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Final Autumn- Climate Catastrophe And Its Spiritual Dimensions – Part 1

Betty J Dabney, Ph.D.

Introduction

The following scenario and characters are fictional, but similar events could happen where you live:

October 26, 2065 dawned just like any other day for Wang Liu-Wen. He awoke in his small apartment on the fifth floor of a prestigious building in a coastal city by the sea. His wife, Shia-Wei, was still asleep at his side but was beginning to stir.

Liu-Wen considered himself lucky to be in this building. While it didn’t have the panoramic view of those higher in the mountains, it did have the convenience of being right on the harbor. This saved him at least half an hour in his morning and evening commute in his luxury automobile to his job as a supervisor in a software company. He could have taken mass transit, but that would not be fitting for a man of his prestige.

Slowly Liu-Wen got out of bed and reminded Shia-Wei of their dinner party that night. She had ordered special food for it, as well as fresh flowers to decorate their dining room.

Liu-Wen dressed quickly, for there was an important meeting at work with several international vicepresidents who had flown in for the occasion. They could have had a virtual meeting on-line, but these executives liked to fly to Hong Kong for the food and night life.

Always at the cutting edge of technology, Lie-Wen started his car remotely as he drank the last sip of tea and programmed it to drive itself from the parking place in the garage to the front door of the building. The car was waiting for him by the time he arrived downstairs.

Driving along the harbor to his office, Liu-Wen noticed something strange. There was a small leak in the retaining wall that had been built around the harbor to offset the rising sea level. He could see the water trickling down from one spot in the middle of the wall. Many other cities had taken this approach of walling themselves off from the ocean rather than move inland: New York, London, Singapore, and Kuala Lumpur. The engineers assured them it would be less expensive than moving and re-building the cities inland at higher elevations.

Quickly checking his portable data center on his wrist for real-time sea level in Hong Kong, he saw something alarming: over the past week the sea level had begun to rise even faster than its usual one centimeter per year. Something was happening that had not been anticipated. He looked at the data for other locations in the world; whatever was happening here was also going on in other parts of the world. He was gripped with a fear that scientists had been warning: it was as if all the polar ice had reached a tipping point and melted at once, in the space of a few days.

He looked at the real-time satellite image of Greenland and saw no ice, no snow. Moving his view to the Alps, then the Himalayas, he saw a similar picture: all the snow cover and glaciers were gone. All of them.

“It will be alright,” thought Liu-Wen. “We will have time to react. It won’t take long to build another level on the sea wall.”

The meeting went well, but Liu-Wen kept thinking about what he had seen. He tried to persuade his colleagues to turn the loss of ice and rising sea level into a new business opportunity. At the end of the meeting, Shia-Wei called.

“There is no food, Liu-Wen.”

Liu-Wen was incredulous. “What do you mean, no food?”

“The droughts in China and South America caused crop failures and the grocery cannot get the food we ordered for our dinner party. I checked with other stores in the on-line inventory – it’s the same everywhere. What are we going to do?”

Liu-Wen couldn’t answer. Instead, he stared at the wall of his office and realized that the predictions of the past fifty years were coming true. Then, as he drove home past the sea wall it collapsed. The water came and swept him away.

And, unbeknownst to Liu-Wen, at that moment the last polar bear died.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

If Rachel Carson were alive today, fifty-three years after the publication of her seminal book Silent Spring, she might have written this as an introduction to its sequel. Now instead of mass extinction of birds all life on earth is in peril. The mass of humanity on the earth and its never-ending greed for consumption of material goods made from non-renewable resources has exceeded the capacity of the earth to support the life on it.

“Final Autumn” is the new Silent Spring. Each of us has a moral obligation to understand what is happening to the earth and to take personal action to prevent this apocalypse from becoming reality. In this article you will learn about the current and predicted effects of Climate Change around the world and how our reaction can be part of a spiritual practice. Whether they affect you directly or not at the present, it is just a matter of time before they might. We cannot continue with “Business as Usual” or the earth will not be able to support life as we know it within two generations, about fifty years.

What Is Climate Change?

Climate Change, which was formerly called Global Warming, is the unprecedented increase in the earth’s temperature that has been occurring since the Industrial Revolution over the past 100 years or so. While weather refers to acute (short-term) atmospheric events that occur over a period of days to months, climate is measured in decades.

Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project lists ten key indicators of Climate Change:

  • Increasing air temperatures over land;
  • Increasing air temperatures over oceans;
  • Decreasing Arctic sea ice;
  • Melting glaciers;
  • Rising sea levels;
  • Increasing humidity;
  • Increasing ocean heat content;
  • Increasing sea surface temperatures;
  • Decreasing snow cover;
  • Increasing temperature in the lower atmosphere.

What is causing this unprecedented warming of the earth? As shown in Figure 1, there has been a close association with concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and the surface temperature of the earth for the entire historical record of 400,000 years. Recently both have risen dramatically, and most of this increase can be attributed to burning fossil fuels (coal, oil, gasoline, and natural gas). Indeed, the correlation between CO2 and global temperature for the entire historical record is remarkable. Other gases such as methane and oxides of nitrogen (the latter also products of fossil fuel combustion) can contribute as well, but the greatest contributor is CO2.

Carbon dioxide occurs naturally and normally in the atmosphere. Our bodies and all animals produce it with every breath from the metabolism of our food. Plants use it in a reverse pathway called photosynthesis to convert CO2 into organic carbon-based compounds. Thus plants and animals complement each other in their needs and exist in a beautiful mutually beneficial relationship. But when the concentration of CO2 becomes too high the equilibrium is thrown off. Indeed, at very high concentrations (above ca. 10% or 100,000 ppm), CO2 is an asphyxiant and can cause death by displacing oxygen.

In May 2014 the concentration of atmospheric CO2 reached an all-time high of 400 parts per million (ppm), and it is still climbing steadily. There is some agreement that 350 ppm is the highest level that will not cause irreversible harm. We are already past that point, and the CO2 is now rising exponentially – that is to say the rate of increase itself is increasing. This concentration has never occurred in the historical record of 400,000 years determined from analyzing CO2 concentrations in trapped air bubbles of very old Antarctic ice. Indeed, climatologists have gone back to the drawing board to develop new models because the rate of change is ten times faster than previously thought. Ten times faster. 

How do these gases make the earth heat up? They act as blankets in the earth’s atmosphere and trap the heat radiated by the earth. Figure 2 shows this in a simplified way.

At the present time 99 percent of climate scientists agree that the rise in global temperature is real and is anthropogenic (man-made). They believe if the temperature rises more than 2o C from where it was in 1970 and/or if the CO2 is higher than 350 ppm, the earth is in danger of reaching a “tipping point” where the changes may be irreversible. The historic upcoming 21th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21/CMP11 “Paris 2015” November 30th to December 11th has set a goal for the 193 member countries. It is to reduce global CO2 emissions by at least 60% below 2010 levels by 2050. However, some scientists (including this one) feel this goal is too little, too late.

In spite of the overwhelming evidence for Climate Change, there is still a great deal of resistance to change on the part of both governments and individuals. They just don’t seem to grasp that life as we know it hangs in the balance. We need a new terminology to describe what is occurring with Climate Change. Scientists have recently begun to use the term Climate Crisis, but that may not sufficiently convey the urgency of the situation. Therefore I propose the name Climate Catastrophe to describe what is happening around the earth now as a result of anthropogenic activity. Viewing the situation as a catastrophe in the present rather than a vague goal many years off may be enough to motivate many people to change their behavior and make a difference.

 

What Are the Effects of Climate Catastrophe and Why Should We Be Worried?

 Within the space of two generations (ca. 50 years), Climate Catastrophe will affect every aspect of life as we know it. In some cases it already has. For the sake of simplicity, we will discuss these effects on the classical elements of Earth, Air, Fire and Water.

  • Earth

There will be dramatic changes in the food supply. Partly because the practice of monoculture has led to depletion of nutrients in the soil, partly because the inexorable creep of warmth toward the more temperate latitudes will require traditional crops either to adapt to heat or grow in higher latitudes/altitudes. Not all crops will be able to adapt. We will see total crop failures and severe famine with increasing frequency and perhaps extinctions of some crops altogether. Severe drought (see discussion under “Water”) will become commonplace.

As food shortages develop in the local and global markets, there will be increasing competition for the limited supply. A joint US-British Task Force on Extreme Weather and Global Food System Resilience recently concluded that global food shortages will be three times more likely because of Climate Change. Events that were previously occurring once a century are now predicted to occur every 30 years. Food riots and armed conflicts over food will occur. As in every situation of limited resources, prices will skyrocket and the poor will be left behind, perhaps to the point of not being able to buy, find, or grow enough food to survive. As food becomes more and more scarce, more and more people will become marginalized and more famines will occur.

Humanity will need to change the way it eats and become vegetarian or even vegan, because of the great quantities of water required to raise meat in comparison to vegetables, and water is in critical shortage (See Section on “Water” below). Figure 3 shows some examples of the cost in water of different kinds of foods. It is evident that all foods from animals require more water kilogram-for-kilogram than plant-based foods. This is simply because animals grown for food traditionally eat plant-based diets but must further convert the plants into meat and fat.

It would be more efficient if people eliminated the animals and ate plants directly.

Perhaps a more pertinent comparison would be the amount of water required to produce different foods normalized to total caloric value, protein and fat. In Table 1 we can see that animal-based foods still require more water than most plant-based diets, with beef being the highest consumer of all. Exceptions are fruits and nuts, which are less efficient than beef for using water to make protein but are still more efficient for overall calories. Vegetables in general require only one-fourth to one-seventh as much water per gram of protein, the most critical component because protein deficiency is the most common type of malnutrition worldwide. Thus a worldwide food catastrophe will be part of Climate Catastrophe. Indeed, some parts of the world are already affected.

In its never-ending demand for more material goods and an unhealthy Western diet that accompanies economic development, people are destroying habitats at an unprecedented rate. Rain forests are cleared to make room for raising beef cattle and palm oil plantations, and are no longer available to sequester CO2. Palm oil plantations threaten the survival of endangered orangutans. Oil-producing plants are the most efficient at trapping CO2 because oil has twice as many calories per gram as carbohydrate or protein. Oil-producing plants would be more valuable to the planet if they were allowed to grow unmolested to suck up CO2.

Besides extinction of some crops, there will be mass extinctions of wildlife in those species that cannot adapt to warming or find new habitats. This socalled “Sixth Great Extinction” has been described by Elizabeth Kolbert in her book The Sixth Extinction, winner of the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for General Non- Fiction in the US. While species extinctions and emergence of new species are constantly occurring, the earth is entering an era where the rate of extinctions may be 100 – 1,000 times higher than usual. Scientists are concerned about the Sixth Extinction because it is largely anthropogenic.

While the actual number of species is not known, one study estimated that 75 percent of vertebrates could be extinct within several lifetimes, and several thousand are becoming extinct every day. Some scientists have named this the Anthropocene geological era because the effects of humankind on species and topology are so large that they will alter the paleontological and geological records. Climate Catastrophe with its droughts, heat waves and storms makes species extinction worse, and Climate Catastrophe will occur faster with destruction of vegetation no longer available to sequester CO2.

We will also see different global distributions of diseases as the earth warms. Tropical diseases will creep toward formerly temperate climates and cover larger areas. New heat-resistant strains of infectious agents will appear as part of their adaptation and evolution. This is already evident for some diseases. For example, highly infectious bacterium Vibrio vulnificus from shellfish has been reported in more northerly areas for the first time. Harmful algae blooms (red tides) from massive infestations of algae will also become more frequent in higher latitudes in coastal areas.

Once begun, Climate Catastrophe and ecological destruction feed on each other like a dragon eating its tail. Because everything is connected and interdependent, when we deliberately destroy life of any kind we will ultimately destroy ourselves.

EM and health – in homes and buildings

From Dr Teruo Higa’s Speech

Effective Micro-organism (EM) was originally used in agriculture, especially when technology was being developed to replace chemical fertilisers and pesticides. During the development process, there were many discoveries and one outstanding finding was its ability to eliminate odour and make water clearer. Also, things would not rust or spoil easily.

In a very big barn in Hokkaido, it was observed that when EM was continually used, the cement actually returned to the look of fresh concrete. Even rust from reinforced steel was removed and the surface became bright and shiny. Rakes and some large equipment that were used in the barn regained their shine. Given these incidents, EM should be used broadly since materials can return to their original states. These were recurring incidents.

Antioxidant substances

I conducted some research on the substances that produce these results and discovered that there are no special substances in EM but just antioxidant ingredients. In simple terms, it is like saponin in Korean Ginseng, enzymes in papaya and polysaccharide in other herbs. EM has all these substances. Components of EM also include olizanol (a polysaccharide found in grains such as rice), inosedol and so on.

Various other mineral nutrients such as calcium, magnesium and manganese are presented in the form of chelated substances. These chelated substances are characterized by having an anti-oxidation effect while possessing catalytic actions. There are dozens of these chelates in EM.

In other aspects, in “DNA slices” there are microbial genetic components even though it may not be obvious on the surface. The genetic components feature ingredients that can repair biological genetic defects and restore them piece by piece.

As mentioned earlier, EM has a strong anti-corrosive effect. For example, stapler sometimes gets rusty. Spray on the stapler, wipe it back and forth and the stapler regains its original lustre.

Electromagnetic waves, radiations and waste gases

Whenever I feel uncomfortable with the surrounding environment, I would spray the area with EM. I notice that it could eliminate electrostatic. I sprayed EM on television and even the computer and found that EM could help me withstand harm from electromagnetic waves. I also sprayed EM on the refrigerator, gas stove, etc. I spray EM everywhere. Besides preventing rust, EM can effectively transform the environment to better energy.

It was also proven that EM can prevent harm from radiation. If there is radiation, just spray some EM.

The so-called radiation damage refers to the condition where the initially intact material deteriorates gradually. The reason for this damage is oxidation. The culprit which generates strong oxidative reaction is called “free radicals”. I later found that EM could quickly and effectively eliminate “free radicals”.

EM can be used in various ways. For example, various pesticides have been used in the past and almost all have accumulated in the soil. I sprayed the ground with EM in order to cultivate EM massively. The result was that all the pesticides disappeared without a trace after the first harvest.

Similar incidents also happened in Guam. To date, Japan still bans the use of pesticides like BHC and DDT. A company used huge quantity of these pesticides and received protests from the United States authorities that stressed that if the pesticides cannot decompose and the land is not cleaned up, the company would be penalised. The case dragged on for three years.

In the end, EM was used to remedy the condition. Since a considerable amount of herbicide was used on the land, there was a large quantity of dioxin residues. After using EM, not only did the dioxins disappear, BHC and DDT also decomposed completely. Therefore, EM technology can solve problems caused by dioxins and also break down formation of dioxins. Plastic products, when burned with other garbage in high temperature of 100°C to 500°C would produce hydrocarbons. When EM is added, the dioxins combusted completely above 100°C and no dioxin is produced.

The Unbelievable photosynthetic bacteria

The most important microorganism in EM is called photosynthetic bacteria. These incredible bacteria can generate energy and resist high heat. If the photosynthetic bacteria is mixed with clay and baked at 1000°C, crushed into powder to re-culture, then exposed to UV radiation, they could regenerate. The bacteria cannot be harmed by heat.

Typically, photosynthetic bacteria cannot survive alone. They must be combined with other bacteria. These bacteria can be found in any ditch, but photosynthetic bacteria have to choose which bacteria to bond with. If incompatible, it is impossible for the bacteria to bond.

For example, if methanogens (methane bacteria) or sulphate-reducing bacteria and photosynthetic bacteria are put together, photosynthetic bacteria would almost refuse to split until after the death of the other parties. Then they will continue to grow.

On the other hand, if the photosynthetic bacteria are isolated with lactic acid bacteria or yeasts, incredible proliferation occurs immediately. These are ubiquitous microorganisms and with successful pairing, can produce incredible phenomena and also possesses a wide range of functions.

Regeneration and degeneration

Degeneration of things in nature are caused by oxidation. It is possible to prevent or inhibit oxidation (antioxidation). When anti-oxidation reaches a certain intensity, things will move towards the direction of regeneration. So regeneration and degeneration is dependent on oxidation and anti-oxidation.

Many micro-organisms already have such determining factors. Harmful micro-organisms, such as escherichia coli have strong oxidizing microbial enzymes that can momentarily induce molecules toward destruction.

However, microbes such as photosynthetic bacteria, lactic acid bacteria or natto bacteria can enhance antioxidant power. As substances are induced into the state of regeneration, energy is absorbed swiftly and thus healthy state is restored. Similar explanations may be applied to all lives that exist in the nature.

In Aichi Prefecture, there is a communal vegetable garden that uses EM. Many people shared that their body’s pains was eliminated by just going to that vegetable garden. I, myself, also find it hard to believe.

Eliminating pathogens in the house

I have been wondering if there is any way to utilise EM in civil engineering and architecture. EM has a strong deodorizing ability. Not only can EM remove the smell of urine and faeces, it can also eradicate the smell of chemical substances.

Odour from chemicals is caused by strong oxidation. To prevent mould, ticks, etc. that may cause skin allergy, EM was sprayed indoors continuously. The result is that not only fungi and ticks have disappeared, severe asthma and atopic dermatitis conditions of residents have also vanished.

Today, there are so-called pathogenic or ‘’sick’’ houses. There are claims that inhaling the paint of new building materials or adhesive agents of such houses may cause new occupants to be sick.

To solve the problems of these coatings, raise the EM concentration to about 500 times and keep spraying the rooms. We discovered that since the first day of spraying, odours such as formalin that were emitting from the building materials have disappeared.

Research shows that EM has a very active interface. After using EM, the binding of water molecules simplify and becomes easy to separate. This is why EM has a very effective waterproof function.

 

Use EM to construct a house

The first thing to do when building a house is to transform the bottom layer of the land into healing ground. It was mentioned before that when EM is used continually, the people who work in the fields would become very healthy. So the first step is to start with the land.

In order to have strong activation of EM, spray large quantity of EM around building compound. In Nishiogikubo, Tokyo, an EM building that has a basement and three floors was built. Power consumption in this building is reduced by about 30% a month. There is no smell of paint and other coatings. The concrete surface looks very smooth and does not need special processing.

EM is also used to prevent termites and corrosion of building materials and to treat recycled water. In the termite’s belly, there is an enzyme called lignin. When EM is used, the termites die from diarrhea. So, it is more effective to use EM instead of pesticides.

The same goes for water treatment of the house. Installing more storage tanks is pointless. Even after the dry season is over, the quantity of rainwater stored is still limited, so even if the storage tank is filled with water, it has limited use. The solution is to design a system that can recycle the stored water hundreds and thousands of times.

If this recycled water is used to wash cars, it stops corrosion, saves petrol and prevents static electricity, etc. These are testimonies we frequently hear from the Gushikawa City Library, Okinawa, Japan.

If one dares not drink this recycled water, the water could be used repeatedly for laundry, shower or flushing the toilet. If this water is not enough, rainwater can also be recycled. With the above application, the whole house will be at a high antioxidant state.

 

Reducing power consumption

In Hiroshima, someone did a complete implementation of this recycling system. The electricity usage decreased by 55% and the owner was suspected of manipulating the meter box. Evidence from electricity bills for the past 3 years showed the difference. Comparing the latest bills with those from the two previous years, the bill amount had dropped after using the system.

 

The shaving blade experiment

I would like to invite you to do a validation experiment. Generally hotels provide cheap razors. Please shave with this razor. After shaving, spray the blade with EM. Shave again the next day, and then spray the EM again. Repeat continually. After a month, you will find the blade to be much sharper than it was at the beginning. EM will also sharpen the farm equipment whatever material the farm utensils are made of. One of the reasons is due to gravity wave resonance.

Usually, when material degenerates, energy or light is generated. In the case of EM, we see the phenomenon that energy is being accumulated and this energy restores the material to the normal or even enhanced state. For example, after using a new razor blade, if we immerse it in EM and observe, we find that immediately after use, the blade is slightly dented. The next day, when we look at it under microscope, the blade has recovered to its original state. Our research reveals that compared to the initial measurements, the mass and energy have both increased. The blade was sharper than a week or a month ago. I often bring home cheap razors from hotels. They could be used for almost two months. It really makes a difference. For those who do not believe this, try it!

 

How to create and maintain conditions for anti-oxidation?

Here are a few examples: if there is a potted plant in the house, add about 10 EM ceramic beads into the pot and the indoor air turns fresh and pleasant. If the ceramic beads are placed in the air conditioner outlet or inside the air conditioner, the effect is just as impressive.

Whether it is furniture or interior decoration, EM has a rejuvenation effect for highly-sensitive humans. It can also regenerate all objects. So, when EM combines well with the environment, humans can prolong their lives.

 

Accumulate virtue to receive good fruit

Many things after accumulating to a certain level will on a whole elevate to a higher level. A boat will rise when the water level increases.

All bad things, if done continuously, result in a strong “oxidising” or corrosive environment and the so-called vicious cycle will occur. The same applies to human willpower.

When the cycle becomes good, all the good things will become better, forming a virtuous cycle. The so-called “good fruit” was originally a religious term. When we continually induce virtue, everything will accumulate and lead to a virtuous cycle.

And this EM technology is viewed as a future-oriented “good fruit” technology.

The use of EM technology can contribute to society as well as benefit ourselves. When we contribute to others, it is not to expect their gratitude but to do good and to accumulate hidden merit. This is why I promoted EM via public welfare activities. Now, I uphold the spirit of promoting EM as creating hidden merit.

“Hidden” merit means not expecting anything in return and seeking only to benefit others. Do more good deeds and blessings will follow. But when we expect returns, all merits will vanish.

A thorough application of EM technology will benefit individuals, families, the people and environment. So we treat EM technology as the common property of all mankind. In using EM research institutions as a hub to guide the world with EM-related technologies, we hope that everyone can join this activity in transforming our living space and also benefit from using EM. This will further enhance our living environment. Thank You.

 

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of Lapis Lazuli Light.

 

The above is an edited translated extract of the Chinese article published in May 2013 issue of Lapis magazine and is accessible online at: http://www.lapislazuli.org/tw/index.php?p=20130503.html