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?
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?
