[Terrapreta] Academies of Science Call Industrialized Countries to Lead Climate Challenge

[David Yarrow]

well, i must say if i was to identify what is the key ingredient in terra preta, it's not charcoal, or potsherds, or nightsoil.  

the mystery of terra preta is an idea -- the simple notion of return -- that everything in nature dances in cycles.  the key principle in this circular worldview is "giving back" -- to close the loop by restoring to the land more than we remove.  this linear-to-circular paradigm shift is more fundamental than chunks of charcoal.  it's not just a concept; it's a relationship to nature that expresses itself as a way of life.

perhaps this seems simplistic, but only 500 years ago, columbus brought back convincing proof the world isn't flat, but round.  science was hardly even known then.  now science is discovering the earth is not lifeless, unconscious molecules, either.

for a green & peaceful planet,
David Yarrow
44 Gilligan Rd, E Greenbush, NY 12061
www.championtrees.org
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  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: lou gold 
  To: David Yarrow 
  Cc: terrapreta at bioenergylists.org 
  Sent: Wednesday, June 11, 2008 3:05 PM
  Subject: Re: [Terrapreta] Academies of Science Call Industrialized Countries to Lead Climate Challenge


  To add to your good words David, I would say that it could be difficult to get lay folks to really understand the incredible community of life in soils. Perhaps, it would be easier to focus on gaining an understanding that the relationship on-top-of and inside-of the earth needs to be reciprocal. As a storyteller, I've generally had better success with the concept of reciprocity and with the micro hard-to-see realities. 

  Connecting to the "poo" discussions, I think it's easy to get people to see that when waste is returned to the earth properly, that the resulting reciprocity is beneficial. "From waste to resource" is an easy to understand slogan and I think it could be usefully linked to biochar.

  Just some thoughts.

  hugs,

  lou




  On Wed, Jun 11, 2008 at 3:19 PM, David Yarrow <dyarrow at nycap.rr.com> wrote:

    more front line news about the accelerating consensus toward action on climate change.  

    however, still no mention of "carbon-negative", "food footprint" or "soil sequestration", much less likely: "biochar."

    seems the brightest minds in the highest places still don't have a clear focus on fundamental factors in ecological viability and climate stability: soil fertility, where fertility is not measured as inventory of chemical components, but as a biological community -- the "microbial reef" -- invisibly tiny living complexity that inhabits the thin skin of the land and supports all the larger, younger lifeforms.

    but they're funding the scientists who are piecing the puzzle together again.


    G8 Academies of Science 
    Call on Industrialized Countries 
    to Lead Climate Challenge 
    By Andrew C. Revkin, NYTimes, June 11, 2008
    http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/11/world/11climate.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

    The scientific academies of 13 countries on Tuesday urged the world to act more forcefully to limit the threat posed by human-driven global warming. In a joint statement, the academies of the Group of 8 industrialized countries -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States -- and of Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa called on the industrialized countries to lead a 'transition to a low-carbon society' and aggressively move to limit impacts from changes in climate that are already under way and impossible to stop. 

    The statement [PDF, 2 pp], posted by the Nation Academy of Science in the United States, urged the Group of 8 countries to move beyond last year's pledge to consider halving global emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050 and 'make maximum efforts' to reach this target."

    http://www.nationalacademies.org/includes/climatechangestatement.pdf

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