Data & Video Appendix to SOS Memos

Free books, List of Grossly Unsustainable Situations and much, much more

This appendix was created in October of 2023 at the end of the era of the large, weekly SOS Memos. It contains lots of "big picture" information regarding the future of humanity.

For more "big picture" summary, visit the landing page at hpjmh.com -- and if you have any questions, email me at: jmorrishicks@me.com

There are many aspects of human civilization that are grossly unsustainable. This first section is all about...

Buying Ourselves Enough Time to Learn to Live Sustainably Again

If enough people shift quickly enough to eating 100% plant-based foods, I am confident that we can buy ourselves the few centuries needed to return to living in harmony with nature.

We need lots of time to resolve the six grossly unsustainable situations listed below. All were covered in greater detail in a previous SOS Memo, but they bear repeating often:

Situation 1. Overpopulation. At best, it will take several centuries to get the human population down to a theoretically sustainable level of around four billion people (my own, non-scientific guesstimate based on how efficiently we are able to live). As of 2023, we're still adding a net six million people to the world's population every month (births minus deaths).

If we get started in earnest now on "managing" population growth -- it could take some of the pressure off of the "other" five situations that follow. 

Unsustainable Situation # 2: Millions of new meat eaters every month. In addition to the billions of people who are regularly eating meat, dairy, eggs and/or fish in the world -- in developing nations, there are another few million people emerging from poverty enough each month to start eating the animal-based foods that the more prosperous folks have been consuming for a long time.

Unsustainable Situation # 3: a never-ending growth economy.

Clearly, our global economic system (capitalism) system must be replaced with one that answers first to Mother Nature. But that will take time -- along with enough leaders who recognize the necessity for -- and also have the courage to take action. We covered that topic in this free chapter of OUTCRY: Earthonomics Replaces Capitalism

Unsustainable Situation # 4: The way we live in the developed world. No matter what kind of energy we use, our industrial civilization is a heat engine that is getting hotter all the time. In addition to getting a handle on overpopulation, we also must totally re-engineer almost everything about how we live. Read Chapter 9 of OUTCRY: Crucial Importance of Systemic Change

Unsustainable Situation # 5: Snail pace movement to a vegan world. Even though we're regularly hearing about studies like the recent one from the University of Oxford: Vegan diet massively cuts environmental damage -there is zero widespread urgency to "go vegan." In fact, here's a troubling factoid: there is now a steadily growing population of ex-vegans in the developed world.

Unsustainable Situation # 6. Complete absence of responsible global leadership. In light of all of the above, it's difficult for me to believe that no well-known world leaders or environmentalists have taken a loud, clear, never-wavering public stand on the only primary driver of climate change that could theoretically be completely eliminated -- by individual humans everywhere simply changing what they eat.

If only there was widespread integrity and leadership -- all over the world -- regarding this most crucial topic, all of the above "situations" could be addressed in short order. Clearly, we have made no real progress to date in any of them.

Where does this leave us? 

This practical-minded engineer has concluded that the ONLY way we are likely to be able to successfully address all six of the above "situations" -- is to grab the "low hanging fruit" now -- and buy ourselves the few hundred years we're going to need to address all six unsustainable situations.

The "low hanging fruit" to which I refer is every individual's right to choose what they want to eat. If we are to have any chance of surviving much longer as a species, it is time to begin urgently dismantling the entire animal agriculture industry -- by simply "choosing" to eat nothing but plant-based foods.

To prevent our near-term demise, we must convince billions of people everywhere to start eating health-promoting, plant-based foods which, on a per calorie basis, require less than 1/10th as much land, water and energy as do animal-based foods.

How can we promote

the above dietary shift?

Our Proposed Initiative with the Mayor of New York City, Katie Couric -- and four scientific & medical experts

The odds are stacked against us and the initiative described in the link above may not work -- but, for all of the innocent children of the world, we simply must give it our best shot.

It could be a win-win-win proposition for everyone. Not only might might we be buying the time needed, but we will also be saving money, losing weight and reversing any number of chronic diseases that may be plaguing us.

Links to the final six, full-size, weekly SOS Memos are provided here for your convenience:

• SOS #225 (8-29-23)  “Smelling the Roses” — But Not Giving Up
• SOS #226 (9-5-23) Simplifying the Reversal of Climate Change
• SOS #227 (9-12-23) The Urgency Now is Palpable. Warning!!
• SOS #228 (9-19-23) Cornell, Cancer and Climate Change
• SOS #229 (9-26-23) Letter to my four "Grands" in College
• SOS #230 (10-3-23) My Final “Weekly” SOS Memo (after 4.5 years)

Do you want to do your part to help people get healthy...while simultaneously slowing, stopping or even reversing climate change? Then, share this all of this information, along with the free books below with everyone you know.

OUTCRY

Urgent Alarms from Our Planet and What We Can Do About Them

To our knowledge, OUTCRY is the only book ever published that features a summary of "outcries" from the natural world, along with consensus conclusions of nine big picture scientists regarding our dilemma — AND an envisioned, sustainable civilization of the future, using today’s technology.

We've also started calling this book a "User's Guide for Planet Earth." We are giving it away because of this troubling fact that was stated by Jeremy Rifkin early in this recent 15-minute video:

"the most important info in all of humanity

is going undiscussed."

We're talking about the crucial information regarding how we can possibly slow or stop climate change within a few years.

Want to help relieve the desperate situation in which we find ourselves, read OUTCRY as soon as you can and send it to everyone you know. Just click on the book cover above.

Here is the 2nd book that is now FREE: a quick and easy read that I wrote with Dr. Kerry Graff in 2015.

4Leaf Guide to Vibrant Health

Using the Power of Food

to Heal Ourselves and Our Planet



This compact book is still highly relevant, focusing on helping people take charge of their health and reverse chronic disease by urgently shifting to a whole-food, plant-based way of eating. 

A fringe benefit of their efforts is the steady downsizing of the leading driver of climate change: animal agriculture. Merely suggesting that the masses cut back on their meat, dairy, egg and fish consumption will accomplish very little. 

We want everyone to completely eliminate all animal-based foods from their diet. Yes, that includes cheese, eggs and all forms of seafood. 

For your children and grandchildren, just do it!

Click this image to watch my May 2022 presentation. 

A 45-minute talk whose title says it all.

What about the preservation of civilization?

To clarify, we're not trying to preserve civilization as we know it. That's because what we have now is extremely wasteful, harmful and grossly unsustainable. It's an incredibly reckless way of living that is now threatening our very existence as a species.

We're talking about replacing it with an entirely new, ultra-green civilization of the future -- and we do our best to paint a picture of that envisioned way of sustainable living in OUTCRY. One Ohio State professor emeritus of history provided some powerful, unsolicited comments regarding our book on the book's Amazon page: Click here to read those comments.

In the section below, you will find links to a plethora of references regarding the validity and the urgency of the information contained herein.

This section begins with a conversation with our creator after a 50,000 year absence.

And Mama ain't happy.

A very revealing and entertaining (2022) 15-minute video. Watch it and share it with everyone you know.

Ten more handy "big picture" documents and/or videos:

1. 2006 UNFAO report: 18% of climate change attributed to animal agriculture (far more than the world's entire transportation sector, combined). After pressure from the massive animal agriculture industry, they lowered their estimates to 14.5% a few years later
2. 2009 World Bank Group researchers concluded that at least 51% of climate change is being driven by animal agriculture -- almost four times more powerful than the numbers being reported by the revised UNFAO study.
3. 2012. What is the right food for humans to be eating? For our own health and for the health of the planet. Five-minute video with J. Morris Hicks
4. 2019 Dr. Sailesh Rao peer-reviewed paper.This former member of Al Gore's environmental team concluded that 87% of climate change is driven by animal agriculture. His paper was recently featured in Forbes.
5. 2021. A 19-minute video session with the producers of the new documentary, Eating Our Way to Extinction.
6. 2021.The Animal/Climate Controversy? Dr. Gerard Bisshop, Director of World Preservation Foundation sorts out the various studies regarding the huge role that animal agriculture plays in climate change (9 minute video).
7. 2021. This six minute video features Dr. Sailesh Rao, speaking candidly with Klaus Mitchell about the sad truths and commercial interests behind the leading driver of climate change. It will make you want to scream.
8. 2022. Published in PLOS Climate (2-1-22) a paper by Michael Eisen and Patrick Brown, "Rapid global phaseout of animal agriculture has the potential to stabilize Gh Gas levels for 30 years and offset 68 percent of CO₂ emissions this century."
9. A summary of THE FACTS timeline from Dr. Sailesh Rao, wherein he explains how in 2012, the UNFAO scientists declined to continue the 51% debate with Goodland & Anhang in the Animal Feed Science and Technology Journal -- but they failed to admit that fact to the public.
10. Concise Big Picture History of Humanity, by Dr. Sailesh Rao, September 2023

Finally, this half-hour video was published in November of 2021. It was produced by Michael Dowd, a non-scientific researcher like me who does a very fine job of explaining the many facets of the obstacles standing between us and our survival as a species.

As do practically all researchers, Dowd focuses entirely on the problem; not the solution. I prefer to focus on both.

Collapse in a Nutshell

Understanding our Predicament

I am confident that if a few million people carefully read and digested this free e-copy -- that there would be a more robust conversation around the world regarding our grossly unsustainable way of living in the developed world.

To my knowledge, OUTCRY remains the only book ever published that features an envisioned, totally-green, ultra-sustainable, super-desirable, future way of living for humans -- along with ideas for how we might get there as quickly as possible.

Preview of Outcry with Foreword by Mother Nature

Visit the Outcry page on Amazon

Please contact me directly at my email address below -- about possibly speaking to your group via Zoom or in person.

Sincerely, J. Morris (Jim) Hicks

jmorrishicks@me.com

Want to see all SOS Memos? Click here

Want to get started nurturing your own health and the health of our planet? Take our survey at 4leafsurvey.com With your answers to 12 multiple choice questions, the survey provides an estimate as to what percent of your daily caloric intake is comprised of whole, plant-based foods.

Over 80% will place you at the highest "4Leaf Level" of eating.

Click here to learn more about this dietary assessment tool: About the 4Leaf Survey