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"Humans are the only species that were they to vanish from the face of the Earth, all other species would rejoice." That sums it up pretty much...
We're fouling our nest....we fail to see that we're all connected. As species go extinct, can we not see the hand-writing on the wall?
Beam me up, Scotty.
Extinction of species is natural, expected, and good. That’s how evolution works. 99% of all species that have ever existed are extinct. And no, other species would not rejoice. They would continue killing each other, eating each other, creating their waste, and doing EXACTLY WHAT WE DO. That’s how life works. It’s temporary.
And that's what it boils down to. We, as a species, are too selfish to accept our place in nature and stop exploiting. We are animals which have basically eliminated everything that would result in meaningful population control for ourselves. And many of us even refuse to acknowledge that our huge numbers and voracious behavior cause major problems for the entire planet, or don't care one bit.
The planet is a backdrop, not a museum. It is resource to be used. It can handle waste and pollution, and can support way more people than are presently here provided that we remain free to naturally develop new technologies to leverage the planet even further.
Extinction of species is natural, expected, and good. That’s how evolution works. 99% of all species that have ever existed are extinct. And no, other species would not rejoice. They would continue killing each other, eating each other, creating their waste, and doing EXACTLY WHAT WE DO. That’s how life works. It’s temporary.
Agree on the first part of what you said. "EXACTLY WHAT WE DO". Nope. I don't know of any others creatures that create oil spills, greenhouse gases, clear-cut forests, or manufacture PCBs except we humans....please correct me if I'm wrong.
Agree on the first part of what you said. "EXACTLY WHAT WE DO". Nope. I don't know of any others creatures that create oil spills, greenhouse gases, clear-cut forests, or manufacture PCBs except we humans....please correct me if I'm wrong.
I’m fine with an occasional oil spill. That’s a very tiny cost for having a modern society. And they can be reduced in frequency with technology and drilling advances. Greenhouse gases are not a problem. We’ll fix that also by simply running out of fossil fuels. Sometimes we create substances that are later determined to be dangerous like PCBs or even nicotine. We learn, then we fix it. Not a big deal. The lumber industry cuts down trees and replants even more trees.
The fact is, waste is WORTH IT. The problem is what to do with it, not whether to create it. I reject environmental measures that seek to curtail freedom and productivity. Let’s create lots of waste that gives us an amazing life, and figure out good solutions for storage and/or destruction.
I’m fine with an occasional oil spill. That’s a very tiny cost for having a modern society. And they can be reduced in frequency with technology and drilling advances. Greenhouse gases are not a problem. We’ll fix that also by simply running out of fossil fuels. Sometimes we create substances that are later determined to be dangerous like PCBs or even nicotine. We learn, then we fix it. Not a big deal. The lumber industry cuts down trees and replants even more trees.
The fact is, waste is WORTH IT. The problem is what to do with it, not whether to create it. I reject environmental measures that seek to curtail freedom and productivity. Let’s create lots of waste that gives us an amazing life, and figure out good solutions for storage and/or destruction.
Here is the part you have yet to understand.
You do not get to sh1t on everyone / everything else.
Other than petroleum, please document a natural resource that will become depleted in the next, say, 200 yrs.
Extinctions?.. The "life expectancy" of a species is on the order of 1,000,000 yrs, and the number of living species is on the order of 1,000,000, so, we 'd expect one species to go extinct "naturally" every year. Only about 300 species have been documented to have gone extinct in the last 500 yrs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...mals_of_Europe
Compare that to The Permian Extinction when 90% of all GENERA and a couple whole PHYLLA went extinct.
The NYT and Cosmopolitan should not be your source of science information.
I am way too old to read Cosmopolitan and I don't subscribe to the NYT. PSA: Wikipedia is not a reliable source of information.
Assessed species threatened with extinction in Europe
Human activity is causing one of the largest mass extinction of species the world has ever seen, according to a new study conducted by scientists in Mexico. An international team of researchers led by the National Autonomous University (UNAM) has found that since the year 1900, about 477 different species have become extinct because of continued human degradation and destruction of natural habitats. The team, led by UNAM researcher Gerardo Ceballos, calculated for the natural rate of extinction that has occurred in previous years through the use of fossil records. They then compared this figure to the one they observed in the past 100 years.
Natural resources = rain forests, rivers, grasslands, wetlands, old growth forests. Everyone who keeps track of environmental news is aware of the destruction/degradation of the above.
Species declining or becoming extinct due to human activity = too many to list. One very sad example (at least if you care) is the significant decline of migratory songbirds in Europe (and other continents/countries), due to hunting by humans, and due to habitat destruction of open fields, wetlands and other places these birds need to find insects during their journey, and areas where they breed.
Pollution of the oceans, over-fishing, barren soil because of use of chemicals instead of crop rotation which replenishes the soil. Loss of insects/pollinators because of rampant pesticide use. All of this is well documented and fact, no matter how much some want to deny it.
The planet is a backdrop, not a museum. It is resource to be used. It can handle waste and pollution, and can support way more people than are presently here provided that we remain free to naturally develop new technologies to leverage the planet even further.
Sorry, but NO. Resources should be used responsibly, not exploited/ruined/destroyed. We are supposed to be creatures with brains, not a bunch of locusts.
Sorry, but NO. Resources should be used responsibly, not exploited/ruined/destroyed. We are supposed to be creatures with brains, not a bunch of locusts.
I disagree. We can exploit with reason and freedom and do very nicely. Exploitation is good, not bad. Exploitation of resources makes the world go round and gives us a fantastic material existence.
You do not get to sh1t on everyone / everything else.
It is not Always All About You.
And you don’t get to relegate the world to some vision of primitivity that appeals to you. An occasional oil spill is going to happen, and that is totally OK and worth the cost. We can clean it up and move on. A modern lifestyle rich in material goods and comfort is totally worth the environmental cost as long as we keep on top of cleanup. Which we’ve largely done. Cleanup technology gets better all the time. That’s the correct solution. Not limiting development and resource exploitation.
I disagree. We can exploit with reason and freedom and do very nicely. Exploitation is good, not bad. Exploitation of resources makes the world go round and gives us a fantastic material existence.
I disagree. IMO, resource exploitation/destruction should be stopped.
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