My latest newspaper column
Whether in the pages of a conservation group’s journal, like Sierra (the magazine of the Sierra Club) or mainstream media outlets, nearly all of the expressed environmental concern these days is about climate change. However, there’s another environmental crisis happening that could be just as important: The loss of biodiversity, a k a “natural heritage” or “natural diversity.” Through at least the last two decades, more than a few conservation organizations have taken up the cause. I’ve been a long-time supporter and rabid speaker for several, including Wildlands Network (www.twp.org), National Audubon Society, Society for Conservation Biology and The Nature Conservancy.
Leading conservation biologists and veteran conservation leaders (the list is long and includes Teddy Roosevelt, David Brower, Aldo Leopold, E.O. Wilson, and many others) tell us that our planet – the only one we’ve got – is going through the greatest extinction of species since the dinosaurs disappeared 65 million years ago. We are now losing species at the rate of nearly 30,000 a year. The difference between this extinction cycle and the previous ones is that rather than a planetary or galactic process, this one is caused by just of the species on our planet.
By taking up an increasing amount of space (sprawl), producing massive pollution, crating climate change and fostering invasive species, we are making it harder and harder for other species to exist. By any ecological measure, Homo sapiens has well exceeded its carrying-capacity size and is having an adverse impact on all other species.
Who cares? You may ask. Why is this important? Isn’t human life more important than other forms of life? Shouldn’t we be concerned only about the future of the human species?
Unfortunately, we cannot separate ourselves from the rest of life, although by living and working inside buildings it often seems that way. Nature is a complex system sometimes referred to as the “web of life.” The millions of species exist in a complex and delicate balance that’s interconnected by food chains, nutrient cycles, hydrological cycles and the climate system. Microbes in the soil are connected to plants, plants to animals – and everything is connected to air, water and sun.
If we were to lose all the bees on Earth due to colony collapse disorder, or all the bats due to white-nose syndrome, our food supply would suffer badly as there would be a lack of pollination, or plants would be overrun by insects. Apples don’t just show up on the grocer’s shelves. Living organisms produce and clean our air, filter our water, control floods, store carbon, distribute nutrients and provide many other ecosystem services. With such complex and fragile ecosystems we never know what the impact of the loss of a certain species might mean to our own survival.
Humans can probably adjust to a warming planet, although there will be increasing suffering by millions of people. However, the warming planet with the droughts, desertification and rising sea levels also will change the space available for other species. One good case study: The maple syrup-producing sugar maple. (Read a National Public Radio report at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15658526)
Biodiversity needs space in the form of land forests, wetlands and oceans in order to exist. That amount of space is fixed, and the ability of species to move safely and freely between appropriate habitats has been – and continues to be – compromised.
By the mid-19th century, humans had altered so much of the land we had to reintroduce deer and beaver, then fisher, turkey, peregrine falcon and bald eagle and others. Wolves and cougars still are missing from most of their historic ranges.
About 50 percent of the planet’s land mass has been transformed for human use, and that percentage is increasing as what land speculators call “raw land” or “prime acreage” is transformed from wild nature to parking lot or lawn.
Biodiversity is key to our quality of life. Worldwide, 12 percent of mammals, 12 percent of birds, 30 percent of reptiles and amphibians and nearly 40 percent of fish are threatened with extinction. Learn more from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at www.fws.gov/endangered. Having lived in many places during a career in the U.S. Air Force, I’ve had the good fortune to see many rare critters but have also witnessed the disappearance of others. The spruce grouse of the Adirondacks and other boreal regions is one that comes to mind. Although some species might disappear with no immediate human impact, we have an ethical responsibility to maintain populations of other species. In addition to a physical link, there is a spiritual connection with all life, and we need to recognize that connection and responsibility no matter what our religious beliefs.
The individual can do several things to help insure we maintain our rich biodiversity and keep our natural heritage so essential to life.
Most importantly, we can tell our elected leaders about this issue and ask them to think real progress, not “growth for the sake of growth” in their decision-making. To maintain biodiversity, we’ve also got to stabilize the growth of the human species so that we don’t take up more and more space. Finally, elected leaders also need to develop government policies that protect land and support conservation of habitat and long-term planning for it. We can buy local and support local farmers, eat lower on the food chain, reduce consumption and become humans again, not just “consumers.” Most importantly, get outdoors, particularly with younger folk. Turn off the video game console and TV and reconnect with nature.
Climate change and biodiversity are closely allied issues. Let’s be concerned about both of them, make our own efforts to address them, and support the work of organizations that are working to solve them.
Very good column!
Great column, Alan. I liked the “growth for the sake of growth” part. Well said.