Blog Archives

February 28th, 2022

2/28/2022

                                                   EXPANDING HUMAN POPULATION ACCELERATES
                                    SPECIES EXTINCTION
NUMEROUS SPECIES ARE BECOMING EXTINCT 100 TIMES FASTER THAN THEY WOULD WITHOUT ADVERSE HUMAN IMPACTS. ANIMAL POPULATIONS HAVE DECLINED BY MORE THAN 50% SINCE 1970, WHILE HUMAN POPULATIONS HAVE DOUBLED DURING THE SAME PERIOD. SELDOM HAVE WE EXPERIENCED SO MANY SPECIES AND SO MUCH BIODIVERSITY BEING LOST SO QUICKLY. DOES IT REALLY MATTER? AFTER ALL, WE ARE TOLD HUMANS ARE TO DOMINATE OVER THE EARTH AND ALL NON-HUMAN SPECIES. THE WESTERN CULTURE SEES ITSELF AS MASTER OF THE ENTIRE PLANET, RATHER THAN ONE SMALL PART OF THE EARTH’S LIFE SYSTEMS. THROUGHOUT THE EVOLUTIONARY DEVELOPMENT OF EARTH, SPECIES HAVE BECOME EXTINCT AND REPLACED BY NEW SPECIES. THIS IS TRUE, BUT THE INTRODUCTION OF HUMANS, REFERRED TO AS THE DOMINATE SPECIES, INITIATED A SIGNIFICANT ACCELERATION OF SPECIES EXTINCTION.
WE DOMESTICATED AND INTRODUCED NON-INDIGENOUS SPECIES THROUGHOUT THE WORLD, WHICH UPSET THE BALANCE OF NATURE AND DROVE NUMEROUS INDIGENOUS SPECIES TO THE EDGE OF EXTINCTION. WHEN PREDATOR SPECIES INTERFERED WITH DOMESTIC LIVESTOCK, WE ESTABLISHED PROGRAMS TO EXTERMINATE ENTIRE POPULATIONS. OUR HUMAN DEMANDS HAVE RESULTED IN OVER-HARVESTING SEVERAL SPECIES, AND INCREASED DEMANDS FOR ENERGY AND LAND USE, HAS DESTROYED HABITATS FOR NUMEROUS SPECIES. IN FACT, DEFORESTATION IS CONSIDERED A MAIN FACTOR THAT DRIVES SPECIES TO EXTINCTION. CLIMATE CHANGE HAS ALSO RESULTED IN SIGNIFICANT LOSS OF HABITAT. DEFORESTATION AND CLIMATE CHANGE CAUSE INCREASED DESERTIFICATION, RISING SEA LEVELS, WARMER TEMPERATURES AND SIGNIFICANT LOSSES IN HABITAT. DEFORESTATION IS ACTUALLY AS RESPONSIBLE FOR MAJOR CLIMATE CHANGE AS FOSSIL FUEL CONSUMPTION.
THERE IS AN URGENT NEED TO REVERSE HUMAN DESTRUCTION OF THE NATURAL WORLD BEFORE IT BECOMES SO UNSUSTAINABLE THAT NATURAL SYSTEMS ARE CORRUPTED TO THE POINT, THEY CAN NO LONGER SUSTAIN HUMAN LIFE OR LIFE IN GENERAL. THIS IS A DIFFICULT ISSUE AS MOST FACTORS THAT CAUSE SPECIES EXTINCTION ARE ECONOMICALLY DRIVEN AND THREATEN THE BASIC HUMAN RIGHT OF FREE WILL. THERE IS ALSO A MORAL QUESTION AS TO WHO WILL BE REQUIRED TO IMPLEMENT THE NECESSARY ENVIRONMENTAL RESTRICTIONS TO CONTROL AND REDUCE SPECIES EXTINCTION. WITH POOR NATIONS STRIVING FOR PROSPERITY, INDUSTRIALIZED NATIONS WILL HAVE TO MAKE ENORMOUS CONCESSIONS. WE MUST ALSO REALIZE HOW THE DIFFERENT SPECIES OF ANIMALS DEPEND ON OTHER SPECIES AS FOOD SOURCES, THUS ANY EXTINCTION WHICH OCCURS IN A DIVERSE OR CONSTRAINT ECOSYSTEM RESULTS IN A CHAIN REACTION.
OUR OCEAN AND SEA ECOSYSTEMS ARE SUFFERING AS A RESULT OF TOXIC OIL SPILLS, CHEMICAL AND FERTILIZER RUNOFF, WARMING SEA TEMPERATURES, DUMPING OF WASTE, INCLUDING TOXIC WASTE, INTO OUR OCEANS AND HUMAN DESTRUCTION OF AQUATIC HABITATS. ANY HUMAN ACTION THAT THREATENS BIODIVERSITY, WHETHER DELIBERATE OR UNINTENTIONAL, LEADS TO EXTINCTION AND LOSS OF ECOSYSTEM FUNCTIONS. HARVARD BIOLOGIST, E. O. WILSON ESTIMATES THAT THREE SPECIES PER HOUR ARE BEING PUSHED TO EXTINCTION.
NOT ENOUGH PLANTS AND INVERTEBRATES HAVE BEEN STUDIED TO DETERMINE THEIR GLOBAL THREAT LEVEL, BUT IT IS SEVERE! WHERE DO WILDLIFE POPULATIONS STAND TODAY WITH ALMOST 8 BILLION PEOPLE WORLDWIDE? TWELVE PER CENT OF MAMMALS, TWELVE PER CENT OF BIRDS, THIRTY-ONE PER CENT OF REPTILES, THIRTY PER CENT OF AMPHIBIANS, AND THIRTY-SEVEN PER CENT OF FISH ARE THREATENED WITH EXTINCTION, ACCORDING TO THE INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR THE CONSERVATION OF NATURE. EXTINCTION OF SPECIES IS THE MOST SERIOUS, AND MOST IRREVERSIBLE ADVERSE EFFECT ON THE SUSTAINABILITY OF FUTURE HUMAN POPULATIONS. ONCE AGAIN, SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY’S DISCLOSE THE VITAL IMPORTANCE OF DIVERSITY IN THE SUSTENANCE OF LIFE ON EARTH. DIVERSITY IS THE MOST CRUCIAL ELEMENT, DESIGNED INTO THE CREATION OF PLANET EARTH, THAT SUPPORTS LIFE SYSTEMS! MANAGEMENT OF OUR NATURAL WORLD CONTINUES TO BE BASED UPON ECONOMIC RETURNS RATHER THAN PROLONGING HUMAN AND NON-HUMAN LIFE ON EARTH!
WHERE WILL WE FIND THE LEADERSHIP TO ADJUST MANAGEMENT PRIORITIES TO PROTECT AND IMPROVE OUR NATURAL WORLD? WE CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT THE CRITICAL ELEMENTS SUPPLIED ONLY BY NATURE! SCIENCE AND ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY CAN NEVER SUPPLY THE LIFE SUSTAINING ELEMENTS REQUIRED FOR FUTURE LIFE ON EARTH! WE MAY HAVE TRADED FUTURE LIFE FOR MATERIALISM! TIME WILL TELL. DO WE HAVE TIME?

1 Comment

February 01st, 2022

2/1/2022

1 Comment

                                                            RESTORING THE BALANCE

THE PAST YEAR, I HAVE BEEN ALERTING PEOPLE TO THE WELL-KNOWN CONCEPT OF CARRYING CAPACITY. CARRYING-CAPACITY DESCRIBES THE ABILITY OF AN ECOSYSTEM TO PROVIDE FOR FLUCTUATING SPECIES POPULATIONS WITHIN THE ECOSYSTEM. NUMEROUS STUDIES AND EXAMPLES HAVE FOCUSED OUR ATTENTION ON WHAT HAPPENS WHEN NON-HUMAN SPECIES EXCEED THE ABILITY OF THEIR ECOSYSTEM TO PROVIDE THE REQUIRED FOOD, RESOURCES AND ENERGY. MOST GAME SPECIES ARE CONSIDERED A STATE RESOURCE, WITH STATE AGENCIES ESTABLISHED TO PROTECT AND MANAGE WILDLIFE POPULATIONS. FOR DECADES, MANAGEMENT HAS INCLUDED EFFORTS TO BALANCE POPULATION NUMBERS WITH THE HABITAT CARRYING CAPACITY. UNFORTUNATELY, THE FOCUS OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE HAS BEEN ON ANIMAL POPULATIONS WITH LITTLE EFFORT DIRECTED AT HUMANS AND EARTH’S LIMITATIONS.
WE HAVE EXPERIENCED PROBLEMS LIKE; WHIRLING DISEASE IN TROUT IN THE GREATER YELLOWSTONE AREA, CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE IN WHITE TAIL DEER IN THE LAKE STATES, BRUCELLOSIS IN THE YELLOWSTONE ELK POPULATION AND THE LIST GOES ON. THESE EXAMPLES HAVE ALL RESULTED FROM OVER-POPULATION OR OVER-CONCENTRATION IN ARTIFICIAL FEED GROUNDS. ALTHOUGH MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS HAVE HAD SOME SUCCESS, EFFORTS TO CONTROL NATURAL REPRODUCTIVE RATES AND POPULATION NUMBERS HAVE BEEN LIMITED. WHAT WE HAVE OBSERVED IN OVER-POPULATION SITUATIONS, IS NATURES WAY OF ATTEMPTING TO RESTORE BALANCE. LACK OF NUTRIENTS AND HABITAT LOSS RESULTS IN WEAKENED INDIVIDUALS AND THE INTRODUCTION OF STARVATION, PESTILENCE AND DISEASE. THIS NATURAL PROCESS HAS BEEN DESIGNED INTO THE CREATION OF THE MAGICAL EARTH SYSTEMS THAT SUPPORT LIFE ON OUR PLANET.
TO SATISFY THE DEMANDS OF THE EVER-INCREASING NUMBERS OF PEOPLE, HUMANS CHOP DOWN FORESTS, BULLDOZE MOUNTAINS, DIVERT STREAMS AND RIVERS, SPRAY POISONS, OVER-HARVESTED ANIMAL AND FISH POPULATIONS, INTRODUCE INVASIVE SPECIES, PAVED OVER LAND AND THE LIST GOES ON. AFTER ALL, EARTH BELONGS TO US AND IT IS OUR DIVINE RIGHT TO DO AS WE WISH, EVEN IF IT DESTROYS HABITATS, CAUSES SPECIES EXTINCTION AND UPSETS THE BALANCE OF NATURE!
THE TRUTH IS, INFECTIOUS DISEASE OUTBREAKS HAVE BEEN INCREASING OVER THE PAST DECADE. EPIDEMICS AND PANDEMICS HAVE RAVAGED HUMANITY THROUGHOUT THE PAST, BUT HAVE SERIOUSLY ACCELERATED IN FREQUENCY AND INTENSITY WITH THE RAPIDLY GROWING WORLD POPULATIONS. THE LOSS OF BIO-DIVERSITY DUE TO INCREASED HUMAN ACTIVITY HAS CONTRIBUTED SIGNIFICANTLY TO THE INCREASED SPREAD OF INFECTIOUS DISEASE. ANOTHER FACTOR THAT CONTRIBUTES TO THE SPREAD OF EPIDEMICS AND PANDEMICS, HAS BEEN THE DEGRADATION OF NATURAL HABITATS AND THE DESTABILIZATION OF ECOSYSTEMS. EARTH IS MADE UP OF A MULTITUDE OF ECOSYSTEMS, AND THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY INFORMS US THAT ONLY 3% OF OUR WORLDWIDE ECOSYSTEMS ARE CONSIDERED INTACT AND PROPERLY FUNCTIONING.
THE U. S. CENSUS BUREAU PREDICTS THE WORLD POPULATION WILL REACH 10 BILLION BY 2050, WITH SCIENTISTS AND ECONOMISTS PROJECTING EARTH’S CARRYING-CAPACITY TO BE APPROXIMATELY 10 BILLION PEOPLE. THIS MEANS WE ARE PUSHING THE LIMITS OF OUR HUMAN ECOSYSTEM’S ABILITY TO PROVIDE FOR OVER-POPULATION. I HAVE BEEN RELUCTANT TO ADDRESS THE BIG QUESTION, IS COVID 19 AND OTHER EPIDEMICS AND PANDEMICS, NATURES WAY OF ATTEMPTING TO RESTORE BALANCE TO EARTH’S ABILITY TO SUPPORT OUR EXPANDING POPULATION? I AM SURE THIS RAISES MORAL QUESTIONS FOR MANY, BUT IT IS A QUESTION WE MUST ANSWER.
ON MARCH 11TH OF 2020, THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION DECLARED THE CORONAVIRUS 19 OUTBREAK A GLOBAL PANDEMIC. COVID-19 HAS HIGHLIGHTED THE WEAKNESS IN THE HEALTH SYSTEMS WORLDWIDE AND THE LACK OF COORDINATION BETWEEN GOVERNMENTS WHEN FACED WITH A GLOBAL HEALTH CRISIS. MANY SCIENTISTS ARE SUGGESTING WE ARE OBSERVING A NATURAL PROCESS, DESIGNED INTO CREATION, INTENDED TO ASSIST IN RESTORING BALANCE BETWEEN HUMAN POPULATION NUMBERS AND EARTH’S CARRYING-CAPACITY. I BELIEVE, BIOLOGICAL DATA FROM STUDYING NON-HUMAN SPECIES OVERCROWDING, PROVIDES ADEQUATE PROOF THAT COVID 19 IS NATURE’S WAY OF ATTEMPTING TO BALANCE HUMAN POPULATIONS WITH EARTH’S CARRYING-CAPACITY. I ALSO BELIEVE, IT IS LIKELY, THE SEVERITY AND INTENSITY OF EPIDEMICS AND PANDEMICS MAY BECOME A SERIOUS ISSUE FOR HUMANITY’S FUTURE. THIS SCARY PREDICTION SHOULD RAISE EVERYONE’S CONCERNS AND ALERT US TO THE NEED FOR ACTION.
THE WORLDWIDE CASES OF THE COVID VIRUS HAS REACHED ALMOST 375 MILLION, WHICH EXCEEDS THE ENTIRE POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES, AND THE TOTAL NUMBER OF DEATHS IS 5.7 MILLION, THE EQUIVALENT OF THE TOTAL POPULATION IN THE STATE OF MINNESOTA.
THE UNITED NATIONS RECENTLY ESTABLISHED WHAT THEY CONSIDER THE STABILIZATION FIGURE TO BE, AT 10 BILLION TO BE REACHED IN THE SECOND HALF OF THIS CENTURY. THERE ARE REAL CONCERNS ABOUT HOW WE CAN FEED AN ADDITIONAL 2 BILLION PEOPLE THIS CENTURY. TODAY, BETWEEN 850 AND 925 MILLION PEOPLE ARE EXPERIENCING FOOD INSECURITY AND UNDERNOURISHMENT. PRESSURES ON THE ENVIRONMENT IS INCREASING EXPONENTIALLY, AS LEVELS AND MODES OF CONSUMPTION ACCELERATE. SEVEN PERCENT OF THE WORLD’S POPULATION LACK A SAFE SUPPLY OF DRINKING WATER, AND CLIMATE CHANGE IS ANTICIPATED TO EXACERBATE THE ISSUES. ALTHOUGH, REPRODUCTIVE RATES HAVE DECLINED SLIGHTLY, THE GROWTH OF THE AGED POPULATIONS IS INCREASING WITH THE FASTEST GROWING AGE GROUP BEING THE 90-PLUS.
IN 2010, THE WORLD ACHIEVED A DEMOGRAPHIC MILESTONE WHEN WORLD POPULATIONS SHIFTED FROM RURAL TO URBAN LIVING. TODAY, MORE THAN HALF OF THE WORLD POPULATION LIVE IN URBAN AREAS, CLUSTERED TOGETHER AND PROVIDING FOR A MORE RAPID SPREAD OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES. HUMANITY IS FACING THE MOST CRITICAL ISSUE IN OUR HISTORY.
THE CLOCK KEEPS TICKING, AS WE SET BACK AND CONTINUE OUR QUEST FOR MATERIALISM AND WEALTH. WE MEASURE SUCCESS BASED UPON THE U.S. GDP, RATHER THAN THE WELLNESS OF THE PEOPLE. WE FIGHT OVER POWER AND CONTROL, AND IGNORE WHAT LIES AHEAD. WE STRIVE FOR INDIVIDUALISM, INSTEAD OF JOINING HANDS AND WORKING TOGETHER TO RESOLVE LIFE’S COMPLICATED ISSUES. WE MUST MOVE QUICKLY TOWARD STABILIZATION OF THE GLOBAL POPULATION, WHICH CAN BEST BE ACHIEVED BY IMPROVING THE LIVES OF PEOPLE IN LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES AND CREATING A MORE SUSTAINABLE PATTERN OF RESOURCE CONSUMPTION, ESPECIALLY IN THE HIGH-INCOME COUNTRIES. AMERICA, IN THE PAST, HAS DEMONSTRATED HER ABILITY TO WORK TOGETHER TO MEET THE NEEDS OF HER CITIZENS. DO WE HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO RESTORE THE BALANCE AND PROLONG HUMANITY’S FUTURE? IT WILL HAPPEN WHEN THE PEOPLE DEMAND CHANGE!

1 Comment