Buddha of Hollywood's post back in January titled Enlightenment 104 reminded me of this song from the 1950s. I remember The Mills Brothers version sung on one of my mother's old records when I was little. The words puzzled me back then, but as I grew up they became all too real....in an unreal way.
I didn't know this until moments ago but Spike Jones did a parody of this song that was also popular.
The song seems quaint and the words ring differently now, with today's awareness of physical and psychological abuse. I think that's why, in spite of liking the song, it makes me feel edgy.
And I'm going to go here, too.........this song reminds me of how we are treating planet Earth. There's a report out issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, discussed on February 15, 2009, at BBC online:
The severity of global warming over the next century will be much worse than previously believed, a leading climate scientist has warned.
Professor Chris Field, an author of a 2007 landmark report on climate change, said future temperatures "will be beyond anything" predicted.
Prof Field said the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report had underestimated the rate of change.
He said warming is likely to cause more environmental damage than forecast.
Speaking at the American Science conference in Chicago, Prof Field said fresh data showed greenhouse gas emissions between 2000 and 2007 increased far more rapidly than expected.
"We are basically looking now at a future climate that is beyond anything that we've considered seriously in climate policy," he said.
Prof Field said the 2007 report, which predicted temperature rises between 1.1C and 6.4C over the next century, seriously underestimated the scale of the problem.
He said the increases in carbon dioxide have been caused, principally, by the burning of coal for electric power in India and China.
Wildfires
Prof Field said the impact on temperatures is as yet unknown, but warming is likely to accelerate at a much faster pace and cause more environmental damage than had been predicted.
The BBC's science reporter Matt McGrath says the most recent data is also worrying because it threatens to kick-start what climate scientists call negative feedback effects.
Prof Field says that a warming planet will dry out forests in tropical areas making them much more likely to suffer from wildfires.
The rising temperatures could also speed up the melting of the permafrost, vastly increasing the amount of carbon in the atmosphere.
This gorgeous video [59 sec.] is a reminder that the time to stop hurting this one we love is now:
Original Video - More videos at TinyPic
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14 comments:
Thank you Lydia for "going there"...when will people wake up? The time is "now" I hope what with a new president who feels strongly about environmental concerns. We haven't had a president give a rats "A**" about it for 8 years..so it's about time we caught up with many of the other countries about now!
I do a daily affirmation every morning connecting to "mother earth, father sky, the world and the universe, as "one"..maybe one day a lot of people will be and feel more connected to it all..I always have hope for this planet and the universal "essence".
Great post Lydia..thank you for taking the time to share this with us.
Blessings to you,
Rhi
After all of the efforts of so many taking actions big and small, it seems inevitable that our planet will change in ways we are ill equipped to deal with.daily I pray for a miracle for this planet, hoping that greater forces we may not even be aware of may somehow help us.
Look how much of the land is desert already. Northern Africa, the Middle East, most of Australia and the desert areas of the U.S. West. It's scary.
We're all solar in our house. Our electricity rates are so high that the payback will take only seven years.
@Rhi- You are so right about a change of wisdom with the new administration. I hope to see President Obama more forceful in environmental issues from here on out.
Your daily affirmation sounds so sweet and peaceful.
@Lily- The prayer you mention praying? I'm praying that one daily right along with you. Let's never stop.
@Hattie- You are wonderful to have gone all solar, and the payback time tells a story all its own!
Lydia, I don't remember that song at all--I don't think I ever heard it before but it is kind of a twisted song for the 1950's, don't you think? It's just a little edgier, as you said--most songs from that era are so "Cleaver Family" as to be nauseating.
But what a sad video--the one with the revolving earth, slowly becoming darkened. We still don't have enough green awareness in our society and hopefully Obama will start to address this more. For example, when I go to the grocery store, I see very few people bringing cloth bags--which is such an easy thing to do! No one should be using grocery bags except in emergencies. When I unpack my groceries, the first thing I do is to take the bags back to my car--that way they are always there. And that's only one small example! In my opinion, we need to go on a huge social marketing campaign to increase awareness so that people THINK about our planet more. Social marketing CAN work--we proved it when we saw pretty much the entire country change their behavior on fastening seatbelts--as well as the successful campaign for anti-smoking.
And we, as bloggers, do have a responsibilty to raise awareness too--and I thank you for that reminder.
Melinda
Lydia, a report just out found that flocks of birds are moving further North. Another proof that we are creating a scorched Earth. Scary.
India and China burning coal for electricity are the biggest culprits. What pressure can be brought to bear on them to switch to solar, wind or geothermal?
Yeah.
I was writing before about how Obama should make carbon output surveys a serious federal taking for corporations. People don't know how to take into consideration a world outside of themselves. This is why education is important.
What's funny is: the vision of melted permafrost carbon emissions and the increase of wildfires all around is actually pretty close to the screaming apocalypse that religious people and creative minds have envisioned the world to encounter.
Great blog, my heart hurts with the signs of global warming. The robins here in Colo. are no longer leaving the state, that means that the place they used to go no longer gets the benefits from them being there. The apple cart has been upset, lets hope we can put the apple cart upright again. One apple at a time :)
Very alarming news! In the coming weeks I will be volunteering with Appalachian Voices who are, as you may know, leaders in helping to put an end to mining coal via blowing the tops off mountains. I blogged about them before. It is such a huge epidemic in neighboring states....so much work needs to be done!
@Melinda- I have a stash of reusable bags behind my driver's seat, too! And I always return them there after emptying them inside. But sometimes I forget they're there and wind up at the checkout hating myself. That's happening less and less, though. One local store even hands out reminder stickers for the inside of your car window, like the oil change reminders. I wonder how great the green affect would be if everyone started doing just that one thing, only had reusable shopping bags......
Interesting what you said about the song. I admit that I was surprised to find newer artists, like Michael Buble, doing covers of it. You made me think, though, of my mother's musical taste back then (what I was exposed to daily). It wasn't Beaver Cleaver/Donna Reed type Americana, for the most part. Her lifestyle was somewhat alternative for the time and her music taste reflected that. Makes me want to search out some more of "her" songs on You Tube...... :)
@Darlene- Good question. Will Hillary even come close to discussing such things when she meets with officials from those countries? Maybe she should have Al Gore join her for a special world tour to discuss global warming, along with a cadre of key scientists in the field.
Don't you just feel so helpless sometimes?
@Clandestine Samurai- You're right, this is exactly why education is important. But many school districts are taking it in the chops with budget cuts. We should keep schools as a priority, while making it clear to kids that their responsibility is to learn and to stop messing around. This is where I see Obama as key: his stature with the kids is great and I'd like to see him have weekly webcasts in the schools, similar to FDR's "fireside chats" of old.
I get what you're saying about the whole apocalypse thing looking like global warming. This may be our greatest test: do we say "it is written..." or do we save our home?
@Looking to the Stars- You and Darlene both mentioned bird migrations being changed or stopped. I had posts last month about ladybugs disappearing. Where this can all become overwhelming it really is important that we're aware of the changes........
We need to make our own backyards or patios more hospitable to the birds who are stuck there or who may be migrating there for the first time because of climate change. Heck, put out a feeder and keep it clean. And a birdbath with fresh water too. Don't use pesticides; invite ladybugs and natural predators back. Best of all, plant a tree in your yard if you can and make it a native tree to fortify the birds of your area. We do all those things, have planted 18 trees in our yard and it's a real habitat. :)
@Wayfaring Wanderer- I well remember your making me aware of the wonderful work of Appalachian Voices in last year's campaign. It's exciting that this year you'll be a volunteer and I hope you'll consider blogging about it again too. It is a huge issue. I have a widget in my right column that has the Earth with a socket and asks "Where does your electricity come from?" It tells you if you're sources of electricity are in any way related to mountaintop removal. When I found out that ours out here in Oregon were related I called and switched to the "green account" that buys electricity from renewable sources. Actually, I'd requested that plan in 2001 -- my notes were right there in my file -- but I didn't follow through and didn't check my bills closely to see that they had implemented my request. They hadn't. But now they have! Thanks to you!
Hi Lydia--Thanks for your kind comments at my blog. Re your answer to Darlene, you may wish to check out the site:
Dan's Song Search. He (Dan, a dear ol' friend of mine, actually!) does a song-search for you, using bits of lyrics u provide. Great resource, that!
Re your comment to Wayfaring Wanderer, Did you all see the special Diane Sawyer just aired on "Children of the Mountains"?(on Appalachia). You can check it out on abc dot com, I believe.
Thanks for this beautiful(and scary!) post, Lydia. The fact is, too often, we DO Hurt those we love(men hurting women, and all of us, hurting Mother Earth).
Peace, woman.
Lydia, wow, we are kindred spirits,we do the same thing, have feeders,plant trees, have water for our feathered friends.
I wanted to share with you what I read this morning. On the Detroit river they have been cleaning up the waterway, they just spotted a beaver and a beaver lodge. The beaver haven't been there for 75 years. Looks like they are doing something right. :)
In any relationship there are no winners and losers.
Either both partners are winners or they are both losers.
I found this the hard way :(
And I think that, as individuals or collectively sooner or later we all will find it to be true.
We are just hurting ourselves!
@Lisa- Your friend Dan sounds like a great resource! Just the other day I keyed some lyrics into Google and it didn't come up with the song I had in my head.
I did see the special by Diane Sawyer and learned a lot. I had absolutely no idea that selling prescription drugs was a major source of income for so many Appalachians. The individual studies she did were heartbreaking....as is mountaintop removal.
@Looking to the Stars- That's so cool that you do those things too. Spread the word! And thanks for the great news about the beaver returning to the Detroit River. Good science and hard work made that possible, I bet.
@Buddha- Interesting how you take the relationship, and seeing it as a win/win or lose/lose situation, turn that microcosmic section of life on the planet into a representation of the whole. Powerful.
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