One Day On Earth, 10.10.10 And
Global Avoidable Mortality Holocaust
By Dr Gideon Polya
08 October, 2010
Countercurrents.org
Sunday 10.10.10 is being marked around the World as One Day on Earth to consider global realities. The organizers state “On October 10, 2010 (10.10.10), across the planet, documentary filmmakers, students, and inspired citizens will record the human experience over a 24-hour period and contribute their voice to the largest participatory media event in history. Founded in 2008, One Day on Earth is creating an online community, shared archive, and film. Together, we will showcase the amazing diversity, conflict, tragedy, and triumph that occur in one day. We invite you to join our international community of thousands of filmmakers, hundreds of schools, and dozens of non-profits, and contribute to this unique global mosaic. Through the One Day on Earth platform, we will establish a community that not only watches, but participates” (see: http://www.onedayonearth.org/ ).
According to organizers “One Day on Earth is committed to nurturing a supportive, vibrant, tolerant, and creative community. We hope to be as open as possible and allow you to celebrate your personal perspectives freely. It is exciting and revolutionary to be able to share perspectives of such quality with people across the world in one place.” However they object to any “political” contribution stating “[Do not] proselytize your religion or political agenda through messages or comments to people you don't know. They may find this offensive” (see: http://www.onedayonearth.org/page/participate-1 ).
The laudable organization 350.org is a participant. This US-based organization wants humanity to return atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration to 350 parts per million (ppm) from the current dangerous and damaging level of 392 ppm. However 350.org's position has been overtaken by scientific research – many top scientists now say that the target should be about 300 ppm (for a detailed compendium of such expert opinions see “300.org – return atmosphere CO2 to 300 ppm” c/- 300.org: https://sites.google.com/site/300orgsite/300-org---return-atmosphere-co2-to-300-ppm ).
350.org states: “On 10.10.10, we will celebrate the biggest day of practical action to cut carbon that the world has ever seen. Together, in thousands of communities around the world, we will get to work on projects that will build our clean energy future. But we won't stop there--we'll be using the day to pressure our leaders to get to work themselves by passing strong climate policies promoting clean energy and reducing emission.” (see: http://www.onedayonearth.org/page/350org-1 ).
My personal contribution to the 10.10.10 event has been to put up more than 100 posters in Melbourne setting out the number of people dying avoidably each day from deprivation (60,000), the number of people expected to die daily on average in the 21st century if man-made climate change is not addressed (270,000) and what we can and must do to stop climate catastrophe (reduce atmospheric CO2 concentration to 300 ppm ASAP). Thus I have also sent versions of the following letter to Australian and other media with the same humane message.
“Dear Sir/Madam,
Sunday 10.10.10 is being marked as One Day on Earth to consider global realities. In Victoria , Australia , climate activists will protest Hazelwood, the most polluting power station in the World's worst per capita greenhouse gas (GHG) polluting country.
In One Day on Earth now at an average surface temperature 0.8C above that in 1900, 60,000 people will die avoidably from deprivation, 770 Afghan infants will die from war-imposed deprivation, 27 Australians will die from fossil fuel burning pollutants, 25 Indigenous Australians will die avoidably from deprivation and 1 Australian will die linked to US restoration of the Taliban-destroyed Afghan opium industry.
Unfortunately it will get worse and estimates by top climate scientists of deaths due to unaddressed man-made climate change mean a 21st century average of 270,000 avoidable deaths daily.
We can and must reduce atmospheric CO 2 concentration to 300 ppm from the current 392 ppm, stop mass species extinction (now 100-1000 times above normal), rapidly cease population growth and GHG pollution (from industry, agriculture and deforestation), implement huge re-afforestation and biochar (charcoal) production and install 100% renewable energy for Australia by 2020 as set out by the Beyond Zero Emissions (BZE) Zero Carbon Australia by 2020 (ZCA2020) Plan.
Yours sincerely,
Dr Gideon Polya”.
Another set of statistical snapshots is of “avoidable deaths from deprivation” on the 10.10.10 One Day on Earth in various Territories around the World occupied and/or bombed by the US and/or its surrogates and which can be readily provided from UNICEF infant mortality data (see: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/index.html ), noting that for impoverished countries avoidable deaths from deprivation are about 1.4 times the under-5 year old infant deaths (see: https://sites.google.com/site/iraqgenocideessays/layperson-s-guide-to-counting-iraq-deaths ).
“Avoidable deaths from deprivation” on the 10.10.10 One Day on Earth are thus estimated to be 1,190 (Occupied Afghanistan), 74 (Occupied Haiti), 156 (Occupied Iraq), 16 ( Occupied Palestinian Territory ), 1,780 (US bombed Pakistan ), and 290 (Occupied Somalia). Clearly things would improve if the US and US-backed occupying and war-making forces withdrew and ceased active and passive mass murder in these sorely afflicted countries.
However there is a wider, ongoing Global Avoidable Mortality Holocaust occurring on Spaceship Earth with the one World superpower the US in charge of the flight deck. The 1950-2005 avoidable mortality totalled 1.3 billion for the World, 1.2 billion for the non-European World and 0.6 billion for the Muslim World (see my book “Body Count. Global avoidable mortality since 1950”: http://globalavoidablemortality.blogspot.com/2008/08/body-count-global-avoidable-mortality.html ).
“Avoidable deaths from deprivation” on the 10.10.10 One Day on Earth are estimated to be 7,000 ( India ), 700 ( Bangladesh ) and 4,100 ( Nigeria ) (from the latest UNICEF data: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/index.html ) and 51,000 (.for the least developed world excluding China ; UN Population Division data: http://esa.un.org/unpp/index.asp?panel=1 ).
However the worsening climate emergency due to Man's greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution threatens to hugely increase the magnitude of this Global Avoidable Mortality Holocaust. Both Dr James Lovelock FRS (Gaia hypothesis; atmospheric gas analysis) and Professor Kevin Anderson ( Director, Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Manchester, UK) have recently estimated that fewer than 1 billion people will survive this century due to unaddressed, man-made global warming – noting that the world population is expected to reach 9.5 billion by 2050, these estimates translate to a climate genocide involving deaths of about 10 billion people this century (a daily average of 270,000 avoidable deaths), this including 6 billion under-5 year old infants, 3 billion Muslims in a terminal Muslim Holocaust, 2 billion Indians, 1.3 billion non-Arab Africans, 0.5 billion Bengalis, 0.3 billion Pakistanis and 0.3 billion Bangladeshis (see “Climate Genocide”: https://sites.google.com/site/climategenocide/ ).
One can easily become immobilized by pessimism over the condition of the World. However as long there is life there is hope. Thus top US climate scientist Dr James Hansen (head of NASA's Goddard Institute for Spaces Studies and an adjunct professor at 76-Nobel-Laureate Columbia University) was asked before the 2009 Copenhagen Climate Summit “Is there any real chance of averting the climate crisis?”. Dr Hansen's reply was “Absolutely. It is possible – if we give politicians a cold, hard slap in the face. The fraudulence of the Copenhagen approach – "goals" for emission reductions, "offsets" that render ironclad goals almost meaningless, the ineffectual "cap-and-trade" mechanism – must be exposed. We must rebel against such politics as usual. Science reveals that climate is close to tipping points. It is a dead certainty that continued high emissions will create a chaotic dynamic situation for young people, with deteriorating climate conditions out of their control. Science also reveals what is needed to stabilise atmospheric composition and climate. Geophysical data on the carbon amounts in oil, gas and coal show that the problem is solvable, if we phase out global coal emissions within 20 years and prohibit emissions from unconventional fossil fuels such as tar sands and oil shale” (see UK Guardian, November 2009: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/nov/29/copenhagen-summit-climate-change ).
Dr Hansen is correct – the disaster does not have to happen. Cessation of greenhouse gas pollution and population growth, installation of 100% renewable energy and CO2 draw-down through re-afforestation and biochar production can return the atmospheric CO2 concentration to a safe and sustainable level of 300 ppm for all peoples and all species (see 300.org: https://sites.google.com/site/300orgsite/ ). The recently launched Beyond Zero Emissions (BZE) Zero Carbon Australia by 2020 (ZCA2020) Plan shows how well-endowed Australia can implement 100% renewable energy by 2020 and has received many important scientific, industrial and broad spectrum political endorsements (see: http://beyondzeroemissions.org/about/bze-brand ). Perhaps these horrifying daily avoidable mortality statistics will help prompt collective action to avert disaster. Please tell everyone you can.
Dr Gideon Polya currently teaches science students at a major Australian university. He published some 130 works in a 5 decade scientific career, most recently a huge pharmacological reference text "Biochemical Targets of Plant Bioactive Compounds" (CRC Press/Taylor & Francis, New York & London , 2003). He has recently published “Body Count. Global avoidable mortality since 1950” (G.M. Polya, Melbourne, 2007: http://globalbodycount.blogspot.com/ ); see also his contribution “Australian complicity in Iraq mass mortality” in “Lies, Deep Fries & Statistics” (edited by Robyn Williams, ABC Books, Sydney, 2007): http://www.abc.net.au/rn/science/ockham/stories/s1445960.htm ). He has just published a revised and updated 2008 version of his 1998 book “Jane Austen and the Black Hole of British History” (see: http://janeaustenand.blogspot.com/ ) as biofuel-, globalization- and climate-driven global food price increases threaten a greater famine catastrophe than the man-made famine in British-ruled India that killed 6-7 million Indians in the “forgotten” World War 2 Bengal Famine (see recent BBC broadcast involving Dr Polya, Economics Nobel Laureate Professor Amartya Sen and others: http://www.open2.net/thingsweforgot/
bengalfamine_programme.html ). When words fail one can say it in pictures - for images of Gideon Polya's huge paintings for the Planet, Peace, Mother and Child see: http://sites.google.com/site/artforpeaceplanetmotherchild/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/gideonpolya/ .
