[J Marcus]

So--this thread is to address concerns that pearl people have re: Global Warming and other environmental concerns. A huge problem that is facing us that I have come to see as even more of a concern than the "Warming" part of Global Warming is the increasing acidification of the oceans as they absorb CO2. CO2, when dissolved in water, forms carbolic acid--thus the problem. It has been reported that there have been pulses of acidic seawater in parts of the Pacific that have been strong enough to begin to degrade the shells of mulloscs and other shelly organisms. This process threatens all those of us who have a stake in salt water pearls. It is also most likely a threat to much, if not most, of the life in the seas in general and possibly as well to the health of every living organism on the planet. As I have stated elsewhere, this is not a histrionic statement. The evidence is irrefutable. The "Global Warming" problem caused by the increase in CO2 and other greenhouse gases in our atmosphere is occurring at a rate that greatly surpasses any of the worst case scenarios that have been posited in the last few years. There are many proven and workable technologies right now that, if implemented, could start us in the direction of halting and even reversing these threats to our environment and livelihoods. There is much research that remains to be done as well. What has been lacking so far is the political and economic will to take meaningful action. What are the things that you cherish worth to you?

For the sake of our children, our children's children, for our own self-interest, for the planet that gives us life and all it's wonders, we must do something to bring this travesty to a halt.

To quote Amrita from the "Raising CO2 Levels in the Ocean" thread:
How about us PGers forming an activist group of our own to take action on this issue, how so ever we can and where ever we are......?

To quote myself from the Green Pearl Brands thread:
"I can make one suggestion for making one's pearl products more green--a label attatched to them that states that a certain percentage of the sale price of these items is donated to combat Global Warming."

[Amrita]

This is great, Marcus! Thanks for starting this. I guess we'll need to give this some kind of structure in terms of goals, methods, strategies etc. Let's see how many more PGers are interested in joining in. This will also need some research in terms of groups that are already associated in this kind of activism.....

[J Marcus]

I'm hoping for members to weigh in on the subject with their thoughts, their ideas, brainstorming to see what there may be in the way of a general consensus.

Originally Posted by J Marcus

What are the things that you cherish worth to you?

More or less what I paid for them (usually less).

The big thing that bothers me in the green story if the involvement - and therefore justification, of 'political will'. There are others, but not nearly so serious. It would be nice o have the whole humanity gardening a perfect planet, but so far, the story doesn't sound nearly as good as the title to me.

Too bad, in fact. It would be nice to have a simple glitzy ideal to believe in. Maybe I do, even... but it ain't green and has nothing to do with any future generations: taking one at a time has proven to be hard enough.

Too bad that of a pearl forum, it is this stuff that makes the most read threads. It doesn't feel right to keep spoiling the party down here. Too bad...

[J Marcus]

Originally Posted by Valeria101

More or less what I paid for them (usually less).

The big thing that bothers me in the green story if the involvement - and therefore justification, of 'political will'. There are others, but not nearly so serious. It would be nice o have the whole humanity gardening a perfect planet, but so far, the story doesn't sound nearly as good as the title to me.

Too bad, in fact. It would be nice to have a simple glitzy ideal to believe in. Maybe I do, even... but it ain't green and has nothing to do with any future generations: taking one at a time has proven to be hard enough.

Too bad that of a pearl forum, it is this stuff that makes the most read threads. It doesn't feel right to keep spoiling the party down here. Too bad...

Valeria, I have to say that I am puzzled and disappointed by your response. To take your statements in order:

Are the only things that you cherish the things that you buy? What about the climate that shapes the weather and therefore the environment where you live? What about the health of yourself and those you care about? Tropical and subtropical illnesses such as malaria and dengue fever are steadily moving into higher latitudes. What about the ability to have enough food for you and all the others of the earth to live? The rate at which drought and desertification of great areas of the earth is increasing is frightening. These are verified facts, not speculation. These facts can be found in the public record. They are not obscure and unverified thoughts. If you disagree with them, then I challenge you to do the work, the research of the media to show them to be wrong. I'm always willing to read, listen to and consider opinions that disagree with mine.

I have to say that I am puzzled by what you mean in your statement concerning political will. Perhaps you could explain further. What I am referring to is that politicians rarely seem to do things because they are the right thing to do, but rather because of the pressures upon them from people and organizations they are beholden to. As one wag stated: "If the people will lead, the politicians will follow." Ideally, elected officials are ultimately subject to the vote and this can, in theory at least, trump the pressure of coorporations, lobbyists and other money interests.

The issues being discussed here are not "glitzy ideals." Neither I nor, I think, most others working on these issues think in terms of how "It would be nice o have the whole humanity gardening a perfect planet..." as you state. This is a matter of having a planet on which we can survive, live tolerable and sustainable lives and don't loose many, many of the things that we value in life. Somehow, I think that a proper characterization of these ideals might be described more as reasonable, practical, adequate and appropriate.

I'm afraid that I find your statement that "...it ain't green and has nothing to do with any future generations..." to be simply absurd. The things that we do now will certainly affect those who come after us, just as those our predecessors affect how we live today. A clear example of this is illustrated by considering the the men and women who fought, died, were disabled and even lived through the fight to defeat the fascists of Japan and Germany in World War II. These people didn't usually go into that war thinking just about themselves. They were trying to save the right for the lives of future generations to be determined by something other than inhumane fascist ideals. Can you imagine what your life might be like if these persons hadn't been fighting for future generations?

Your statement that "...it ain't green..." puzzles me greatly. What I mean by using the term "green" in this context refers to stopping the drastic changes occurring to our environment, the ecology of living things that we depend on to live and hopefully prosper. What do you mean by this statement? If you disagree, then why?


Spoiling the party?!? For Pete's sake, if you don't want to confront these issues there is a simple solution. Stop reading these threads. No one is forcing you to do so. As for your worry that these threads dealing with the environment are the most read threads in the forum, with the exception of "Pollution in China" thread, you are simply wrong. There are many threads that have many, many times the number of hits that these posts have received. Spoiling the party? No one reads these threads that doesn't care to. Like I stated before, if you don't like these, then don't read them. Nobody is making you read them.

If you want to talk of spoiling the party, then it makes sense to confront these issues. The rise in oceanic acidity is a direct threat to the pearl "party." If this is not halted than reality will spoil this party with no assistance from the statements of those concerned. Some examples of this are addressed by Jerin in the "Pollution in China" thread:

"Here in Sweden we hav many lakes and some years we experience Algae blomming that is catastrophic on life in the lakes. This blue Algae is quite poisonous and chokes the life out of our poor fish and every other living animal in the lakes.

Also we experience the first consequences of the higher temperature in form of floodings and extreme weather storms in Germany, hot weather in Rumania and other countries here in Europe and bad summer weather here in Sweden. Probably the list goes on and on...

It is an easily tested and verifiable fact that oceanic acidity is rising. It is an easily verified fact that sea levels are rising. It is a verified fact that glaciers all over the earth are receding. It is a verified fact that the sheet ice that covers the arctic is getting much, much thinner with astonishing rapidity. It is a verified fact that creatures and plants that require warmer climates are moving into higher latitudes at an astounding rate. Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera........ Without our doing something, reality, nature, climate change, acidification will spoil the "party."

[waimeamomi]

Politics are tricky, but responsibility should transcend the political. Consumers control everything, and being willing to put your monetary foot can have the biggest impact. As much as I'm enjoying the cheaper gas prices, I think they should have stayed high, as I watched people ditch their recreational 8 cylinder SUVs and trucks and start thinking about where and why they were driving. I support whatever we can do to help and green pearls, and I love the idea of letting people know how something was produced. I have a catch phrase already - I use it when I sell Josh's pearls -
Pearls You Can Be Proud Of - although as a teacher the grammar isn't quite up to snuff, maybe Pearls You Can Be Proud to Wear (?).
Anyway, for those that are interested - stay with the thread. I know this isn't as simple as it sounds, but you can't climb the mountain if you don't take the first step.

Originally Posted by Valeria101

Too bad that of a pearl forum, it is this stuff that makes the most read threads. It doesn't feel right to keep spoiling the party down here. Too bad...

What party? There's a party somewhere on P-G? Oh well if there is, too bad, I am going to continue to spoil it with some compassion and worry for our planet and all the living things that make it cool. More power to J Marcus too!

Slraep
PS. Thank goodness Stalin(click me please) wasn't mentioned again!

[Amrita]

I agree Marc.....we need to take whatever steps (big, small or miniscule) we can in this direction. This transcends governments, politics, and human-made boundaries both mental and physical. These are no "glitzy ideals" and this is no "party". I think it is time to sanely and reasonably look at the big picture, and do something to correct it.

Has this article been mentioned?

"Man-made pollution is raising ocean acidity at least 10 times faster than previously thought, a study says.

Researchers say carbon dioxide levels are having a marked effect on the health of shellfish such as mussels."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7745714.stm

The extended version:

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=44836

Originally Posted by Slraep

Has this article been mentioned?

"Man-made pollution is raising ocean acidity at least 10 times faster than previously thought, a study says.

Researchers say carbon dioxide levels are having a marked effect on the health of shellfish such as mussels."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7745714.stm

That is shocking. It makes you wonder, even if we stopped pumping out CO2, would the effects ever stop, or even be mitigated? It might take decades just to hold the line on damage. It's like an environmental steamroller that's gone out of control.

[waimeamomi]

I grew up on the North Carolina coast. My dad caught fish, blue crabs and shrimp, and we ate oysters right out of the water walking distance from our cottage. When I was in college on the coast, I would ride my bike to the docks and buy shrimp for 1.50 a pound as it was poured off of the shrimp boat. Last time I was there (about 10 years ago), the shrimp industry was gone, as were the fresh oysters and scallops. That was pollution from over-building and it took less than 15 years to do the job. We have to place a priority on cleaning up our acts personally and globally in any big or little way we can.

Beautifully written J Marcus.

Hi Slraep,
I think it's time to call on g.rasputin for another exorcism.


Gail

Hi Pearlgully,

I'll immediately send out an urgent appeal for the starets' help.

Slraep

I mentioned in a previous thread that there is a conference that I am attending Dec. 4-6 in NYC, "Green:Sustainability, Significance, and Style". The main theme will direct the question of how does fashion meet its planetary obligations. Coining a new term, Green Fashion. Almost half of the seminars are on jewelry. The expected concerns about coral, dirty gold, diamond mining. I hope to raise the questions that were just positioned by J Marcus about CO2 and the global warming of our oceans concerning all life, but more specifically, mollusks and pearl farming. It seems most of you in this thread are on the west coast and probably can't make it to the conference. It could be a nice start to our Pearl Activist Group. The website is...

http://www.artinitiatives.com/public/

Maybe I will see you there.

[J Marcus]

Just a little gem I uncovered in my researches in "Science Daily.":

I have erred--the source of this quote was an article in "Science Daily," not "Science Digest." My apology."

Previous NOAA studies have shown that a quarter of the carbon dioxide that humans place in the atmosphere each year ends up being dissolved into the ocean. The result is the ocean becomes more acidic, making it harder for corals, clams, oysters, and other marine life to build their skeletons or shells."