Newsletter 173
20/05/19
Gaia Strategy
Hello
Friends
Recently I put a post on Facebook that I had
successfully completed 5 months as a
vegetarian. Many people responded to that
post. It is almost as if collectively as a
species, we sense we are in danger.
In my
world there are red lights blinking:
-
South African National Parks allows the
Knysna Elephant to go extinct.
-
In
Kenya, the Mara river, backdrop to some
of the most dramatic wild life sequences
ever filmed, runs dry.
-
In
Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwean Government
continues with the sale of young, wild
elephants to China.
-
In
Botswana a management plan to fence off
migratory routes of wildlife is accepted
by the Botswanan Government.
-
Whales begin appearing dead on beaches
around the world, their stomachs filled
with plastic.
-
An
area larger than France becomes a
floating island of plastic in the
ocean.
Despite
Jane Goodall, Sir David Attenborough, George
Monbiot and
Paul Watson’s valiant efforts to make us
aware of our plight, we are doomed because
there are too many of us.
Human
beings have disobeyed a fundamental
ecological rule. If you do not live on a
sustainable basis with your resource, then
collapse of the system and consequential die
off is inevitable.
The
technological geniuses that brought us
computers and cell phones and aeroplanes and
flew us to the moon, are not trained in
sustainability. They live in mega cities,
detached from nature.
The
leaders of the World, the Politicians and
CEO’s of Multinational Companies who impact
the planet, are skilled at negotiating. They
live in a world of balance sheets, cash
flows and spread sheets. They are
ignorant of the natural ecosystems
sustaining the planet.
Jane
Goodall spent her early years studying wild
dogs in the Serengeti before moving onto
primates at Gombe Stream.
Sir David
Attenborough has spent his life travelling
the globe making wildlife movies.
Paul
Watson has spent a lifetime close to the
ocean, going up against the Japanese whaling
ships.
George
Monbiot, a journalist with the Mail and
Guardian, probably has a better grip on
where the planet is heading than any other
human being on earth.
All
four of these dedicated
individuals have an acute understanding of
the natural world and how it operates. They
understand implicitly that human beings have
to live on a sustainable basis with planet
earth. However they are powerless to
communicate to the “mega city mentality” of
the impending disaster, because the
“mega city mentality” doesn’t relate to the
natural world. It relates to profit, greed
and politics. It gets its food from the
supermarket and its fuel from the gas pump.
It relates to the cost of living in the mega
city.
My band
live in an area where the leopards kill
their goats, the elephants trample their
crops and the crocodiles attack them when
they go to the river.
Seven
out of ten unmarried girls at the age of 20,
already have a child and draw R400 per month
per child from the government.
My Band
has never heard of Jane Goodall, David
Attenborough, George Monbiot or Paul Watson. In fact my Band
don’t even know that Gorillas,
Chimpanzees or Whales exist.
The
Band concern themselves daily on where to
get food and water. How to get a job, how to
stay safe and how to stay alive, (Malaria,
HIV Aids, Tuberculosis are the big killers)
and in the case of the girls, where to find
a husband.
The
world's population is approaching 8 billion,
it is projected to reach 10 billion by 2050.
It does not take rocket science to work out
that human beings cannot turn this around.
The human population is already too high.
Therefore how will Gaia take control, this
is the burning question!
My
first instinct is she will use microbial
diseases that can move rapidly across the
planet. She has at her disposal the
following:
-
Dengue Fever. It's a
viral
infection spread by being bitten by an
infected mosquito. The symptoms include
muscle pain, internal hemorrhaging and
fever as high as 41 C. It calls for
immediate treatment else the platelets
will be destroyed which will cause them
to bleed into the body's cavities.
-
Ebola Virus.
Up to 70%
of the infected people will die. It
spreads through bodily fluids. The
white blood cells are ruptured resulting
in internal bleeding and bleeding
through nose, eyes, rectum and ears. It
ultimately leads to death.
-
Bubonic Plague. It is caused by the
bacterium
Yersinia pestis which enters the body
through the bite of an infected flea
that causes the growth of inflamed
pustules called buboes. Other than
vomiting blood and seizures, victims
also experience necrosis, a condition
where the limbs begin to rot while the
patient is alive. If untreated 60%
of patients will die.
-
Enterovirus D 68. A potentially deadly respiratory
viral
disease that spreads through saliva and
surfaces like doorknobs and towels.
-
Cholera. This disease causes severe
dehydration, vomiting and diarrhea. The
bacteria
attacks the small intestine resulting in
a loss of 1 litre of fluid every hour
due to diarrhea. It can also cause the
blood to thicken which leads to organ
failure and death.
-
MRSA. Caused by a drug resistant super
bacterium,
it destroys blood vessels and lung
tissue. The bug locates bacterial entry
points such as surgical wounds. It makes
its way to the lungs through the
bloodstream, causing the lungs to rot.
Victims experience pneumonia and later
asphyxiation causes organ failure and
death.
-
Chagas Disease. Caused by the blood
sucking 'Kissing Bug' that bites the
victims around the mouth while they
sleep, transmitting a deadly
parasite
into the bloodstream. It then attacks
and destroys the cardiovascular system.
Victims usually do not realize and
suffer from cardiac arrests that are
fatal if not given immediate
resuscitation.
-
Meningococcal Disease. It's the most
common cause of
bacterial
meningitis. It attacks the brains
membranes by gaining passage through the
bloodstream. Within 24 hours victims
experience headache, a purple rash and
an aversion to light. If not treated
immediately, the lungs fill up with
fluid and gangrene is triggered
throughout the body.
-
Necrotizing Fasciitis. It's an invasive
bacterial
infection that attacks the body's
tissue. It's generally found in hospital
patients with an open wound, but it can
also infect people with paper cuts. Once
inside the wound, the bacteria releases
toxins that rot the body tissues.
Amputation is the only way to stop the
bacteria from spreading. Still, one in
three patients are not able to make it
out alive.
However
I believe, Gaia's Strategy may come in the form of food
supply. I have used Cape Town as a case
study. Cape Town is already struggling with
water supply.
To the
South of Cape Town is the ocean, rich is
fish stocks. However these fish stocks are
rapidly depleting through mismanagement,
illegal fishing and foreign countries
stealing the fish.
To the
east of Cape Town, to Knysna lies huge
monocultures of wheat. Gaia has only to
increase the temperature of the Planet
slightly and the wheat crop will be
scorched. A huge area will be rendered
unproductive.
Large
areas of fynbos, whereas they are scenically
beautiful, do not provide food.
As you
approach George and Knysna, exotic forests
appear. Those have replaced the once famous
Knysna Forest which used to support a
population of elephants. These exotic
forests provide no food.
As you
travel north from Cape Town, you travel
through grape vines. This is the home of
wine in South Africa. Apart from the few
table grapes that are grown, the wine
industry does not provide food either.
Travelling north to Beauford West, the
landscape, overgrazed by sheep, has no
reached zero productivity. An area which
once supported in excess of 200 million
springbuck, now lies lifeless and
unproductive.
To be
successful in a low rainfall system you have
to allow the animals to move. Mobility is
the key to following the rain and finding
the new grass.
Once
the South African Government gave title to
the farmers, they sealed the fate of the
Great Karoo.
Contrary to popular belief it is wire fences
and not guns (guns played a huge role as
well) that destroyed the biggest volume of
animals the world has ever known.
Ironically Kenya and Tanzania are making the
exact mistake that South Africa made. With
wire fences they are restricting the
mobility of the great bearded wildebeest
herds which migrated annually from the
Serengeti to the Masai Mara. This
population of 1.4 million wildebeest has
reputedly declined to 160,000.
Incredibly the New Botswanan President is
embarking on a management plan which will
fence off migratory routes of wildlife. (The
inability of human beings to learn from
history and to learn from mistakes made, is
a glaring weakness and will count heavily
against the human species in its attempt to
survive in the future)
So
where does Cape Town get its food from? The
answer is it comes down the N1 in large
diesel trucks. (The railway system has
apparently failed). Therefore the majority
of Cape Town’s food comes from other
provinces.
The
problem with this is two or three times a
year the South African Government increases
the price of diesel.
A
shopping trip to a supermarket ten years ago
which would have cost R800, now cost R4000. For
the masses as the fuel goes up, so does the
cost of food.
Therefore any biologist, economist,
agronomist or ecologist worth their salt,
would study the Cape Town model and come to
the conclusion that the food supply to Cape
Town is not sustainable.
In the
future Cape Town will run out of water and
it will run out of food. I am suggesting
that Cape Town is an example of every big
city in the world, which will eventually suffer
the same fate.
Before
the elections, I wrote a letter to the head
of the DA, Mmusi Maimane, suggesting that if he
wants to win more votes, he should turn Cape
Town into an environmentally model city.
(Nine people responded to my post).
So at
the risk of being a gramophone record, this
is what Cape Town and indeed every big city
in the world needs to do to ensure its food
supply
-
Every new building built in Cape Town
must have a flat roof
-
Every new building must be powered by
solar power.
-
Every building must have a water tank at
each corner or more, trapping the
drinking water. (Israel are experts.)
-
The DA must now incentivise every flat
roof owner to grow his own food on the
roof (China are experts)
-
The water that is trapped in the water
tanks, circulates via a solar pump
through the walls of the building,
heating or cooling the building. (San
Francisco are experts)
-
The same water trapped in the water
tanks, waters the food on the roof
-
Markets are subsidized so that
people can barter their food. In other
words take the super markets out of the
game.
-
The DA must create a law which subsides
the introduction of electrical and solar
driven motor cars. Within 10 years,
Diesel and Petrol cars should not be
allowed in Cape Town. (European
countries are doing it)
-
The DA should immediately appoint a high
level delegation to visit China, Chile,
the Netherlands, Israel, Costa Rica,
Norway, Germany and especially Bhutan.
By the next elections,
DA has a model city which it can export
around the world. Its credibility starts
to rise and the voters begin to
increase. Now they can realistically
challenge the ANC who are stuck on
expropriating the land (except there is
no one who knows how to use it)
corruption and infighting.
In June, JV and The
Wildlife Warrior Band will play a
tribute concert to the male lion Skye,
killed in Umbabat one year ago and a
second concert to celebrate the
announcement of the Transfrontier Park,
3x bigger than Kruger National Park.
Dates and venues will be advised.
Tread Lightly on the
Earth
JV
Global Environmental Activist
To book
Tiger safaris, Big cat safaris, JV the Campfire
Singer or the Tiger Band
www.johnvarty.com
+27 (0)82 892 4680; +27 (0)83 651 1600
info@jvbigcats.co.za
