Climate Change and the New Age of Extinction
People easily forget “last of” stories about individual species, but the loss of nature also threatens our existence.
Climate Change and the New Age of Extinction
May 13 - By Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker
To keep nearly eight billion people fed, not to mention housed, clothed, and hooked on YouTube, humans have transformed most of the earth’s surface. Seventy-five per cent of the land is “significantly altered,” the I.P.B.E.S. noted in a summary of its report, which was released last week in Paris. In addition, “66 per cent of the ocean area is experiencing increasing cumulative impacts, and over 85 per cent of wetlands (area) has been lost.” Approximately half the world’s coral cover is gone. In the past ten years alone, at least seventy-five million acres of “primary or recovering forest” have been destroyed...
So far, it could be argued, the casualties haven’t slowed us down. The I.P.B.E.S. report cautions, however, against assuming that this pattern will continue. Nature, it succinctly observes, “is essential for human existence.” The report points to pollinators as one group of organisms that humans can’t readily do without. Ninety per cent of flowering plants and seventy-five per cent of all types of food crops rely on pollination by animals-birds, bats, and (mostly) insects. Cash crops including coffee, cocoa, and almonds are pollinator-dependent. In many regions, important pollinators, like native bees, are in decline. It’s not clear exactly why, but probably one of the major factors is an increasing reliance on synthetic pesticides, which don’t distinguish between insects that are useful and those that are unwanted. These chemicals are supposed to prevent crop failures; the danger is that they may end up causing them.
See full article at: THE NEW YORKER
More:
Elizabeth Kolbert - 2009 - The Sixth Extinction?
Bill McKibben - (May 1) - Notes from a Remarkable Political Moment for Climate Change
Bill McKibben - (May 08) - The U.N. Report on Extinction vs. Mike Pompeo at the Arctic Council
Humans Have 30 Years To Stave Off Climate Catastrophe, 'Uninhabitable Earth' (I think this is part 1 of the great interview, so search site for part 2).
Often Overlooked, Declining Plant Biodiversity Sows Trouble For Humans
Widespread permafrost degradation seen in high Arctic terrain (or try http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/scienceblogrssfeed/~3/S63zlux1UUY/)
Better understanding of the effect of melting ice sheets: Experts weigh in
New method to predict the vulnerability of ecosystems
Could Air-Conditioning Fix Climate Change?
Humans causing shrinking of nature as larger animals die off
NOTE to members: You are welcomed to peruse the (comprehensive) mega-tag over at my own journal, named, "all * climate change". It currently holds 125 posts, (which is 16 more than my tag for 'Donald Trump').
Welcome to new members!
I am going to open up the tags in this community so anyone can add whatever tags they choose. From time to time, i will go back and edit tags tags into some kind of system).
Everyone is encouraged to sway their own friends to join this community, even if it means they need to start their own LiveJournals, because current climate change, (no matter who or what has been causing it)t, is the most important issue on Earth. Also, if you know of any other LJ people who seem like they'd like to join, you can just leave me their user names, and I will send them out official requests to join w_a_r_m_i_n_g! Thanks. Take care and be cool!
"Science cannot solve the ultimate mystery of nature. And that is because, in the last analysis, we ourselves are a part of the mystery that we are trying to solve." - Max Planck - Physicist (1858 - 1947)
Climate Change and the New Age of Extinction
May 13 - By Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker
To keep nearly eight billion people fed, not to mention housed, clothed, and hooked on YouTube, humans have transformed most of the earth’s surface. Seventy-five per cent of the land is “significantly altered,” the I.P.B.E.S. noted in a summary of its report, which was released last week in Paris. In addition, “66 per cent of the ocean area is experiencing increasing cumulative impacts, and over 85 per cent of wetlands (area) has been lost.” Approximately half the world’s coral cover is gone. In the past ten years alone, at least seventy-five million acres of “primary or recovering forest” have been destroyed...
So far, it could be argued, the casualties haven’t slowed us down. The I.P.B.E.S. report cautions, however, against assuming that this pattern will continue. Nature, it succinctly observes, “is essential for human existence.” The report points to pollinators as one group of organisms that humans can’t readily do without. Ninety per cent of flowering plants and seventy-five per cent of all types of food crops rely on pollination by animals-birds, bats, and (mostly) insects. Cash crops including coffee, cocoa, and almonds are pollinator-dependent. In many regions, important pollinators, like native bees, are in decline. It’s not clear exactly why, but probably one of the major factors is an increasing reliance on synthetic pesticides, which don’t distinguish between insects that are useful and those that are unwanted. These chemicals are supposed to prevent crop failures; the danger is that they may end up causing them.
See full article at: THE NEW YORKER
More:
Elizabeth Kolbert - 2009 - The Sixth Extinction?
Bill McKibben - (May 1) - Notes from a Remarkable Political Moment for Climate Change
Bill McKibben - (May 08) - The U.N. Report on Extinction vs. Mike Pompeo at the Arctic Council
Humans Have 30 Years To Stave Off Climate Catastrophe, 'Uninhabitable Earth' (I think this is part 1 of the great interview, so search site for part 2).
Often Overlooked, Declining Plant Biodiversity Sows Trouble For Humans
Widespread permafrost degradation seen in high Arctic terrain (or try http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/scienceblogrssfeed/~3/S63zlux1UUY/)
Better understanding of the effect of melting ice sheets: Experts weigh in
New method to predict the vulnerability of ecosystems
Could Air-Conditioning Fix Climate Change?
Humans causing shrinking of nature as larger animals die off
NOTE to members: You are welcomed to peruse the (comprehensive) mega-tag over at my own journal, named, "all * climate change". It currently holds 125 posts, (which is 16 more than my tag for 'Donald Trump').
Welcome to new members!
I am going to open up the tags in this community so anyone can add whatever tags they choose. From time to time, i will go back and edit tags tags into some kind of system).
Everyone is encouraged to sway their own friends to join this community, even if it means they need to start their own LiveJournals, because current climate change, (no matter who or what has been causing it)t, is the most important issue on Earth. Also, if you know of any other LJ people who seem like they'd like to join, you can just leave me their user names, and I will send them out official requests to join w_a_r_m_i_n_g! Thanks. Take care and be cool!
"Science cannot solve the ultimate mystery of nature. And that is because, in the last analysis, we ourselves are a part of the mystery that we are trying to solve." - Max Planck - Physicist (1858 - 1947)