- Written by: Kamran Mofid
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This is only the beginning, The World is Burning: Time to Wake up and take the right steps
Photo: ‘The devastation of human life is in view’: what a burning world tells us about climate change
See also: Extreme temperatures kill 5 million people a year with heat-related deaths rising, study finds
We must recognise that we are all in it together. We will either be all saved or all will perish together. Carpe Diem!
‘The devastating “heat dome” has caused temperatures to rise to almost 50C in Canada and has been linked to hundreds of deaths, melted power lines, buckled roads and wildfires.
‘Experts say that as the climate crisis pushes global temperatures higher, all societies – from northern Siberia to Europe, Asia to Australia – must prepare for more extreme weather events.
‘Sir David King, the former UK chief scientific adviser, said: “Nowhere is safe… who would have predicted a temperature of 48/49C in British Columbia?’: Nowhere is safe, say scientists as extreme heat causes chaos in US and Canada
'Severity of hot spell in western US underlines dangerous impact of human-caused climate disruption.'
'Excessive heat warnings remained in place across swathes of the western US on Monday after Death Valley in California registered what could prove to be the highest reliably recorded temperature on Earth.
After a cascade of record heatwaves in Canada, north-west US, northern Europe and Siberia, the severity of the hot spell has underlined the dangerous impact of human-caused climate disruption and prompted scientists to consider whether computer models may have underestimated the impacts.
The US National Weather Service measured the temperature at Furnace Creek in Death Valley on Saturday at 54.4C (130F). If confirmed, this would equal the record set at the same place last year and rival slightly higher measurements made more than 100 years ago when equipment was less precise...'- Health warnings as Death Valley scorches in 54.4C heat
North America endured hottest June on record
Inside the Canadian town wiped off the map by a heat wave: ‘I watched my pets burn alive’
Record-breaking heatwave sweeps Canada – in pictures
Justin Trudeau’s love of fossil fuel will only make Canada’s extreme weather worse
Nordic countries endure heatwave as Lapland records hottest day since 1914
New Zealand experiences hottest June on record despite polar blast
Climate crimes The scientists hired by big oil who predicted the climate crisis long ago
‘Heat dome’ probably killed 1bn marine animals on Canada coast, experts say
We will only become safe when we rediscover and rekindle our sense of oneness with Mother Nature
Illustration: Nathalie Lees/The Guardian
The Wisdom of Mother Nature belongs to all Life.
Let be guided and inspired by Her and Save the Web of Life
'Be like the sun for grace and mercy.
Be like the night to cover others’ faults.
Be like running water for generosity.
Be like death for rage and anger.
Be like the Earth for modesty.
Appear as you are.
Be as you appear.'- Rumi
’How wonderful that the universe is beautiful in so many places and in so many ways. …its intonations are our best tonics, if we would take them. For the universe is full of radiant suggestions. …Over and over in the butterfly we see the idea of transcendence.
In the forest we see not the inert but the aspiring. In water that departs forever and forever returns, we see eternity.’ ~ Mary Oliver, in Upstream
And now, all said and done, we have only one home, our sacred earth, and there is no option:
We Must Save Her, We Must Honour Her, Nurture and Nourish Her.
Below you will find my suggestions on how this might be achieved, by turning fire and destruction into life and beauty.
Photo: Petal Republic
Crisis after Crisis: Ten Steps to Save the World
‘Nature and Me’: Realigning and Reconnecting with Mother Nature’s Wisdom- A Five Part Guide
- Written by: Kamran Mofid
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The end of isolation feels closer than ever, and our politicians are promising us the return to normal!
An illustration of the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) from the US Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention. Photo: AP Via The Guardian
Are You Dreading a Return to ‘Normal’? You’re Not the Only One. I am too!
Be Wise and Be Against Returning to Normal
Normalcy is not something we can afford—we must actively resist it.
Out of the coronavirus crisis, a new kinder and better world must be born
The time is now to rediscover our humanity and our solidarity
- Written by: Kamran Mofid
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Photo: Twitter
N.B. Not long ago, a few months back, I posted an article under the title ‘Detaching Nature from Economics is ‘Burning the Library of Life’. I would like to recall a couple of passages from it, refreshing and focusing our minds on what I am about to share with you.
David Quammen’s The Song of the Dodo deploys silence as a sign of something amiss in the world around us:
‘We are facing a global crisis. We are totally dependent upon the natural world. It supplies us with every oxygen-laden breath we take and every mouthful of food we eat. But we are currently damaging it so profoundly that many of its natural systems are now on the verge of breakdown. Every other animal living on this planet, of course, is similarly dependent. But in one crucial way, we are different. We can change not just the numbers, but the very anatomy of the animals and plants that live around us. We acquired that ability, doubtless almost unconsciously, some ten thousand years ago, when we had ceased wandering and built settlements for ourselves. It was then that we started to modify other animals and plants…
‘Economics is a discipline that shapes decisions of the utmost consequence, and so matters to us all. The Dasgupta Review at last puts biodiversity at its core and provides the compass that we urgently need. In doing so, it shows us how, by bringing economics and ecology together, we can help save the natural world at what may be the last minute- and in doing so, save ourselves.’...Detaching Nature from Economics is ‘Burning the Library of Life’
Today, whilst researching this topic further, I came across a very interesting and timeless article by a fellow Canadian academic, which truly captured my eyes and imagination. I began to read. It was music to my ears. It very much resonated with me. The more I read, the more I realised that I could not improve it.
I believe it can indeed be an excellent follow-up to my own piece, noted above.
So there you have it: ‘Beauty Will Save the World’, by Prof. Heather Eaton, Saint Paul University, Ottawa, Canada/Via Counterpoint, 30 June 2021
Beauty Will Save the World
‘The official birth flowers for July are larkspurs, signifying happiness and love.’
Picture credit and more: My Poem of the Month: July is the Month Happiness, Purity, Beauty and Creation
‘This famous and much discussed phrase from Prince Lev Nikolyaevich Myshkin in Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s The Idiot is that beauty will save the world. Alexander Solzhenitsyn wrestled with the enigmatic idea in his Nobel Prize acceptance speech in 1970. It is the title of numerous books and articles on classical art, theological/religious aesthetics, and the natural world. Many are mesmerized with this phrase, idea, image, or desire. Beauty will save the world. Hard to believe, yet is an intriguing union of ethics and aesthetics.
‘My interest here is not about art, philosophy, or religions. It is not particularly lofty. It is about beauty, mostly in the natural world, and how it transforms the self. Throughout my life, from a young child to now, (just a few years) the intricacies of nature—the incredible presence(s), and dazzling, deep, vibrant, and dynamic beauty—have often seized my attention and time. I have had remarkable, profound, and transformative experiences within nature. I have trekked to mountain vistas, caves, canyons, and waterways; sailed for weeks in the wind, waves, and silence of the Atlantic ocean; watched whales and swam with sharks; studied elephants in South Africa, Botswana, and Kenya; camped in the African bush and Canadian forests; and canoed wilderness waterways. I am acutely cognisant of these incredible privileges. Further, such experiences are the energy, and companions, and often reasons, that have propelled and sustained over thirty years of environmental work.
‘Of course there are terrifying, exhilarating, demanding, and dreadful experiences of the natural world. Many lives are filled with endless effort to survive, and now, on a diminished planet. Climate change is inducing fires, drought, storms, and immeasurable losses; countless ecosystems and species are struggling to adapt, or just live. It is difficult to offer a reflection about beauty, and how beauty is transformative, without seeming to be callous and uncritical of privilege, or oblivious to ecological stress and anthropogenic climate change. But, in one sense, that is the point of this reflection: to remind us that there is sublime beauty, usually not far, and it can be restorative, or at least offer reprieve or respite.
‘Like many others, my last year has been lived very locally. Attending to this locus vitae (local life) has expanded and strengthened my interest in the claim that beauty will save the world. Where I live (Ottawa, Canada), the seasons are distinct and authoritative, from -40 (C/F) to +40 C (104 F). People have been unable to travel far during COVID times, with severe long-term lockdowns in most of Canada. The consequences are that the outdoor spaces have been overrun with new nature lovers (interfering in the solace of those who savour the quiet). Yet, it is noteworthy that people are ‘discovering’ the natural world. A further discovery, for many, is that birds exist. Birdwatching has become an epidemic, one could say. I too succumbed to birdwatching, with now four feeders in my (small) backyard. And they came: songbirds, flocking birds and couples, solitary Blue Jays, and the bullies—Grackles and Starlings. Another COVID induced outbreak has been backyard and balcony gardening. I also try to grow flowers that provide gorgeous colors and scents, in addition to their ecosystem duties. This brings with it a renewed awareness of the balm of beauty and the vitality of the locus vitae.
‘What is required is attentiveness, quiet, discretion, and observation. Nature is never static. Life is animate. Colours dance from sunrise to sunset. Vegetation bends with the wind. Flowers develop from germination to blossoming to regeneration, always on the move. Birds flit. They are private and uninterested in humans, as are many—most—other species. Insects are busy…’-Continue to read
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Photo: Via Sustainability Times
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if we let nature to be our wise teacher and the source of our inspiration
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Live Like a Bird: Philosophical and Wise
'Be in love with life and the living and the world will be a better place.'- Kamran Mofid
Photo Credit: Kamran Mofid, Roses from our garden, Coventry, July 2021
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