BK 72: (Jul 2, 2024): Not the End of the World: How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet

 Our Jul 2nd meeting we will be discussing the book Not the End of the World: How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet by Hannah Ritchie (Jan 9, 2024). With 352 reading pages it is approximately 10 pages a day. 

Check out the Bio, links and videos below: 

"This "eye-opening and essential" book (Bill Gates) will transform how you see our biggest environmental problems—and explains how we can solve them.

It’s become common to tell kids that they’re going to die from climate change. We are constantly bombarded by doomsday headlines that tell us the soil won’t be able to support crops, fish will vanish from our oceans, and that we should reconsider having children.

But in this bold, radically hopeful book, data scientist Hannah Ritchie argues that if we zoom out, a very different picture emerges. In fact, the data shows we’ve made so much progress on these problems that we could be on track to achieve true sustainability for the first time in human history. Did you know that:

• Carbon emissions per capita are actually down
• Deforestation peaked back in the 1980s
• The air we breathe now is vastly improved from centuries ago
• And more people died from natural disasters a hundred years ago?

Packed with the latest research, practical guidance, and enlightening graphics, this book will make you rethink almost everything you’ve been told about the environment. Not the End of the World will give you the tools to understand our current crisis and make lifestyle changes that actually have an impact. Hannah cuts through the noise by outlining what works, what doesn’t, and what we urgently need to focus on so we can leave a sustainable planet for future generations.      

These problems are big. But they are solvable. We are not doomed. We can build a better future for everyone. Let’s turn that opportunity into reality."

 

*************
This is what we discussed at the meeting...

* Overall impression of the book

* Simple things may have been missed

* Pattern "Its not a problem" but then "But it is serious & we should do something about it."

* Complacent vs Conditional Optimism

* Max Roser "The World is much better, the world is still awful; the world can do much better." 

* Native American View

* GPGP and other trash in other countries

* Air pollution currently vs past and particular countries

 

* Locally grown GHG

* Plastic is Oceans coming from 

* Chernobyl Data ??? Links coming

* Data stating 1/3 or 1/4 fallen but does not say from what number??

* Data on near extinct animals says things like 40% improvement but does not say what the actual number is to be able to evaluate adequately

* Solar land vs roofs

* Road Vehicles efficiency today vs the past

* Lithium battery price drop

* Cowspiracy says not 50% but 20% and changing what we eat will not help but then says food is 3X as much as budget and "we can't ignore food."

* Plastic packaging

* Pesticides/Herbacides/Insecticides

* Oxygen & CO2 of forests and oceans

* Regrow? What does that mean? Baby trees not the same as old growth

* Tree cover loss vs deforestation

* Lack of citations in some areas

* Seed oils (Omega 6)

* Alternative to Palm oil?

* She does not address CAFOS/Chicken living conditions etc

* Use of "Some"

* Complete Essentials from plants

* Sri Lanka banned fertilizer and result

* 3/4 crops depend on fertilization but only 1/3 of total food we produce does? Some by wind.

* Beef/HEME/Quorn/Impossible

* Cow's milk vs Plant Based

* 1/3 food goes to waste

* Vertical farms power lost ?

* Biocatch/Trawlers

* Fish Farms ok? 

* Organic ideas questioned

* Statistics questioned (40% does not tell much need real numbers to know!)

* Cows (Grassland vs CAFOs)

* Disagree with her stance on GMO vs Select Breeding

* Los Angeles how many solar panels

* Ice & Temps

* Microwaves

* Coral Reefs

* Not worried about plastics on human health/research not clear enough ???

* Solutions to Ocean plastic

* Says only .02 straws end up in the ocean but again does not give numbers that would be.

** If I missed anything pleases let me know.