The Emperor Has No Clothes A Practical Guide for Environmental and Social Transformation (13 page)

Recently there has been conjecture within the
scientific community about the possibility of the thermohaline
circulation being affected by the introduction of the large amount
of fresh water originating from melting of the north polar ice cap
and nearby glaciers. The addition of these large quantities of melt
water is reducing the salinity in the northern waters. If the
density differential becomes too small the thermohaline circulation
could stall, producing a profound effect upon the climate. However,
at the present time there is no convincing evidence that the rate
of circulation has changed beyond it's normal level of
variation.

In general what are the climatologists
predicting? A greater variation in the climate accompanied by
persistent weather regimes as described by Francis and her
colleague. A greater percentage of strong storms, and in the
regions where the temperature falls below freezing greater impacts
from freezing and thawing cycles on infrastructure. Changes in the
distribution of the amount of precipitation and normal ranges of
temperature. The 2014 UN Intergovernmental Report on Climate
Changexxx indicates that in the next several decades we can expect
to see a range of change in precipitation of about 35%. Some areas
will experience an increase as much as 10% in precipitation and
other areas a decline of as much as 25%. The net effect on food
production from this source is expected to be a 10 - 15% reduction
in yields. The costs of maintenance for infrastructure will
increase. In the temperate and subarctic climatic areas, diseases,
pests, plants, and animals that are presently found in warmer areas
will migrate to higher latitudes and elevations. The presence of
these novel species are and will increasingly produce disruptive
elements in the current ecological and agricultural regimes. For
example, since the 1990's the mountain pine beetle that is adapted
to warmer climates has been migrating north into the Canadian
forests causing widespread damage in British Columbia where 50% of
lodge pole pine trees have died from infestation. Recently these
beetles have migrated into Alberta. xxxi They have also begun to
eat tree species that were not favored by them before, such as jack
pine in Canada. In Colorado where another beetle epidemic is
underway these insects have started to eat ponderosa pine according
to the US Forest Service. These beetle infestations are attributed
to the warming temperatures that have allowed them to expand their
range into areas where low winter temperatures prevented them from
becoming established. The cold adapted northern tree species have
no natural defenses to fend them off. Recently gardeners in
northern areas have reported southern pest species appearing in
gardens such as the tobacco bud worm.xxxii

The question is, how much reliance can be
placed upon these mathematically modeled climate predictions?
According to the 2014 UN IPCC report these models have the
capability to provide “hind-casts” with some skill of the near
surface temperature over much of the globe for 9 years (IPCC, p.
965). However, there are many unpredictable events that can cause
these models to diverge from their predicted path. For example,
large volcanic eruptions eject large amounts of particles into the
upper atmosphere which reflect sunlight and cool the earth. It is
my view that these models do provide some utility because there are
segments of time available in forecast predictions where
unpredictable events are absent or of a small magnitude ( large
events occur less frequently) that produce gradual divergence from
it's prediction. In the final analysis their ability to hind-cast
does validate the predicted effects of greenhouse gasses on climate
since the effects of greenhouse gasses are integral to the
functioning of these models.

Status of the Earths Agricultural
Potential:
At the present time about 1/10 of the earths land is
desertifying, and about 1/3 of the earth is changing to dry-lands
that can easily become desert if the current trends continue.
According to a study done by Pimental, in the last 40 years erosion
has rendered 30% of the worlds arable land unproductive for
agriculture.xxxiii A recent study by The National Academy of
Sciences has found that cropland soil is being eroded at 10 times
the rate of soil formation, about 1% per year. In the United States
it takes 500 years for 25 mm (1 inch) of top soil to form. These
agricultural losses are further being augmented by global warming.
Recent research has demonstrated that a 1 degree centigrade
increase in the minimum temperature during a growing season
produces a 10% reduction in yields of rice, wheat, and barley.xxxiv
The result of these trends is that since the 1980's the amount of
land under cultivation has started to diminish, and agricultural
production has started to contract relative to the rate of
population expansion. The population growth rate between 1990 –
2000 was 1.3% per year and food production increased by 1.2% per
year [41] the first time this has occurred in human history!

In recent years much corporate PR has
ballyhooed the wonders of genetically modified organisms (GMO) crop
plants and animal products, the general theme is that these
products will ward off world starvation. [42] Recent studies of GMO
crops have shown that not much difference in yield exists when
compared to conventionally grown non-genetically modified crops.
However, the GMO crops have the disadvantage that they require
greater inputs of costly synthetic agricultural chemicals. If one
considers the quality of the studies provided by the producers of
these materials they are inadequate to formulate any realistic
appraisal of their safety. Basically these studies are restricted
in scope to produce results that support the industries PR
gloss.

41. Much of the 1.2% increase is a result of
growing additional crop(s) for harvest in a year on the same land
and not a result of greater food output by plants, thereby, masking
the effects of reductions in arable soil.

42. At the present time the amount of food
being produced is greater than needed to support the worlds
population even though wide spread starvation is present. The
problem is that distribution of existing supplies isn't functioning
adequately.

The United States Government accepts these
superficial studies as a result of politically engendered
limitations placed upon the regulatory apparatus. The approval of
these products by the regulatory agencies is then utilized by these
industries in their PR campaigns to foster the impression that
these products have been thoroughly vetted by the government and no
need exists to further probe their safety for deployment and
consumption. When consideration is given to how government policy
is formulated, the impression one gets is that the United States
government is a rubber stamp for anything big business desires.

The question is, why are these studies
inadequate? To formulate their PR the biotech industry has
persisted in utilizing an incorrect outdated genetic model. This
model uses a scenario where a gene has a simple one to one form of
direct control of the synthesis of a particular biological agent,
where one gene produces one protein. Recent discoveries indicate
that this is not the case, the system of genetically controlled
synthesis is much much more complicated. What has been found is
that the instructions produced by a gene is modified by
spliceosomes that rearrange the genes instructions, thereby
enabling a single gene to produce hundreds or thousands of
different proteins.[43] The complexity of this system is further
augmented through the addition of extra molecules to the newly
produced protein. These molecular additions are governed by the
environment where protein synthesis is occurring and changes the
basic protein into an entirely new substance. A further layer of
complexity also arises as a result of another class of molecules
that control the architecture (shape) of the protein which is
essential for it to function. Needless to say it is extremely
difficult to unravel these highly complex poorly understood
processes, and therefore prohibitively expensive. Also, when one
considers that genes from organisms that are not even remotely
related are being combined such as those of fish and plants, it is
unknown how the new synthetic organisms molecular machinery will
function. In fact it has been found that many of these products
have unanticipated novel new molecules that have unknown effects.
Basically, the planetary environment and public are being used as
guinea pigs by these industries. Since these products incorporate a
novel type of composition they have produced new types of diseases
such as eosinophilia myalgia syndrome [44] and other allergic
reactions. Since these medical problems are originating from novel
sources, the diagnostic protocols and any potential treatment
modalities are unknown requiring development, if possible. The GMO
industry has also widely introduced these new and highly novel
organisms into the environment. They are working on the assumption
that because they externally resemble existing species that they
will function in the environment the same way, in spite of the fact
that they are specifically being produced to be biochemically and
functionally different. For example, consider the difference
between salt and sugar. Both have the same appearance but are quite
different. If one looks into the status of the understanding of
soil ecology, what is actually known can be characterized as being
at best rudimentary. These businesses are producing and promoting
products that incorporate many unknowns with the potential to
produce environmental damage. This type of damage can take a
significant length of time to become recognizable and may not be
correctable because of the complex interdependent nature of
ecological systems. I wonder, do you think the people who are
getting rich from these enterprises will step forward and expend
their own resources to remedy any problems or will the public have
to pay?

43..WE know that this is the case because
many more types of proteins exist in an organism than there are
genes.

44. Apparently this disease was produced as
a result of the additional production of unanticipated molecular
by-products in a GM process used to produce L-tryptophan produced
by Showa Denko as a supplement (this has been removed from the
market).

And in the final analysis we don't really
need GMO at the present time since enough food is currently being
produced. To address the impending food shortfalls in the future
other means exist that can be used to solve this problem (this will
be discussed later).[45] In my opinion a prudent course would be to
restrict the implementation of this type of technology to clinical
or other thoroughly controlled settings.

Lets consider a few anecdotal GMO case
studies. In my own case I started having symptoms of excess mucus
production in the nasal and throat areas as well as a build up of
pressure in the ears. The build of ear pressure at lower levels
impaired my hearing. A sever attack would cause internal ear pain,
nausea and loss of balance where the surrounding area was “spinning
around.” During the more sever type of attacks it was difficult to
move around, being reduced to a style of crawling that relied on
visual clues (looking at the position of my arms & legs) to
know the position of my body. I noticed that these occurrences
usually took place after a meal which aroused a suspicion that
there may be a connection to the food. To test this idea I
systematically eliminated the various types of food I normally ate
and found it was due to wheat. Some time after this discovery I was
chatting with an acquaintance “G” who had suddenly developed
allergy problems caused by wheat too. She informed me that she had
found out that GMO wheat was now being incorporated in our food and
causing allergic reactions. Another acquaintance “P” had been
suffering from large severe skin rashes ( they resembled the types
of wounds children get when they skin their knees). He mentioned
that he had many medical examinations and that nobody could
identify the cause of his problem. I related to him the wheat
problem and suggested he may try eliminating things from his diet
as I did. He did eliminate wheat and his rashes went away. Now he
avoids wheat like the plague! In my own case I happen to really
like pizza and started making them with a masa harina corn flour
crust which worked but produced an inferior pizza. Recently
summoning some courage I tried making a pizza crust from non GMO
whole wheat flour and did not have an allergic reaction to it Ah,
back to tasty pizza! After the pizza crust breakthrough I verified
it was GMO wheat by having some soup made by a friend and ate a few
commercial wheat noodles (3 or 4), the milder form of ear problem
(temporary hearing impairment) returned. In Dr. Davis's recent book
Wheat Belly, he argues that the huge increase in the percentage of
over weight people is a result of changes in the structure of
gluten that took place as a result of genetic manipulation of wheat
plants. In essence the novel types of gluten present in the GMO and
some hybrid wheat plants have a structure that the body doesn't
know what to do with so it is makes it into fat. It also produces
cravings which produce overeating usually of more wheat products
which of course produce further cravings, …..etc.xxxv It would be
real nice if products with GMO content were labeled so that one
could at least make informed decisions about what one is buying.
[46]