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Friday, February 13, 2015

VICTORY! Thrilling Rainforest Victory for Karawari Indigenous Cave Art, the Great Nation of Papua New Guinea, and EcoInternet

Dr. Glen Barry led efforts to save ancient rainforest cave art



(Honolulu, Hawaii) – EcoInternet is thrilled to announce that our international campaign to save the ancient Karawari indigenous cave art and adjoining rainforests from mining in Papua New Guinea has been successful. Certainly the exemplary organizing by local residents to resist Australia and Malaysian mining and logging interests was the primary reason plans to mine the area have been dropped for now. Yet several thousand people from 110 countries sending some 238,629 protest emails through EcoInternet are widely acknowledged to have had significant positive impact on the outcome as well.

“EcoInternet specializes in internationalizing local environmental protest, and over the past two decades we have had a hand in saving vast tracts of rainforests globally, particularly in Papua New Guinea (PNG). Virtually every community in rainforest rich PNG is threatened by some deceptive ploy to steal their resources while leaving local peoples destitute. We hope that being based in Honolulu, Hawaii, EcoInternet is better placed to help end this type of ecocidal development in the Pacific once and for all,” explains EcoInternet President, Dr. Glen Barry.

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Sunday, February 1, 2015

New Science Suggests More Land-Based Ecosystems Lost than Biosphere Can Bear

An important scientific journal article published today finds that 66% of Earth’s land area must be maintained as natural and agro-ecological ecosystems to sustain a livable environment. Yet about 50% have already been lost, threatening global biosphere collapse. In describing the paper, author Dr. Glen Barry suggests the Ebola epidemic, California drought, and Middle East revolutions indicate planetary boundaries have been exceeded.

August 5, 2014
Contact: Dr. Glen Barry
DrGlenBarry@EcoInternet.org

Citation: Barry, G. (2014), “Terrestrial ecosystem loss and biosphere collapse”, Management of Environmental Quality, Vol. 25 No. 5, pp. 542-563. Abstract

(Madison, WI) – New science finds that two-thirds of Earth’s land-based ecosystems must be protected to sustain the biosphere long-term. Yet about one-half of Earth’s natural ecosystems have already been lost. The scientific review article by Dr. Glen Barry – entitled “Terrestrial ecosystem loss and biosphere collapse” – was published today in the international journal “Management of Environmental Quality”.

The paper proposes terrestrial ecosystem loss as the tenth ecological planetary boundary (along with climate change, biodiversity loss, and nitrogen deposition which have already been exceeded, and six others nearing the limit). It is proposed that 66% of Earth’s land – 44% as intact natural ecosystems and 22% as agro-ecological buffers – must remain intact to sustain the biosphere. This would require ending industrial primary forest logging and restoring old-growth forests to reconnect fragmented landscapes and bioregions. It is necessary to remain within planetary boundaries to ensure humanity continues to be surrounded by a healthy natural environment adequate to sustain the biosphere as well as local livelihoods and well-being.

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Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Love in the Time of Ebola

Overpopulation, ecosystem loss, climate change, and Ebola itself are all growing exponentially. The human family must come together now to stop Ebola in West Africa or risk a global pandemic that could potentially kill millions – even as we commit post-Ebola to solving with greater equity and justice the disease’s root causes of rainforest loss, poverty, war and overpopulation.


Deep ecology essay from Dr. Glen Barry, EcoInternet

Take Action! Demand More Aid to Africa to Stop Epidemic at Its Source

The Ebola epidemic in West Africa is doubling every 20 days, killing 70% of those infected. We are approaching a total of 10,000 official infections, though the actual number is almost certainly much higher. At this rate of growth, we can expect 10,000 new cases a week in December, with a far greater chance of the disease spreading internationally. It is clear that if Ebola is not stopped in Africa in the coming months, it will never be kept from Europe, America, and the rest of the world.

Despite some success containing the disease at its periphery, all who love the human family and Earth understand that avoiding a global pandemic depends upon the international community marshaling resources and rushing into the Ebola maelstrom to decisively stop it at its source. Efforts from the US military sending troops for logistical support, Cuba sending doctors, and Doctors Without Borders taking the lead in treatment and stopping infection are commendable but are too little and haphazard.

We have under two months to stop the deadly Ebola virus from – well, going viral. We must stop bickering, roll up our sleeves, and rush into the fire. Doing so will require massive amounts of aid, as only 1/3 of the initial $1 billion necessary to fight Ebola in Africa has been raised. Western democracies have plenty of money to wage perma-war but apparently meager funds and few doctors to avoid global pandemic. This is a shocking betrayal of international security by the world’s nations, and must not be tolerated. (You can take action with my organization EcoInternet to demand more Ebola aid.) [1].

Ebola’s real threat lies in its exponential growth and virulence, unleashed by overpopulated, sick ecosystems. Ebola is emblematic of the types of natural responses we can expect as planetary boundaries including the loss of terrestrial ecosystem are surpassed. As long as Ebola rages in Africa, no one in the world is safe from the threat of global pandemic.

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Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Ebola a Symptom of Ecological and Social Collapse

The global environment is collapsing and dying under the weight of inequitable over-population and ecosystem loss.

“We learn the meaning of enough and how to share or it is the end of being.” ― Dr. Glen Barry
Ebola is ecosystem collapse
The surging Ebola epidemic is the result of broad-based ecological and social collapse including rainforest loss, over-population, poverty and war. This preventable environmental and human tragedy demonstrates the extent to which the world has gone dramatically wrong; as ecosystem collapse, inequity, grotesque injustice, religious extremism, nationalistic militarism, and resurgent authoritarianism threaten our species and planet’s very being.

Any humane person is appalled by the escalating Ebola crisis, and let’s be clear expressing these concerns regarding causation is NOT an attempt to hijack a tragedy. Things happen for a reason, and Ebola was preventable, and future catastrophes of potentially greater magnitude can be foreseen and avoided by the truth.

The single greatest truth underlying the Ebola tragedy is that humanity is systematically dismantling the ecosystems that make Earth habitable. In particular, the potential for Ebola outbreaks and threats from other emergent diseases is made worse by cutting down forests [1]. Exponentially growing human populations and consumption – be it subsistence agriculture or mining for luxury consumer items – are pushing deeper into African old-growth forests where Ebola circulated before spillover into humans.

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