'EXTINCTION CRISIS': Nature in worst shape in human history, UN report says
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Why climate change is an irrelevance, economic growth is a myth and sustainability is forty years too late
As someone who has been exploring the world’s most isolated wilderness regions for nearly half a century, I have some insight into the state of the planet and the human race’s current environmental befuddlement. I’ve watched the condition of the earth plummet before my eyes within my own lifespan, to the extent that I no longer recognize it as the beautiful, diverse supporter of all life it once was.
So let me start by addressing a few key points of confusion that seem to affect both keen activists and head-in-the-sand deniers in equal measure:
Climate change is not the biggest threat to the world’s environment – we are. The world’s rivers and seas aren’t choked with floating piles of rubbish, toxic chemicals and plastic waste because of climate change. They’re that way because we have 7.7 billion people crammed onto a planet that’s dying under the pressure of our greedy, selfish abuse. Two decades from now, the earth’s oceans are on target to contain more plastic in them (by weight) than fish. Climate change didn’t do that. Way too many people did that.
Climate change hasn’t covered the world with concrete or replaced healthy ecosystems with canal estates and shopping malls – we and our ever-increasing numbers are the culprit. Climate change is only one of many symptoms of an out-of-control disease – human overpopulation. The irreversible environmental damage stemming from having too many people on a finite planet is already painfully evident. Our bloated population is diminishing our children’s futures in ways that have very little to do with the planet’s temperature.
I keep hearing people say “Humans have always found a way to solve difficult problems, so don’t worry – it’ll all work itself out”. Alas, the problem the earth faces now is one it has never dealt with before – a plague of nearly 8 billion humans. It can’t cope anymore.
We’ve been so distracted making money, embracing our agendas and spreading myths about ‘growth’ and ‘progress’ that we forgot to notice we’ve turned our only viable planetary home into a spherical garbage dump. Humans may be impressively intelligent, but they’re also profoundly self-focused and short-sighted.
No politician talks about our population epidemic. All you hear from them is ‘jobs, jobs, jobs’ and ‘more growth’. You don’t hear climate change activists talking about overpopulation, either. It’s too dangerous a subject, too painful a reality. It permanently occupies the ‘too hard’ basket.
More: http://globalcomment.com/why-climat...th-and-sustainability-is-forty-years-too-late
Like I've been saying, climate change and carbon dioxide are smoke screens to cover up that we are poisoning the planet. Like Jason Momoa said, "humans area plague on the Earth".
As someone who has been exploring the world’s most isolated wilderness regions for nearly half a century, I have some insight into the state of the planet and the human race’s current environmental befuddlement. I’ve watched the condition of the earth plummet before my eyes within my own lifespan, to the extent that I no longer recognize it as the beautiful, diverse supporter of all life it once was.
So let me start by addressing a few key points of confusion that seem to affect both keen activists and head-in-the-sand deniers in equal measure:
Climate change is not the biggest threat to the world’s environment – we are. The world’s rivers and seas aren’t choked with floating piles of rubbish, toxic chemicals and plastic waste because of climate change. They’re that way because we have 7.7 billion people crammed onto a planet that’s dying under the pressure of our greedy, selfish abuse. Two decades from now, the earth’s oceans are on target to contain more plastic in them (by weight) than fish. Climate change didn’t do that. Way too many people did that.
Climate change hasn’t covered the world with concrete or replaced healthy ecosystems with canal estates and shopping malls – we and our ever-increasing numbers are the culprit. Climate change is only one of many symptoms of an out-of-control disease – human overpopulation. The irreversible environmental damage stemming from having too many people on a finite planet is already painfully evident. Our bloated population is diminishing our children’s futures in ways that have very little to do with the planet’s temperature.
I keep hearing people say “Humans have always found a way to solve difficult problems, so don’t worry – it’ll all work itself out”. Alas, the problem the earth faces now is one it has never dealt with before – a plague of nearly 8 billion humans. It can’t cope anymore.
We’ve been so distracted making money, embracing our agendas and spreading myths about ‘growth’ and ‘progress’ that we forgot to notice we’ve turned our only viable planetary home into a spherical garbage dump. Humans may be impressively intelligent, but they’re also profoundly self-focused and short-sighted.
No politician talks about our population epidemic. All you hear from them is ‘jobs, jobs, jobs’ and ‘more growth’. You don’t hear climate change activists talking about overpopulation, either. It’s too dangerous a subject, too painful a reality. It permanently occupies the ‘too hard’ basket.
More: http://globalcomment.com/why-climat...th-and-sustainability-is-forty-years-too-late
Like I've been saying, climate change and carbon dioxide are smoke screens to cover up that we are poisoning the planet. Like Jason Momoa said, "humans area plague on the Earth".
If the planet warms up then everyone will turn off their heat and go have fun outside - LESS CO2!!!
cliffy HATES the thought of other people having fun even though they deserve it and paid for it.
LOL, baby eaters. No reasoning with them at all.
cliffy HATES the thought of other people having fun even though they deserve it and paid for it.
LOL, baby eaters. No reasoning with them at all.
"When you align with the people who are most responsible for this planetary crisis, you are compromising everything. You can't hold the global elites accountable and join them in their faux solutions without becoming morally neutered."- Alexia Olson
All the Species Declared Extinct This Decade
Lonesome George, the last of the Pinta Island tortoises, died in 2012. George’s story is the perfect extinction story. It features a charismatic character with a recognizable face, an obvious villain, and the tireless efforts of naturalists.
The population of the Pinta Island tortoise species was decimated by whalers hunting and eating them during the 19th century. Zoologist József Vágvölgyi discovered George in 1971 and brought him into captivity. No other Pinta Island Tortoises have since been found. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) declared the species extinct in the wild in 1996, while researchers attempted to breed George with other tortoises to at least preserve his genetic material. But George died—of natural causes—sparking news stories about his life and legacy, which media outlets continue to cover to this day.
But George’s story is not a typical story. Perhaps a better mascot of the extinction crisis is Plectostoma sciaphilum; a small snail, called a “microjewel” for its beautiful, intricate shell, that inhabited a single limestone hill in Malaysia. During the 2000s, a cement company wiped the hill off the map for its valuable resources, rendering the “microjewel” snail extinct.
Scientists estimate that species are going extinct 1,000 times faster than they should be, and “literally dozens” go extinct each day. But these estimates aren’t made from stories about big, rare zoo attractions; most of those victims are likely invertebrates, plants, and other beings you may not think much about. Even figuring out the actual extent of the biodiversity crisis is difficult, given how hard it is to estimate what we don’t know. Earth might be home to anywhere from 5 million to 10 million species, or perhaps a trillion, according to disparate estimates, of which researchers have catalogued less than 2 million. The IUCN’s Red List names only a thousand extinct or extinct-in-the-wild species—but one paper estimated that 7 percent of the known extant species might be extinct, if you include estimates of invertebrate extinctions.
More: https://gizmodo.com/all-the-species-declared-extinct-this-decade-1840325660
Lonesome George, the last of the Pinta Island tortoises, died in 2012. George’s story is the perfect extinction story. It features a charismatic character with a recognizable face, an obvious villain, and the tireless efforts of naturalists.
The population of the Pinta Island tortoise species was decimated by whalers hunting and eating them during the 19th century. Zoologist József Vágvölgyi discovered George in 1971 and brought him into captivity. No other Pinta Island Tortoises have since been found. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) declared the species extinct in the wild in 1996, while researchers attempted to breed George with other tortoises to at least preserve his genetic material. But George died—of natural causes—sparking news stories about his life and legacy, which media outlets continue to cover to this day.
But George’s story is not a typical story. Perhaps a better mascot of the extinction crisis is Plectostoma sciaphilum; a small snail, called a “microjewel” for its beautiful, intricate shell, that inhabited a single limestone hill in Malaysia. During the 2000s, a cement company wiped the hill off the map for its valuable resources, rendering the “microjewel” snail extinct.
Scientists estimate that species are going extinct 1,000 times faster than they should be, and “literally dozens” go extinct each day. But these estimates aren’t made from stories about big, rare zoo attractions; most of those victims are likely invertebrates, plants, and other beings you may not think much about. Even figuring out the actual extent of the biodiversity crisis is difficult, given how hard it is to estimate what we don’t know. Earth might be home to anywhere from 5 million to 10 million species, or perhaps a trillion, according to disparate estimates, of which researchers have catalogued less than 2 million. The IUCN’s Red List names only a thousand extinct or extinct-in-the-wild species—but one paper estimated that 7 percent of the known extant species might be extinct, if you include estimates of invertebrate extinctions.
More: https://gizmodo.com/all-the-species-declared-extinct-this-decade-1840325660
New Amazon Species Discovered Every Other Day
BY SARAH GIBBENS
New Amazon Species Discovered Every Other Day
The Brazilian Amazon is so full of life that, on average, explorers are finding a new species of plant or animal every other day.
That's the conclusion of a two-year review of newfound species conducted by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and an environmental group based in Mamirauá, Brazil. These organizations tracked the number of new vertebrate and plant species reported from the Amazon in 2014 and 2015. They used only peer-reviewed journals, which means that any new species claims had to be supported by other researchers.
In total, the team collected credible reports of 381 newly described species, including 216 plants, 93 fish, 32 amphibians, 20 mammals, 19 reptiles, and one bird.
BY SARAH GIBBENS
New Amazon Species Discovered Every Other Day
The Brazilian Amazon is so full of life that, on average, explorers are finding a new species of plant or animal every other day.
That's the conclusion of a two-year review of newfound species conducted by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and an environmental group based in Mamirauá, Brazil. These organizations tracked the number of new vertebrate and plant species reported from the Amazon in 2014 and 2015. They used only peer-reviewed journals, which means that any new species claims had to be supported by other researchers.
In total, the team collected credible reports of 381 newly described species, including 216 plants, 93 fish, 32 amphibians, 20 mammals, 19 reptiles, and one bird.
Stephen Hawking: Greed And Stupidity Are What Will End The Human Race
Near the time of his death, the late Stephen Hawking remained convinced that the human race would require a “Planet B” if the species hoped to continued its existence.
Hawking believed that climate change would be humanity's extinction event.
Via BBC:
Near the time of his death, the late Stephen Hawking remained convinced that the human race would require a “Planet B” if the species hoped to continued its existence.
Hawking believed that climate change would be humanity's extinction event.
Via BBC:
"We are close to the tipping point where global warming becomes irreversible. Trump's action could push the Earth over the brink, to become like Venus, with a temperature of two hundred and fifty degrees, and raining sulphuric acid," he told BBC News.
...
"Climate change is one of the great dangers we face, and it's one we can prevent if we act now."
More: https://mavenroundtable.io/theintel...ill-end-the-human-race-xNA9_p9ZkEubbQPb3BBh6A
...
"Climate change is one of the great dangers we face, and it's one we can prevent if we act now."
More: https://mavenroundtable.io/theintel...ill-end-the-human-race-xNA9_p9ZkEubbQPb3BBh6A