Biodiversity-Wildlife preservation Scientists estimate that there are currently between 1.8 million and 8.7 million plant and animal species on Earth. Those estimating the higher number place 2.1 million of those in the ocean. No matter how many species there are, everyone seems to agree that there tend to be more species in the tropics than in cooler climates or at the poles. Wet climates tend to have more species than dryer climates. Scientists also estimate that today, we have between 1 and 3 percent of all species that have ever existed, especially when microbial species are included. Over the history of the earth, scientists believe there have been five major mass extinctions leading to drops in biodiversity. After an extinction event 251 million years ago, vertebrate recovery took 30 million years. The most well-known extinction event is the Cretaceous-Paleogene event of 65 million years ago—thought to have been the result of meteorites striking the planet, resulting in the wholesale extinction of the dinosaurs. Today, many believe that the planet is headed for the next whole-sale extinction; the first man-made event. Climate change would play a large role in the next extinction event, but would not be the only factor. Loss of habitat, for example, will also play a crucial role as will indiscriminate use of fertilizers and insecticides. Many see these causes as willfully, knowingly and deliberately man-made. But of course where there are believers, there are also non-believers, or deniers. Americans who believe climates are changing, tend to believe as well that climates are changing due to human intervention. Then there are those who believe humans could change their course and preserve the climate we have now, and which we have had for hundreds, maybe thousands of years. “Deniers” tend to fall into categories that dispute the conclusions of 97 percent of science professionals. Some deny that the climate is changing at all. Others concede that the climate is changing but classify the change as just one more phase of climate changes over the eons: human activity, they say, has little or nothing to do with it; the changes would have happened anyway, even if homo sapiens didn’t exist. The National Science Board reports that today, only .01 percent of all professional scientists still deny that climate change exists. Only about 3 percent deny that human activity is the cause of climate change. In the United States, though, there is a struggle between a lion’s share of scientists, environmentalists and politicians on one side with politicians and industrialists but virtually no credible, unbiased scientists on the other. Ninety percent of the Republican leadership in both the American House and Senate deny climate change. This has taken questions of environmental conservation away from scientists and environmentalists and put them directly into the hands of politicians with little or no training in the fields and industrialists with vested interests in continued environmental destruction. Neither of these classes of deniers have credible science to back them up. Here are interests and issues I have categorized as Biodiversity-Wildlife Preservation. These were submitted by Facebook friends. Any thoughts or comments? Biodiversity-Wildlife Preservation 1. Acceptance of a new normal -- There is widespread controversy among biologists/ conservationists about the notion that humans have altered the environment to the extent that a new normal should be accepted, and that current efforts to restore and preserve are ineffective and should be abandoned. A new era, the Anthropocene, has arrived, acknowledging that humans have created a new world with their influence on natural systems. 1 2. Loss of native wildlife -- People are moving into habitats where wildlife was once safe and separate from people. Encounters with bears, alligators, deer and other wildlife are increasing, leading to elimination of those animals that challenge human intrusion.1 3. Loss of biological diversity -- From backyard-scale to large swaths of land, all the plant and animal species are important to keeping a healthy living system in place. As Aldo Leopold, the great conservationist said, The first rule of intelligent tinkering is to keep all the pieces. 1 4. Reestablish and grow barrier reef. 1 5. Loss of pollinators -- Without the insects that pollinate our food crops (and backyard flowers and gardens), food producers will be challenged to find other means of pollination. Insecticides have become increasingly sophisticated in reducing crop damage, but in the process, the very crucial step to producing food -- plant pollination has been reduced. Getting our pollinators back is a tricky business. I believe that many bird populations are declining; insects are their primary food source.1
Posted on: Sat, 24 May 2014 18:39:34 +0000
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