COMPROMISED AND DYING ECOSYSTEMS
NATURAL ECOSYSTEMS ARE UNIQUE SELF-SUSTAINING UNITS FOUND IN COASTAL, FOREST, FRESH-WATER, PRAIRIE GRASSLANDS AND MARINE ENVIRONMENTS. IN FACT, THE ENTIRE NATURAL WORLD INVOLVES AN AMALGAMATION OF INDIVIDUAL ECOSYSTEMS. ECOSYSTEMS THROUGHOUT THE NATURAL WORLD ARE BEING LOST DUE TO OVER-HARVESTING, LOSS OF HABITAT, CLIMATE CHANGE, DEFORESTATION, LAND DEVELOPMENT, INCREASED CARBON DIOXIDE CONCENTRATES AND CONTINUED INCREASES IN THE USE OF TOXIC CHEMICALS.
FRONTIERS IN FORESTS AND GLOBAL CHANGE, REPORTS THAT JUST THREE PERCENT OF THE WORLD’S LAND REMAINS ECOLOGICALLY INTACT, WITH UNDISTURBED HABITAT AND MINIMAL LOSS OF ORIGINAL SPECIES. CURRENT SPECIES EXTINCTION RATES RANGE FROM 100 TO 1000 TIMES THE NORMAL EXTINCTION RATE. GLOBAL BIO-MASS AND SPECIES ABUNDANCE OF WILD ANIMALS HAD FALLEN 82% SINCE PREHISTORIC TIMES, AND RECENT EUROPEAN STUDIES DEMONSTRATE THE LARGEST DECLINE IN SPECIES ARE BIRDS AND FISH. OVER-EXPLOITATION FOR COMMERCIALIZATION, HUMAN PROGRESS AND HUMANITY’S GREEDY DEMANDS ARE THE MAJOR CAUSES FOR THIS BIO-DIVERSITY LOSS.
APPROXIMATELY 470 MILLION ACRES OF UNDISTURBED ECOSYSTEMS HAVE BEEN LOST BETWEEN 2000 AND 2013, ACCORDING TO SCIENTIFIC REPORTS. THE LOSS OF A SINGLE SPECIES WITHIN THE ECOSYSTEM CAN UPSET THE BALANCE AND CAUSE DECLINE AND EVEN DEATH OF AN ECOSYSTEM. THE INTRODUCTION OF NON-INDIGENOUS SPECIES CAN CAUSE SIMILAR RESULTS. THE LOSS OF A SPECIES, WITHIN AN ECOSYSTEM, DEMONSTRATES THE NECESSITY OF DIVERSITY, AND THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN ALL MEMBERS OF ECOSYSTEM’S ORGANISMS. DIVERSITY INCREASES AN ECOSYSTEMS RESILIENCE AND IS FUNDAMENTAL TO HUMAN HEALTH. AS NATURAL ECOSYSTEMS DECLINE OR DIE ARTIFICIAL ECOSYSTEMS, LIKE HUMAN COMMUNITIES, ARE ADVERSELY AFFECTED SINCE THEY DEPEND UPON RESOURCES AND ENERGY FROM THE NATURAL WORLD AND ITS ECOSYSTEMS.
SOME OF THE MORE SHOCKING STATISTICS ARE:
GLOBAL DECLINE IN TREE COVER IN 2018 WAS 72.6 MILLION ACRES, ALMOST 50% MORE THEN IN 2015. 60% OF EARTH’S CORAL REEFS ARE THREATENED
75% OF THE MAJOR MARINE FISH SPECIES ARE DEPLETED OR DWINDLING DUE TO OVER-HARVESTING. 50% OF OUR COASTAL MANGROVES ARE GONE.
1 IN 8 OF OUR BIRD SPECIES ARE AT RISK OF EXTINCTION.
WORLD WILDLIFE POPULATIONS HAVE DECLINED BY 68% IN THE LAST FOUR DECADES.
SCIENCE PREDICTS 30% OF ALL CURRENT SPECIES WILL BE EXTINCT BY 2050.
RECENT STUDIES INDICATE THAT 23%OF ECOSYSTEM LOSSES ARE DUE TO CATASTROPHIC WILDFIRES, 24% FROM AGRICULTURE LAND CLEARING AND 26% FROM DEFORESTATION. SCIENCE SUGGESTS THAT IF WE WERE TO MAKE A CONCERTED EFFORT, WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO RESTORE ABOUT 20% OF OUR LOST ECOSYSTEMS. ALTHOUGH, RESTORATION HAS LIMITATIONS, IT IS IMPORTANT WE INITIATE ACTIONS IF WE WANT TO PROLONG HUMAN LIFE ON EARTH.
HUMANITY’S DESTRUCTION OF THE NATURAL WORLD MUST STOP, IF WE HAVE CONCERN FOR OUR OWN SPECIES! OUR FIRST STEP MUST BE TO DEVELOP A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE NATURAL WORLD AND WHAT HUMANITY IS DEMANDING FROM IT. STUDYING THE COMPLEXITY OF ECOSYSTEMS, HAS DISCLOSED, FOR ME, THE FACT THAT THE ENTIRE NATURAL WORLD, WHETHER IT BE LAND OR SEA, IS A MASSIVE ASSEMBLY OF INDIVIDUAL ECOSYSTEMS. EACH ONE BEING SOME WHAT SELF SUSTAINING, CONTAINING A LARGE NUMBER OF ORGANISMS WORKING TOGETHER TO MAINTAIN A BALANCED SYSTEM TO SUPPORT LIFE, AND TOTALLY DEPENDENT UPON DIVERSITY AND RELATIONSHIPS. THIS TRULY DESCRIBES THE COMPLEXITY DESIGNED INTO THE CREATION OF OUR PLANET, AND PROVIDES THE MISSING LINK WHICH SUPPORTS THE CONCEPT OF INTELLIGENT DESIGN.
THE IMPLICATION FOR THE HUMAN IS GREAT! HUMANITY’S BELIEF IN OUR ABILITY TO DOMINATE, CONTROL, MANIPULATE AND CHANGE NATURE, IS UNREALISTIC. OUR PAST EFFORTS HAVE ONLY UPSET THE BALANCE WITHIN ECOSYSTEMS AND RESULTED IN LOSS OF THESE NATURAL SYSTEMS REQUIRED FOR LIFE ON EARTH.
SCIENCE HAS NOW DISCOVERED LIFE EVEN FURTHER BELOW THE GROUND THEN WE PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT COULD EXIST. IT ACTUALLY IS LIVING IN BEDROCK FORMATIONS, WITH SOME SPECIES CAPABLE OF LIVING FOR MILLENNIUMS. WE CURRENTLY HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE OF WHETHER THIS SUBTERRANEAN LIFE HAS ANY CONNECTION TO THE SURFACE ECOSYSTEMS, BUT LOGIC SUGGESTS IT MAY.
I AM INTRIGUED BY HOW MUCH WE HAVE DISCOVERED ABOUT THE COMPLEXITY OF CREATION OF OUR PLANET, BUT EVEN MORE INTRIGUED BY HOW MUCH WE DO NOT KNOW. IT IS THE LACK OF KNOWLEDGE THAT HAS ALLOWED OUR DESTRUCTIVE DEMAND FOR RESOURCES AND WEALTH TO JEOPARDIZE THE FUTURE OF LIFE, INCLUDING HUMAN LIFE, ON EARTH. WE CAN MEASURE THE IMPACTS OF HUMAN CONSUMPTION WITH MODERN TECHNOLOGY TODAY, AND THE RESULTS ARE OBVIOUS. WE ARE CURRENTLY EXPERIENCING RAPID POPULATION GROWTH, THE HIGHEST RECORDED CARBON LEVELS IN THE ATMOSPHERE, RISING SEA LEVELS, DRAMATIC CLIMATE CHANGES, PANDEMICS, MASSIVE WILDFIRES, RAPID DEFORESTATION AND MAJOR LOSS OF NATURAL ECOSYSTEMS. MANY PEOPLE STILL REFUSE TO ACCEPT THAT THIS IS THE RESULT OF HUMAN OVER-CONSUMPTION AND MISMANAGEMENT OF EARTH’S REMAINING NATURAL WORLD.
THERE IS SOLID INFORMATION THAT PROVIDES THE TRUE FACTS ABOUT HUMANITY’S DEPENDENCE UPON THE NATURAL WORLD. THE NATURAL WORLD IS AN AMALGAMATION OF MILLIONS, POSSIBLE BILLIONS, OF ECOSYSTEMS WITHIN EVERY COMPONENT OF EARTH’S NATURAL SYSTEMS. THESE ECOSYSTEMS ARE UNIQUE NATURAL COMMUNITIES CONTAINING A DIVERSE MIX OF DIFFERENT SPECIES WORKING TOGETHER TO SUSTAIN BALANCE AND LIFE WITHIN THE UNIT. THE HUMAN SPECIES, HISTORICALLY, SPREAD TO EVERY CORNER OF EARTH, BUT FOUND IT BENEFICIAL TO CONCENTRATE IN GROUPS FOR SECURITY AND SHARED SUPPORT. CONCENTRATED GROUP LIVING IS NOW THE NORM.
WITH THE PROGRESSION OF TIME, POPULATION EXPANSION AND THE INTRODUCTION OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION, CAUSED HUMAN POPULATIONS TO TRANSITION FROM RURAL TO URBAN LIVING. THESE URBAN COMMUNITIES WERE MANKIND’S EFFORT TO CREATE ARTIFICIAL HUMAN ECOSYSTEMS. PROBLEM WAS, THEY HAD TO RELY ON RESOURCES OUTSIDE THE COMMUNITY. OUR INCREASING DEMANDS FROM THE NATURAL WORLD HAS RESULTED IN THE OVER UTILIZATION OF RESOURCES AND EXTINCTION OF SPECIES WHICH UPSETS THE BALANCE AND, IN MANY CASES THE DESTRUCTION OF MOST OF OUR NATURAL ECOSYSTEMS.
THE EVIDENCE IS CLEAR AND THE ISSUES HAVE BEEN DEFINED. HUMANITY’S GROWING POPULATION AND EXPANDING DEMAND FOR RESOURCES, IS THE PRIMARY CAUSE OF OVER 90% OF OUR COMPROMISED AND DYING ECOSYSTEMS. THE FOCUS OF OUR SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS ON DEVELOPING NEW TECHNOLOGY TO SATISFY HUMAN DESIRES FOR A MORE AFFLUENT LIFE STYLE MUST CHANGE. WE MUST FIND WAYS TO ENHANCE AND REGENERATE WHAT WE HAVE DESTROYED. IT IS NO LONGER ACCEPTABLE TO MANAGE OUR REMAINING NATURAL WORLD FOR A SUSTAINED FLOW OF PRODUCTS AND RESOURCES. WE MUST FOCUS MANAGEMENT ON SUSTAINING THE NATURAL WORLD AND THE ELEMENTS THEY PROVIDE WHICH SUPPORT LIFE ON PLANET EARTH.
NATURAL ECOSYSTEMS ARE UNIQUE SELF-SUSTAINING UNITS FOUND IN COASTAL, FOREST, FRESH-WATER, PRAIRIE GRASSLANDS AND MARINE ENVIRONMENTS. IN FACT, THE ENTIRE NATURAL WORLD INVOLVES AN AMALGAMATION OF INDIVIDUAL ECOSYSTEMS. ECOSYSTEMS THROUGHOUT THE NATURAL WORLD ARE BEING LOST DUE TO OVER-HARVESTING, LOSS OF HABITAT, CLIMATE CHANGE, DEFORESTATION, LAND DEVELOPMENT, INCREASED CARBON DIOXIDE CONCENTRATES AND CONTINUED INCREASES IN THE USE OF TOXIC CHEMICALS.
FRONTIERS IN FORESTS AND GLOBAL CHANGE, REPORTS THAT JUST THREE PERCENT OF THE WORLD’S LAND REMAINS ECOLOGICALLY INTACT, WITH UNDISTURBED HABITAT AND MINIMAL LOSS OF ORIGINAL SPECIES. CURRENT SPECIES EXTINCTION RATES RANGE FROM 100 TO 1000 TIMES THE NORMAL EXTINCTION RATE. GLOBAL BIO-MASS AND SPECIES ABUNDANCE OF WILD ANIMALS HAD FALLEN 82% SINCE PREHISTORIC TIMES, AND RECENT EUROPEAN STUDIES DEMONSTRATE THE LARGEST DECLINE IN SPECIES ARE BIRDS AND FISH. OVER-EXPLOITATION FOR COMMERCIALIZATION, HUMAN PROGRESS AND HUMANITY’S GREEDY DEMANDS ARE THE MAJOR CAUSES FOR THIS BIO-DIVERSITY LOSS.
APPROXIMATELY 470 MILLION ACRES OF UNDISTURBED ECOSYSTEMS HAVE BEEN LOST BETWEEN 2000 AND 2013, ACCORDING TO SCIENTIFIC REPORTS. THE LOSS OF A SINGLE SPECIES WITHIN THE ECOSYSTEM CAN UPSET THE BALANCE AND CAUSE DECLINE AND EVEN DEATH OF AN ECOSYSTEM. THE INTRODUCTION OF NON-INDIGENOUS SPECIES CAN CAUSE SIMILAR RESULTS. THE LOSS OF A SPECIES, WITHIN AN ECOSYSTEM, DEMONSTRATES THE NECESSITY OF DIVERSITY, AND THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN ALL MEMBERS OF ECOSYSTEM’S ORGANISMS. DIVERSITY INCREASES AN ECOSYSTEMS RESILIENCE AND IS FUNDAMENTAL TO HUMAN HEALTH. AS NATURAL ECOSYSTEMS DECLINE OR DIE ARTIFICIAL ECOSYSTEMS, LIKE HUMAN COMMUNITIES, ARE ADVERSELY AFFECTED SINCE THEY DEPEND UPON RESOURCES AND ENERGY FROM THE NATURAL WORLD AND ITS ECOSYSTEMS.
SOME OF THE MORE SHOCKING STATISTICS ARE:
GLOBAL DECLINE IN TREE COVER IN 2018 WAS 72.6 MILLION ACRES, ALMOST 50% MORE THEN IN 2015. 60% OF EARTH’S CORAL REEFS ARE THREATENED
75% OF THE MAJOR MARINE FISH SPECIES ARE DEPLETED OR DWINDLING DUE TO OVER-HARVESTING. 50% OF OUR COASTAL MANGROVES ARE GONE.
1 IN 8 OF OUR BIRD SPECIES ARE AT RISK OF EXTINCTION.
WORLD WILDLIFE POPULATIONS HAVE DECLINED BY 68% IN THE LAST FOUR DECADES.
SCIENCE PREDICTS 30% OF ALL CURRENT SPECIES WILL BE EXTINCT BY 2050.
RECENT STUDIES INDICATE THAT 23%OF ECOSYSTEM LOSSES ARE DUE TO CATASTROPHIC WILDFIRES, 24% FROM AGRICULTURE LAND CLEARING AND 26% FROM DEFORESTATION. SCIENCE SUGGESTS THAT IF WE WERE TO MAKE A CONCERTED EFFORT, WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO RESTORE ABOUT 20% OF OUR LOST ECOSYSTEMS. ALTHOUGH, RESTORATION HAS LIMITATIONS, IT IS IMPORTANT WE INITIATE ACTIONS IF WE WANT TO PROLONG HUMAN LIFE ON EARTH.
HUMANITY’S DESTRUCTION OF THE NATURAL WORLD MUST STOP, IF WE HAVE CONCERN FOR OUR OWN SPECIES! OUR FIRST STEP MUST BE TO DEVELOP A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE NATURAL WORLD AND WHAT HUMANITY IS DEMANDING FROM IT. STUDYING THE COMPLEXITY OF ECOSYSTEMS, HAS DISCLOSED, FOR ME, THE FACT THAT THE ENTIRE NATURAL WORLD, WHETHER IT BE LAND OR SEA, IS A MASSIVE ASSEMBLY OF INDIVIDUAL ECOSYSTEMS. EACH ONE BEING SOME WHAT SELF SUSTAINING, CONTAINING A LARGE NUMBER OF ORGANISMS WORKING TOGETHER TO MAINTAIN A BALANCED SYSTEM TO SUPPORT LIFE, AND TOTALLY DEPENDENT UPON DIVERSITY AND RELATIONSHIPS. THIS TRULY DESCRIBES THE COMPLEXITY DESIGNED INTO THE CREATION OF OUR PLANET, AND PROVIDES THE MISSING LINK WHICH SUPPORTS THE CONCEPT OF INTELLIGENT DESIGN.
THE IMPLICATION FOR THE HUMAN IS GREAT! HUMANITY’S BELIEF IN OUR ABILITY TO DOMINATE, CONTROL, MANIPULATE AND CHANGE NATURE, IS UNREALISTIC. OUR PAST EFFORTS HAVE ONLY UPSET THE BALANCE WITHIN ECOSYSTEMS AND RESULTED IN LOSS OF THESE NATURAL SYSTEMS REQUIRED FOR LIFE ON EARTH.
SCIENCE HAS NOW DISCOVERED LIFE EVEN FURTHER BELOW THE GROUND THEN WE PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT COULD EXIST. IT ACTUALLY IS LIVING IN BEDROCK FORMATIONS, WITH SOME SPECIES CAPABLE OF LIVING FOR MILLENNIUMS. WE CURRENTLY HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE OF WHETHER THIS SUBTERRANEAN LIFE HAS ANY CONNECTION TO THE SURFACE ECOSYSTEMS, BUT LOGIC SUGGESTS IT MAY.
I AM INTRIGUED BY HOW MUCH WE HAVE DISCOVERED ABOUT THE COMPLEXITY OF CREATION OF OUR PLANET, BUT EVEN MORE INTRIGUED BY HOW MUCH WE DO NOT KNOW. IT IS THE LACK OF KNOWLEDGE THAT HAS ALLOWED OUR DESTRUCTIVE DEMAND FOR RESOURCES AND WEALTH TO JEOPARDIZE THE FUTURE OF LIFE, INCLUDING HUMAN LIFE, ON EARTH. WE CAN MEASURE THE IMPACTS OF HUMAN CONSUMPTION WITH MODERN TECHNOLOGY TODAY, AND THE RESULTS ARE OBVIOUS. WE ARE CURRENTLY EXPERIENCING RAPID POPULATION GROWTH, THE HIGHEST RECORDED CARBON LEVELS IN THE ATMOSPHERE, RISING SEA LEVELS, DRAMATIC CLIMATE CHANGES, PANDEMICS, MASSIVE WILDFIRES, RAPID DEFORESTATION AND MAJOR LOSS OF NATURAL ECOSYSTEMS. MANY PEOPLE STILL REFUSE TO ACCEPT THAT THIS IS THE RESULT OF HUMAN OVER-CONSUMPTION AND MISMANAGEMENT OF EARTH’S REMAINING NATURAL WORLD.
THERE IS SOLID INFORMATION THAT PROVIDES THE TRUE FACTS ABOUT HUMANITY’S DEPENDENCE UPON THE NATURAL WORLD. THE NATURAL WORLD IS AN AMALGAMATION OF MILLIONS, POSSIBLE BILLIONS, OF ECOSYSTEMS WITHIN EVERY COMPONENT OF EARTH’S NATURAL SYSTEMS. THESE ECOSYSTEMS ARE UNIQUE NATURAL COMMUNITIES CONTAINING A DIVERSE MIX OF DIFFERENT SPECIES WORKING TOGETHER TO SUSTAIN BALANCE AND LIFE WITHIN THE UNIT. THE HUMAN SPECIES, HISTORICALLY, SPREAD TO EVERY CORNER OF EARTH, BUT FOUND IT BENEFICIAL TO CONCENTRATE IN GROUPS FOR SECURITY AND SHARED SUPPORT. CONCENTRATED GROUP LIVING IS NOW THE NORM.
WITH THE PROGRESSION OF TIME, POPULATION EXPANSION AND THE INTRODUCTION OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION, CAUSED HUMAN POPULATIONS TO TRANSITION FROM RURAL TO URBAN LIVING. THESE URBAN COMMUNITIES WERE MANKIND’S EFFORT TO CREATE ARTIFICIAL HUMAN ECOSYSTEMS. PROBLEM WAS, THEY HAD TO RELY ON RESOURCES OUTSIDE THE COMMUNITY. OUR INCREASING DEMANDS FROM THE NATURAL WORLD HAS RESULTED IN THE OVER UTILIZATION OF RESOURCES AND EXTINCTION OF SPECIES WHICH UPSETS THE BALANCE AND, IN MANY CASES THE DESTRUCTION OF MOST OF OUR NATURAL ECOSYSTEMS.
THE EVIDENCE IS CLEAR AND THE ISSUES HAVE BEEN DEFINED. HUMANITY’S GROWING POPULATION AND EXPANDING DEMAND FOR RESOURCES, IS THE PRIMARY CAUSE OF OVER 90% OF OUR COMPROMISED AND DYING ECOSYSTEMS. THE FOCUS OF OUR SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS ON DEVELOPING NEW TECHNOLOGY TO SATISFY HUMAN DESIRES FOR A MORE AFFLUENT LIFE STYLE MUST CHANGE. WE MUST FIND WAYS TO ENHANCE AND REGENERATE WHAT WE HAVE DESTROYED. IT IS NO LONGER ACCEPTABLE TO MANAGE OUR REMAINING NATURAL WORLD FOR A SUSTAINED FLOW OF PRODUCTS AND RESOURCES. WE MUST FOCUS MANAGEMENT ON SUSTAINING THE NATURAL WORLD AND THE ELEMENTS THEY PROVIDE WHICH SUPPORT LIFE ON PLANET EARTH.
