Invasion

When it comes to war we unite, a common goal common enemy.  Any and all countries rally their troops home in victory,  just look at WWII the whole planet was involved.  Now take this same involvement of all people of the world where we had the same common goal to win against an aggressor, what do you think would happen? That's right Pod, we would come together from every flag that flies on this planet.

Survival is nature's greatest instinct in everything that walks, crawls, slithers, swims, flies and grows.  A bond of all organisms on this planet but only kicks in at the darkest monument.  If we could only tap into this mood when all around is at peace and still strive to unite for the common good, wonder if we could pull it off?  A lot of aggression going on right now but I guess it's not threatening our survival, or is it?

I remember a soldier telling a story (Captain Jack Tueller) of a sniper who had everyone pinned down.  That night he played his trumpet, not for the morale of his troops but a love song from German music.  A single fire was not shot that night.  Come morning a jeep approached the town with a prisoner on board, the driver of the jeep asked, does anyone know who was blowing that trumpet last night? My German prisoner here would like to know.  Captain Tueller step forward and the two shook hands after the German soldier described to him that by playing that song it made him think of  home, where he could not fire his weapon anymore. Captain Tueller described that this man was not the enemy, he was just like me, alone, scared and just wanted to go home.

So look at these two, not knowing one another but ready to kill one another and what stopped it?  A common place, we all feel the same.  What separates us is greed, opinions, religion, color, sex and power.  Strip this away from a human and you'll have a person just like you, someone who loves home.

There is an invasion going on and it's pissing a lot of people off,  all over the world.  What will it take?  A trumpet player?  Something to share, a feeling?  Or will it be balls to the wall!  With ourselves or something else?

5233484   
           


Invasion  MPB 

Mountain Pine Beetle

This little bugger is in over-drive, the Mountain Pine Beetle (MPB). About the size of a grain of rice has affected over 40 million acres in British Columbia and parts of Alberta. This is by far the largest insect outbreak in Northern Forest history. The US Forest is also being hit, this outbreak is ten times larger than previous outbreaks. There is nothing to stop this little giant, the cause? Well you know Climate Change, yes with the rise in temps and droughts the MPB is thriving on weakening pines and the warmer winters are not killing it off. It's sad for the mountain side going brown but it's adding to the lumber industry. Colorado's Department of Energy has provided $30 million of the construction of the state's first cellulosic ethanol plant. It will convert beetle kill into ethanol.

On the other hand, the dead forest adds to the rise of C02, from research of carbon cycles done by Canadian Forest Service says the MPB outbreak by 2020 will have released 270 megatonnes of C02 into the atmosphere just by the Canadian Forest itself. You think you leave a carbon footprint, this little shit is Global Warming!

wicalo 

                              
 NASA looks at this little bugger

Good,  with their satellites we look down on the forest to determine the areas hit and to see if the MPB is helping with forest fires, now that's more Co2.  But to really understand what's going on they send a team at ground zero.  We're in Yellowstone with Forest Ecologist Phil Townsend.

NASA Goddard

           
Invasion Human 

Imagine the creation and age of the planet on a 12-month calendar, this would represent 4.5 billion years.  On the last month, of the last day, the humans showed up 5 minutes ago.   

Carl Sagan had said, "that the secret of evolution is time and death". Fossil records dating back 195,000 years ago show modern day human coming out of Africa and migrating from there.  Molecular biology gives evidence of an approximate time of 200,000 years ago that stemmed from common modern day human ancestry.  We haven't been here that long when viewing the evolution timetable.  Unlike the little MPB, we're everywhere dominating the landscape. Soon to grow to 9 to 10.5 billion by 2050, pressure is on for substance that the planet offers, how long will resources last?  Is there a teetering point at which the planet can support all of us?  Not just us but all the food and energy that it takes to produce our food.  Then there're the animals themselves that thrive on the planet, you want to talk buffet, the planet is the largest one.  In the graph above you'll notice the ever shortening time of each Epoch to the present.  The Holocene Epoch starts at the end of the Pleistocene Epoch about 11,500 to 12,000 years ago and is part of the Quaternary Period. Some studies show humans in Northern America around 14,500 years ago.  We just showed up on the map and already look at what we've been through in the past 100 years.  

Plate Tectonics take 10,000 years to move less than a kilometer, 0.62 miles and the ice melt has raised world sea levels, 35m (110 ft) started in the early part of the Holocene Epoch.  We haven't been here long and the planet moves at a sail's pace which ain't going to change, just because we're flying.  Time won't run out for the planet before us, it has no sense of time, that one is on us. 

melodysheep

                                
 Invasion-Time

The real invasion on the planet is time, for all things have a life expectancy. The Sun itself will die out about 3 billion years from now as it grows into the Red Giant and engulfs all of the planets around it.  We're moving technology right along with us, as to the future for what it holds, will also determine our place and time for where we are.  It is said by scientist along with physicists that once mankind can build on a microscopic level (Quantum Mechanics) and understanding nature's  matter, that our technology will have developed a billion fold.  This will be the Holy Grail for mankind at which point will bring us moving around the Cosmos, that was only dreamed during our Epoch. 

 PawnGuzzler