An Associated Press article by Brian Skoloff indicates that thirty-six states will “face water shortages” in just five years from now. The reasons for these shortages are listed as a combination of, “…rising temperatures, drought, population growth, urban sprawl, waste and excess.”
Autumn leaf at light-rail construction site
Bruce Lieberman of the Union-Tribune writes that we are in the process of changing the chemistry of the oceans (they become more acidic as they absorb carbon dioxide) threatening the viability of plankton, the bottom of the food chain.
Remember when dying oceans used to be a science fiction premise? Back in 1973, the movie Soylent Green depicted an overpopulated world that depletes its ocean resources by 2022 and is forced to resort to an interesting food-source alternative.
Brian McLaren, in his new book Everything Must Change suggests a metaphor for what we humans are doing to the world. He writes, “When the social, political, and economic machinery of a society gets out of control, or through some flaw of design or operation begins to destroy its creators and intended beneficiaries, then it has become a suicide machine.”
Mr. McLaren (http://www.brianmclaren.net/) is careful to point out the limitations of metaphors, but suggests that the ‘suicide machine’ metaphor might help us visualize, “…the way several facets of contemporary life connect, gear in gear, to destroy good and living things, devalue what is precious, overvalue what is worthless, foul up the results of millions of years of evolution, and so desecrate and frustrate what I believe is a sacred and ongoing work of the Creator, in us, among us, and through us.”
Remember when dying oceans used to be a science fiction premise? Back in 1973, the movie Soylent Green depicted an overpopulated world that depletes its ocean resources by 2022 and is forced to resort to an interesting food-source alternative.
Brian McLaren, in his new book Everything Must Change suggests a metaphor for what we humans are doing to the world. He writes, “When the social, political, and economic machinery of a society gets out of control, or through some flaw of design or operation begins to destroy its creators and intended beneficiaries, then it has become a suicide machine.”
Mr. McLaren (http://www.brianmclaren.net/) is careful to point out the limitations of metaphors, but suggests that the ‘suicide machine’ metaphor might help us visualize, “…the way several facets of contemporary life connect, gear in gear, to destroy good and living things, devalue what is precious, overvalue what is worthless, foul up the results of millions of years of evolution, and so desecrate and frustrate what I believe is a sacred and ongoing work of the Creator, in us, among us, and through us.”
Used car lot on 82nd Ave.
Another used car lot on 82nd Ave.
Streets paved with gold
…social, political and economic machinery…
Beautiful sunrise off the right shoulder of Mt. Hood
What struck me about this image is the artificial ceiling of wires and how they manage to go un-noticed most of the time.
Fortress-like buildings line the busy thoroughfare
Construction in process for Portland’s North/South light-rail line along the I-205 corridor
Characteristic response to a river
“For the wind passes over it and it is gone, and its place shall know it no more.”
Anticipated housing project on Mt. Hood (approximately 2022)
I feel great sadness at some of these changes in our environment, yet, I can also recognize some great beauty in the photos you have taken of them.
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