III. LOSS OF BIODIVERSITY
32. The earth’s resources are also being plundered because of
short-sighted approaches to the economy, commerce and production. The
loss of forests and woodlands entails the loss of species which may
constitute extremely important resources in the future, not only for
food but also for curing disease and other uses. Different species
contain genes which could be key resources in years ahead for meeting
human needs and regulating environmental problems.33. It is not enough, however, to think of different species merely as potential “resources” to be exploited, while overlooking the fact that they have value in themselves. Each year sees the disappearance of thousands of plant and animal species which we will never know, which our children will never see, because they have been lost for ever. The great majority become extinct for reasons related to human activity. Because of us, thousands of species will no longer give glory to God by their very existence, nor convey their message to us. We have no such right.
34. It may well disturb us to learn of the extinction of mammals or birds, since they are more visible. But the good functioning of ecosystems also requires fungi, algae, worms, insects, reptiles and an innumerable variety of microorganisms. Some less numerous species, although generally unseen, nonetheless play a critical role in maintaining the equilibrium of a particular place. Human beings must intervene when a geosystem reaches a critical state. But nowadays, such intervention in nature has become more and more frequent. As a consequence, serious problems arise, leading to further interventions; human activity becomes ubiquitous, with all the risks which this entails. Often a vicious circle results, as human intervention to resolve a problem further aggravates the situation. For example, many birds and insects which disappear due to synthetic agrotoxins are helpful for agriculture: their disappearance will have to be compensated for by yet other techniques which may well prove harmful. We must be grateful for the praiseworthy efforts being made by scientists and engineers dedicated to finding solutions to man-made problems. But a sober look at our world shows that the degree of human intervention, often in the service of business interests and consumerism, is actually making our earth less rich and beautiful, ever more limited and grey, even as technological advances and consumer goods continue to abound limitlessly. We seem to think that we can substitute an irreplaceable and irretrievable beauty with something which we have created ourselves.
February 10, 2014
By Al Gore
...Over the past decade, (click here) Elizabeth Kolbert has established herself as one of
our very best science writers. She has developed a distinctive and
eloquent voice of conscience on issues arising from the extraordinary
assault on the ecosphere, and those who have enjoyed her previous works
like “Field Notes From a Catastrophe” will not be disappointed by her
powerful new book, “The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History.”
Kolbert,
a staff writer at The New Yorker, reports from the front lines of the
violent collision between civilization and our planet’s ecosystem: the
Andes, the Amazon rain forest, the Great Barrier Reef — and her
backyard. In lucid prose, she examines the role of man-made climate
change in causing what biologists call the sixth mass extinction — the
current spasm of plant and animal loss that threatens to eliminate 20 to
50 percent of all living species on earth within this century.
Extinction
is a relatively new idea in the scientific community. Well into the
18th century, people found it impossible to accept the idea that species
had once lived on earth but had been subsequently lost. Scientists
simply could not envision a planetary force powerful enough to wipe out
forms of life that were common in prior ages....
