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 DEVINE 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 POPULSTION? 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!
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 DEVINE 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 POPULSTION? 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!
