The biosphere is under assault. Climate change is happening faster than species can adapt. Ecosystems are under threat. Tropical forests are falling at the rate of a football field per minute. Amphibians worldwide are going extinct. Passerine birds are declining. The sixth great global extinction is well underway, with an alarming number of species slipping into the extinction vortex. Causing , driving, or exacerbating all these things is a current human population s8ize and growth rate beyond any imaginable global, sustainable carrying capacity. (p. 352-353)Later on the same page they write there is hope but only if human animals align themselves with behaviors to support a sustainable Earth:
The working end of such an alignment would be a rejection of the belief that growth is good, increased consumption is necessary, resources are unlimited, everything natural is stock-and-commodity just there for the taking, and human dominance over nature is a divine right. (p.353)The number of humans is astonishing, for instance there are now about 1.3 billion people in China...the human population of the whole planet in 1900 was only about 1.6 billion. (source)
The population of the state of California is about 38 million. The population of the city of Tokyo metropolitan area is about 36 million. (source, source). Amazing (horribly so).
Just in my lifetime, the number of human animals on the planet has more than tripled.
We are a species of primates out of control (no disrespect to the other primate species).
Help.
12 comments:
It all seems to be going that way doesn't it? With no (happy) end in sight.
I have no idea how to get people to re-route their lives... Everyone I know has no problem with the rate of consumption. No worries about a vanishing ecosystem, climate woes or species extinction. They're all very "nice" folks though --- They just refuse to acknowledge that we just can't continue this way. Someone or rather some generation has to draw the line and reverse gluttonous habits... Their answer always is - Not me or mine!
And since it seems we will continue expanding populations and unsustainable consumption - I have no doubts we will never survive to write the history of how our species ate it's way to peril. Pity for what we could have been.
Thank you for commenting Bea. The 'nice' ones perplex me too...I'm as much at a loss as you are as to how to faciltate 're-routing' (good way to state it). We're not rational beings (I don't know why we keep trying to see ourselves that way) and we don't behave rationally. We're very much out of our environmental and evolutionary context (population-wise) yet we want to continue to behave as if we are still tiny in number and infinitesimal in environmental impact.
Woe be unto our planet and the life thereon.
Me too, Bea. Everyone I know (save a handful, if that) continues on, eating meat, shopping away, reproducing, as if the world around them isn't in danger. Having three children seems in vogue these days. It's all very sad.
Thank you for commenting DEM. Sad indeed.
Have you seen this video yet? It's pretty cool. Scary, but cool. Actually, it's warm, but you'll see what I mean.
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2011-temps.html
Thanks for the link HGV. No, I hadn't seen that graphic...very well done and spooky indeed. Thank you.
This winter here is well on its way to being remarkably warm...this does not bode well...
Watched "If A Tree Falls" last night - a documentary about the Earth Liberation Front. Great way to get one's blood pressure up. Kinda made me want to get on with the monkeywrenching... But you are right. There are too many of us - and no end in sight to the continued growth.
I agree, it's terrifying. What I find depressing is that even in light of the toll our overconsumption and overpopulation is taking on our environment, our resources, and the species that co-habitate on earth with us, the American government continues to incentivize marriage and procreation, in the form of tax incentives. In my opinion, this needs to stop. You can't stop people from procreating irresponsibly but you CAN stop rewarding them for it. Just my two cents.
Thank you for commenting Annie. I'm really eager to watch the ELF documentary...ELF and ALF (great acronyms)...a couple of my most admired groups.
BTW, thank you for the phenomenal work you are doing with your blog: An Unrefined Vegan.(http://anunrefinedvegan.com/) The recipes you are posting are awesome!
Thank you for commenting Lisa. I'm in agreement with your thoughts and your two cents is very valuable. :-)
The world population is approaching 7 billion... what a scary thought. Maybe we should implement that Chinese "one-child policy" that forbade families from having more than one child? Oh wait... that only resulted in female babies being thrown away/dumped because the majority of families wanted male babies to cary on their "legacy" (blech). That won't work then... ugh. We're screwed. That is, unless people start to open their eyes and stop consuming animal products, start investing more money into cleaner energy and stop thinking of nobody but themselves.
Thank you VeganRabbit for commenting. You're probably correct...unless some serious waking-up occurs.
Post a Comment