abreast.

Take the example of trees. In mountain ranges, there is a nice tiered arrangement of different dominant species of plants. From lowland forest trees to upland, bamboo, alpine glades, tundra etc. Two problems arise here. 1) Assuming the vegetation belts can quickly stay at pace with temperature rise, they will push each other up the mountain until they all have nowhere else to go then they go extinct. 2) In reality, they cannot keep up the pace so they will die on the way up.

The great Savannahs of Africa may look indestructible – but they are not. We are increasingly seeing irregular rain patterns which is disrupting vegetation growth resulting in mass deaths of the massive herds of charismatic and much loved large herbivores, and their attending predators iconically represented by lions, cheetah, leopard and the like.

In Kenya recently, prolonged drought – and we can not rule out the effects of climate change as the cause – first killed livestock, then pushed the livestock into wildlife habitats, then killed the wildlife. Now Kenya is – ironically – waiting for El Nino rains to settle in so that it can save people, their livestock and wildlife. But the El Nino could be made more severe by the effects of climate change. So more people, livestock and wildlife will die. Iregi Mwenja, a Kenyan bushmeat researcher posted pictures of the onset of the El Nino rains in Voi today. One of the casualties of the big water was a masai goat that died in the floods.

That is a look on the extreme weather conditions that climate change is making worse. The silent increase in temperature will have the most devastating impact on wildlife as habitats change. According to the BBC:

It is estimated 20-30% of plant and animal species will be at increased extinction if the temperature rises by more than 1.5 – 2.5C. Less snow in winter, warmer temperatures in summer and more winter rain will affect wildlife across the board. Sea level rises will reduce land area in some countries, which will instantly affect vegetation which is currently used for homes and foods by animals.

In Africa, most of traditional dispersal area for wildlife is now occupied by humans as population increases exponentially. When climate change takes full effect, wildlife will attempt to move to these areas and human-wildlife conflict will escallate. The result is that wildlife will be killed. From another perspective, humans, with the effects of climate change on their heels, will invade wildlife protection areas, killing wildlife to create room for themselves, and their ravenous progeny.

Lest you tell me that the earth is man’s home, and we don’t need the wildlife, let me remind you the intricate balance between biological  systems, including bacteria! and the physical (rock) earth. The scientific author, Edward O Wilson, in his book “The Future of Life” talks of the earths biological system as a layer of living matter so thin you cannot see it sideways from space but absolutely neccessary for overall integrity of the planet as a whole (including energy flows). So there you have it: Without the biological system, there is no earth. Or in a language that you will understand, without the biological matter of old that became fossilized millenia ago, we would not have oil or coal = no fuel = no cars = no industrialization.

It is time to act. Our first wave of action is no doubt massive adjustment to our consumption patterns in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This, if dully practiced, could slow down climate change. Talk, write, chant, wave placards at or do what you do best, but make your leader act on climate change. Tell them that when they get to Copenhagen on 7-18 December 2009, they have to come up with a climate deal that saves us and wildlife. And go over to TckTckTck and join the more than 2 million ‘planet earthians’ tell the world leaders that you are ready for a climate deal that works.

It is said that climate change is inevitable, but the pace will have to slow down. Climate change has occured before, but not at this pace. Let us all change the way we live, slow climate change and give the other inhabitants of this planet a chance to take on climate change at their own pace. We cannot make them adapt at our pace…they were not made that way.

Let’s slow climate change. Lets save our wildlife.

Climate Change: The New Driver of Mass Extinctions

Back in 2007, some 2,000 UN scientists produced a massive 4-volume report of an assessment of Earth’s climate. In this dossier they came up with a projection that as global temperature rises, species will start falling. They called this projection the “Highway to Extinction”.

This must have been lost from the daily parlance of governments, organizations and individuals because neither you nor I have ever seen a ‘layman friendly’ version of this grand assessment report. But that has not stopped the Earth’s climate from changing. So even as a small, but growing number of pundits take the matter of climate change and it’s effect on biodiversity to the public, species are still being lost.

Let’s go back before 2007. Way back to 2004 and the journal Nature said that most species will not survive climate change. The had that story on the cover of their January 2004 issue. The extract from this particular story says, in part:

New analyses suggest that 15–37% of a sample of 1,103 land plants and animals would eventually become extinct as a result of climate changes expected by 2050.

Given that climate change was responsible, in part, to the loss of the woolly mammoths and mastodons some 10,500 years ago, there is no doubt that climate change will claim a large number of species again. The difference is that the current climate change is being accelerated – and made more severe – by human activities. In short, despite the direct extinction from human activities such as hunting and habitat loss, we – the plague of the earth – have acquired a new way of killing off species indirectly: accelerating climate change.

It is clear that climate change will leave the planet in abject ecological poverty. But not many people are talking about this – and fewer still are doing anything about it. It is upon everyone of us to take action. To do those things that we have been told will reduce the severity of climate change – however remote the chance that these actions will actually work – and to take the matter to our leaders and public.

Remember, an ecologically poor planet is not good for humanity – if we are to be human-centric (as usual). Generally, an ecologically poor planet is bad for itself.

Blog Action Day 2009 is All About Climate Change

It’s that time of the year again. Blog Action Day is happening on 15 October 2009. This year, it’s about the ‘big one’: Climate Change. I will take part in this global conversation about the most urgent matter for humanity. Will you?

If you have not heard about Blog Action Day you should go over to this site and read all about it. Essentially they will tell you that;

Blog Action Day is an annual event that unites the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day on their own blogs with the aim of sparking discussion around an issue of global importance. Blog Action Day 2009 will be the largest-ever social change event on the web. One day. One issue. Thousands of voices

Since this year, the focus is on climate change, you will also read that;

Climate change affects us all and it threatens more than the environment. It threatens to cause famine, flooding, war, and millions of refugees.

Let this video explain to you a bit further:

To me, there is an even more pressing effect of climate change that has been lost in the debate – loss of biodiversity. Clearly, climate change is not only about flooding, famine and the like. And when we talk about biodiversity loss we are not only thinking about the polar bear.

In Kenya for instance, we have seen the Mara River at it’s lowest, and the drought that has brought thousands of cattle into wildlife refuges (only for them to die) and threaten the very existence of our beautiful wildlife. That to me is a pressing issue. Therefore I agree with the organisers of the Blog Action Day when they say that;

Given the urgency of the issue of climate change and the upcoming international climate negotiations in Copenhagen this December, we think the blogosphere has the unique opportunity to mobilize millions of people around expressing support for finding a sustainable solution to the climate crisis.

I will weigh in with a post, or two, about climate change and biodiversity. What will you do?

Furadan: Harsh Punishment for Oregon Farmers and Lessons for Kenya

It is interesting to learn that in the US, they are serious about the misuse of pesticides. On 27 May 2009, the Portland Business Journal reported that five Malheur County onion growers were fined $180,000 for pesticide misuse – specifically Furadan and Basagran. That is equivalent to KShs 13.5 million! Now that is what I call enforcement.

In Kenya’s case, even after FMC announced the withdrawal of Furadan, and instructed the local dealer Juanco to buy back all stock in the market, birds are still being killed in Bunyala, and lions in the Mara. The case in the Masai Mara has all the tale-tale signs of Furadan poisoning but it is yet to be confirmed that it is Furadan.

The fact that implementation and enforcement in Kenya is lax should however not stop lobbyists from pushing for the total ban on Furadan. The incomplete withdrawal of Furadan should indeed motivate the lobbyists to get the government to ban this lethal chemical. A ban would make it illegal hence that much expensive to buy. We should not forget that Furadan is the poison of choice for retaliatory herders targeting predators and bushmeat hunters looking for a quick buck because it is cheap. Making it more expensive should give predators, raptors, scavangers and gamebirds a break.

You can take action. The issue of banning Furadan in Kenya is coming up in Parliament on Tuesday (hopefully). Therefore, just go to nothoney’s blog, write a letter of protest and post it to the Ministers concerned so that when the discussion comes up in Kenya’s parliament, they will support the proposed ban.

On this Earth Day

The symbol of Earth Day is the Greek letter 'theta' in green

April 22 is Earth Day. People mark this important day in the environmental calendar in different ways. It is not as much known as, for instance, the World Environment Day that has so much been promoted by the UN.

Senator Gaylord Nelson, a Democrat from Wisconsin, is responsible for the first official Earth Day in 1970. In those days, saving the environment was synonymous with the now famous “Zero Population Growth”. He organized a lecture session in university to teach about the problems that the Earth was facing such as extinction, pollution and the like. On the first official Earth Day on 22 April 1970, many people around America organized their own similar events to discuss these issues.With time the celebrations expanded and started spreading outside the US borders.

Of course many other issues have now arisen including climate change and Earth Day is no longer an American holiday alone. It is celebrated throughout the world. Maura Judkis has a list of some 10 things you should know about Earth Day that you should probably read for a brief introduction on what this Day is all about

American president Barack Obama, who is seen as someone who cares about the environment has his own agenda for this years Earth Day. In the New York Times they say:

The Obama administration is using Earth Day for launching another all-out effort to sell the American public and key lawmakers on “green jobs” as the solution for the United States’ environmental and economic woes.

Which then begs another question, are we really concerned about the Earth for the Earth’s sake or for our own good? President Obama is pushing for ‘green’ because he believes that ‘green jobs’ will save the American economy. There are those who think that Earth Day is useless, and we should get rid of it.

Whatever your thoughts about this Day are, have a Happy Earth Day

Finally, Sir Attenborough Speaks on Human Overpopulation

One of the most respected personalities on natural world and conservation TV, Sir David Attenborough, finally spoke about a subject most consider taboo: human overpopulation. Sir Attenborough said growth in human numbers was “frightening” according to a report appearing on BBC News on Monday 13 April 2009.

The good Sir, who said this when he became the patron of the Optimum Population Trust, a UK group that has been campaigning for the voluntary reduction of human population in Britain by not less than 0.25% a year since 1991, is likely to get a lot of flak for saying this. But then again, isn’t it true that human overpopulation is threatening not only all other life but human life itself?

The overcrowded Kibera Slums in Nairobi.

Some anti-overpopulation campaigners are much more candid than the veteran presenter, perhaps even offensive to the antagonists. Dan Gainor writing on the Business and Media Institutes site – back in 2007 – quoted Paul Watson, founder and president of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and famous for militant intervention to stop whalers, saying that mankind is “acting like a virus” and is harming Mother Earth.

It is easy to see humanity as a virus considering how they are spreading into lands once only occupied by wild plant and animal life. It is also easy to see that this ‘virus’ is rapidly (as opposed to slowly) killing the planet we, and millions of other species, call home. Think accelerated global warming, deforestation, drying up of inland water bodies, the list is endless.

The question of population growth is touchy for various reasons, the most peddled being that human population control is an infringement on human rights. John Finney discussing the population issue in his essay titled Population: The elephant in the room on BBC’s Green Room, acknowledges that discussing population is indeed a taboo among conservationists saying;

Some activists insist acting to influence population growth infringes on human rights; they maintain that it is best to leave the problem alone.

Now, the solution to human population is straight forward, but not ’simple’, neither can it be considered short-term in terms of implementation period. It will take a long time to reduce human population. But we have to start now.

Population reduction should be done in a humane way. Many experts have recommended some workable approaches. The ones I support are those that centre on the education of especially women in developing coutries about the availability of choice of family size.

Given the complex nature of family set-ups and cultures in these developing nations, the men need also be educated about the importance of small families. Tell them the truth, don’t tell them what you want them to hear. Because we should all be knowing by now that there is no other way out of the current ecological and resource crisis other than fewer people on Planet Earth.

John Finney, while reminding us that we are already beyond Earth’s carrying capacity – and we are headed for imminent human population collapse – adds;

Our chance to avert such an outcome depends on our ability to address our numbers before nature reduces them for us. There’s no other way out.

Are you ready to play your part in saving the planet?

The Saga of Nairobi’s UN Fuel Guzlers

The bad guys

Sukuma Kenya knows how to kick up a campaign. He’s unrelenting in his quest for an environmentally, and carbon neutral UN office in Nairobi. If you don’t already know, Nairobi is where the global headquarters of the global United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is located.

Sukuma Kenya and others in the blogosphere are totally appalled by the largess with which the UN staffers in the UN office complex at Gigiri, Nairobi move around town. Sukuma and the said others apparently get migraines whenever they see the colossal 5-liter engine fuel guzzlers that most of the UN people drive around, garnished with their red diplomatic plates, clearly separating them from the regular Kenyan motorist in his 1400cc Toyota Corolla.

These behemoths of locomotion have galled Sukuma for ages and he’s made personal the quest to make the UN people ‘Kick the Habit‘ . No wonder – or not – Sukuma’s blog is now banned at the UN complex in Gigiri. In short, inside of the sprawling complex, you cannot access the blog. And here I was thinking that the freedom of speech is one of the fundamental freedoms that the UN stands for.

He’s been alerted by a friend that his blog is no longer wanted in Gigiri. What followed that is is not particularly clear but he’s now received somewhat official communication confirming that his blog is actually banned. Now the Media Department at UN-Gigiri has informed the IT Department to unlock that blog. Someone should check on that.

This is totally unconfirmed and is not an accusation, but I have had it mentioned that the newest – and most obscene – entry into the fuel guzzlers’ stable at UN office, the banana-yellow Humvee , belongs to a staffer in the IT Department.

The good guys

Perhaps it is Sukuma’s campaign or it is just that there are genuine environmentalists in the UNEP. I saw a Toyota Hybrid Prius the other day with UNEP plates. I couldnt have been happier. Here is the picture.

A much 'greener' car

It seems that not all the people at UN want to drive around in ‘planet-killers’.

Kenya’s Bio-safety Bill vs Organic Farming

Former UN Secretary General, Kofi Atta Annan once said that Africa should embrace biotechnology in food production. He even said that GM foods would alleviate the problem of hunger in the continent. Late last year, Kenya’s parliament passed the Bio-safety Bill with a little push by the US producers of genetically modified corn (USGC).

The USGC is openly beating it’s chest declaring that the passage of the bill is a direct result of years of their work promoting the technology in the region. They proudly declare that members of Kenya and Malawi’s parliaments – who were still debating the laws that would legalize importation of GM foods – were part of a contingent of African leaders who visited its project plot in South Africa.

According to Kurt Shultz, USGC director in the Mediterranean and Africa, in May 2006, a high-level delegation from Kenya, Malawi and South Africa consisting of Members of Parliament from each country, visited Council-sponsored biotechnology test plots in South Africa. “The timing was significant in that Kenya and Malawi were debating bills to adopt the commercial cultivation of biotechnology,” he said. “The positive impact and practical benefits the Members of Parliament saw at the USGC-sponsored test plots convinced them that Kenyan and Malawian farmers could benefit immensely from the technology if its products were made available to them.  As a result, the Members of Parliament resolved to fast-track the introduction of the technology into their respective countries.”

Su Kahumbu (right) of Green Dreams at the Kibera Organic Plot

The bio-safety bill was scheduled to be ascended to by Kenya’s President Mwai Kibaki before 1 January 2009, but that has not happened yet. As a result, organic farmers are stepping up their efforts to lobby the President not to ascend the Bill into law.

I was sent a link to an online petition calling on President Kibaki not to sign the bill on Facebook today from group called Green Dreams. Green Dreams is also the name of the organic marketing firm that is behind the group.  The petition is here for those of you who don’t want GM to be legalized in Kenya.  I don’t know how well that will work given that the entire media fraternity was all over him and he still ascended to the controversial so called Media Bill.

I am not sure, either, if the importation and/or production of GM foods is really going to change the food situation in Africa. As a matter of fact, it could bring more harm than good. Europe for instance will still prefer organic tomatoes over GM tomatoes – for those who want to export fresh produce to pay school fees for their children. With growing environmental and biodiversity awareness and sympathy, the chances of GM production methods remaining attractive in the long run is not a guarantee.

One can plainly see why the USGC wants the biosafety law – or in their words – “U.S. producers of genetically enhanced corn may soon see their products in the Kenyan market as Kenya recently passed a bio-safety bill permitting importation and cultivation of biotech crops and products.” They want a market for their products. Period.

One Kenyan legislator opposing the law in parliament on around 9 December 2008 pointed out in countries where GMO technology is used, such crops are solely used for animal feeds and not for human consumption. I believe he was saying that Africans are being treated like animals. I wonder if that is true.

While those MPs who supported the Bill said that Kenya is food insufficient and GM should remedy that, the opposing MPs countered that Kenya, and indeed Africa, is food insecure not for lack of GMOs but for lack of proper planning adding that low irrigation, lack of water harvesting coupled with poor infrastructure and effects of climate change is hampering countries in the region from ensuring food security of her citizens. And I agree with them.

The organic revolution is however catching up and the Kibera Story should wow you at any given time. Today I also read in the Independent online a story about a farmer in Malawi who chose to go organic for a very unusual reason. He owed his government $17 for fertilizer and government officers threatened to take away his 11 pigs if he didn’t pay up. Luckily, he borrowed the money from the local pastor, but he swore he’d never depend on fertilizer again. He’d grow his crops the way his father, and his grandfather grew their crops – the natural way.

Now, isn’t that a story? You are free to comment here and let the world know what your views are. Organic or GM?

Ecoflation: The Newest Addition to the Planet’s Misery

We are in the thick of a global economic recession and all we want to think is “how do we get out of this one”. But, we are also hard pressed on environmental issues. We are now more than ever worried about global warming and climate change and the plethora of problems these terrible twins have brought with them. We are talking floods, drought, heatwaves, wild fires, name them. We are also worried that hitherto abundant natural resources are now scarcer than we want them to be.

Wait, things could get worse – at least according to a report released by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the consulting firm, A.T. Kearney, on December 2. As pressure on natural resources increases, we are likely to see higher costs in the commodity supply chains. The report predicts that there will be a 13-31% increase in costs by 2013. This will almost certainly be borne by the consumer going by the way businesses operate. By 2018 this cost could be between 19 and 47 percent higher than they are today.

Already, 60% of the world’s ecosystems are degraded and Climate Change is making them worse. Then there is the problem of human population growth – something that really gets into my nerves – coupled with the growth in consumption levels in the worlds fastest growing consumer markets, China and India. These factors will make production expensive and manufacturers will have to bear the cost – alternatively, they can, as they always do, pass the cost to the consumer.

In short, things will cost more due to scarcity of natural raw materials – there will be ecological inflation or “ecoflation” – and it is the producers who have implemented ecologically sound policies who will be better poised to remain profitable. That sounds Utopian, doesn’t it?

It is not Utopian, I believe. For these drivers of environmental cost will make this scenario a reality:

• Climate Change Policy. The United States implements a comprehensive climate-change policy, which spurs international cooperation and results in a global price for greenhouse-gas emissions.
• Water Scarcity. Climate change causes more drought and water scarcity throughout major agricultural regions and leads to increased production costs and declining yields.
• Deforestation. Consumer products companies in the United States and the European Union voluntarily agree to source all wood and fiber from sustainability-certified forests, and to increase the use of recycled fiber for all paper packaging and products.
• Biofuels. Major biofuel-producing countries retreat from existing mandates and apply sustainability requirements to all relevant government policies.

But then again, there is the choice to go green on production. Those production firms that will be more prepared will likely be taking these actions:

• Understand the environmental impacts and dependencies: Examine how cost drivers are exposed to emerging environmental trends and, when possible, seek substitutes with lower environmental impacts.
• Take an inventory of current initiatives: Learn what the company, its suppliers, and its partners already are doing through the value chain.
• Prioritize: Rank environmental issues and opportunities according to their current and future potential impact on costs, revenues, and reputation.
• Chart a new course: Make sustainability principles part of an action plan by including externalities in the decision-making process and establishing the principal performance indicators.

So there you have it. You can now start saving the planet…and some money, or you could go to the WRI site and get the details.

Oprah and Wangari Maathai: “Be the Change”

I just thought I should share this picture from Planet Ark (Reuters) of Kenyan environmentalist and Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wangari Maathai’s recent social event with US talk show host, Oprah Winfrey in South Africa.

Wangari and Oprah after planting a tree

Oprah and Wangari were at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in Heley-on-Klip outside of Johannesburg on 25 November 2008 to attend a leadership conference termed “Be the Change”. It is quite encouraging that Wangari never forgets to plant a tree whenever she goes. I think she must have planted one when she went to Oslow to receive the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize.I know she did the moment she landed on Kenyan soil back then.

If she ever reads my previous post, maybe she’ll start lobbying the Kenyan government to table and pass a “one tree per child/family” bill in parliament (especially now that she is no longer a member of this wretched parliament). Perhaps she asked Oprah to spend some of her billions to do some conservation work. Who knows?