We CAN Save Earth! Installment 474
Dear Fellow Earthlings,
Happy 49th Earth Day! Happy Earth Day to you! Happy Earth Day to you!!! Happy Earth Day, dear Mother!, Happy Earth Day to you!!!!!! The first Earth Day was on Apr 22,1970. Since that day, when Americans in particular were beginning to realize how industrial production was resulting in filthy air, polluted rivers, and the destruction of plants and animals, humans have gained an awareness of the fact that we are destroying the ecosystem of the planet that has nurtured us and our fellow living creatures. With each April 22nd since 1970 Earth Day has -- haltingly at times, dramatically at other times -- secured a place as one of the major days of observance among human beings worldwide.
More still needs to be done. The numbers speak for themselves (although I do hasten to explain that some of the figures are my own estimates): Comparing air quality from 1970 with now, the main thing that has improved is that now we are able to measure and quantify the harmful particulates and gases that are present in places all over the world more accurately -- and in real time. What is not improving however is the fact that the amounts of the life destroying air-borne chemicals continue to increase.
Turning to destruction of our fellow species, one of the most conspicuous tragedies centers around the African elephant. While the numbers of these beautiful animals are presently holding in Kenya and Uganda, in the rest of Africa, their slaughter by poachers has reduced the total number from over 1,000,000 elephants in a range the size of Australia to some 400,000 in a range the size of Greenland. Take a look at a globe to see what a huge drop this is: Over 70% of the elephant's range has been taken away.
As for "minor" countries and cultures, the Falkland Islands provides one example of a smaller country "holding the line" against a larger country with territorial designs: In 1970s the Falklands were about to be handed over to Argentina against the wishes of the Falkland Islanders. Now Great Britain is resolutely protecting the Falklands (population around 3,000) from takeover by a nation with 44,000,000 people. Similar takeovers or threatened takeovers continue to be the norm around the world, however.
The "live and let live" mentality of the entire population of humans is very hard to measure, but my estimates are that, among people at least 18 years of age, the percentage favoring "live and let live" continues to hover at around 20%. Those oblivious of such thinking (thanks in large part to the internet, I would surmise) has decreased from 50% to about 15%). This leaves the remaining adult humans, those who continue to make light of a "live and let live" mentality, with numbers constituting some 65% of Earth's adult population of humans now, compared with 30% in the early 1970s.
People who seek to respect pronunciation and who know of the Jingles was 0 in 1970 (although I myself was binging to see the possibility of post-adolescent nativelike pronunciation acquisition at that time and was tinkering with the notion of "jingles" to serve that purpose) and now is some 135,000. This is good news!
People who seek realistic, balanced language management has gone from 10 organizations with 5,000 people in 1970 to perhaps 15 organizations with 200,000 people at present.
The numbers of languages and dialects remaining on Earth was about 3,000 in1970 and now is down to 2,000. The number of Seneca speakers was 800 and now is 5.The percentage of Japanese who use English in their daily lives more than they use Japanese has gone from 0.2% to 6%.
The amount of information disseminated by misinformation-plagued internet vectors has gone from zero in 1970 to as much as perhaps 98% of the information we are exposed to on a daily basis. And humans' inability to fathom the dangers that "artificial intelligence" (AI) poses to our very existence is a matter of great concern to me. There is so much that needs to be done to get things organized in such a way so as to bring better things to the life forms of Earth.
As I close out this installment, I can only tell you that on the next Earth Day, I hope to report better results. Furthermore, I will continue to make my fellow Earthlings aware of ways in which we can increase the likelihood that we will live to see a 22nd century.
Steve Walker Earthsaver and Jingles Creator
When I visited the Falkland Islands in 2013, this female elephent seal allowed me to approach within two meters. She knew that I had only honorable intentions!
With proper human population management, even a small country (such as the Falkland Islands, shown here) can have wide open spaces.
Four days ago, I visited some land over which I have stewardship in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. Sadly, some of the trees near the land's stream had been poached.
This 800-year-old cedar lives at the Togakushi Shrine near my land in Nagano.
The Togakushi Moutain Range.
© 2013 Steve Walker, The Jingles-The Japan Foundation for English Pronunciation, Summit Enterprises.