Biologist warn of early stages of Earth's sixth mass extinction event

originally posted by: Char-Lee

originally posted by: soficrow

originally posted by: Char-Lee

originally posted by: soficrow
a reply to: Skywatcher2011

...the human race is growing and consuming everything in its path...

It is NOT human persons who are "growing and consuming everything," it's the corporate persons who are gobbling everything in their path.

The corporate persons and everyone who spends part of their week shopping for all the crude we seem to feel we need! Who makes WalMart happen...the shoppers.

"Consumers" have FAR less power than we are led to believe - do you have any idea how many new, unsold products end up in our landfills? Including "food products?"

Just how much garbage can be produced and dumped with zero profit?

A wholehelluvalot considering the profit margins, and the fact that deals are negotiated so the little-guy-contractors take all the risk.

a reply to: Quetzalcoatl14

"Sustainable Development" is a misnomer. There is nothing sustainable about human development. One solution causes another problem. I'm happy that you're working for what you believe in, but am not foolish enough to think this is attainable.

a reply to: ElohimJD

It doesn't matter how you or I define it. We're not on the list.

It only matters to those in a position to do something about our current situation.

This isn't up for ethical debate. That's besides the point. Sorry.

originally posted by: FlyersFan
Another excellent thread by Loam.

My comment ... in order for planet Earth to repair and survive, the human population must be severely reduced. And the survivors must be intelligent enough to be able to continue on in harmony with a proper environment. I don't know if humans are smart enough to do that.

Of course they are. They did it for millenia.

But who wants to?

Harte

originally posted by: BestinShow
a reply to: loam

From Source:

the number of invertebrate animals -- such as spiders -- has decreased by 45 percent.

I'm sorry, but I have no problem with this.

Well i will have to agree with you on that! So there are 45% less s.. arachnids. I don't notice any more flies or mosquitoes than usual so the theory that we'd be sorry to get rid of the foul creatures must be a myth, HAHA.

I hear a little bit of Georgia Guidestones talk. I can't say I disagree. The only way to maintain control is to have very regulated society. Doesn't necessarily mean we have to reduce the population, but to be honest, that would be the easiest way to catalyze that kind of society.

I also hear a bit of the matrix:

A lot of concepts in the matrix hold true to real life. Just because it's a movie doesn't make it any less relevant to those who study philosophy and spirituality. As soon as human beings started killing each other for land and "rights", we doomed not only ourselves, but everything around us. We truly have become nothing more then a virus, seeking self-gratification above anything else.

originally posted by: HumansEh
a reply to: pl3bscheese

It is in mankinds nature to move into an area, consume all it has to offer with no thought to regeneration, when that area is depleted and we have reproduced to swell our numbers, we spread and multiply.
We are a cancer upon this world.

You said that you hope that people are working to get a chunk of us off planet.
They are, but it will be the rich, the greedy, the entitled, and the corporate/military (the very ones destroying Earth) that will be the ones on those ships mark my words.

You hope we can leave here before we make it a barren poisoned wasteland.
The rest of the galaxy hopes we don't.

Once those rich, greedy, entitled, and corporate/military people are gone away to another planet or what-ever, I will be happy to stay behind on this nearly destroyed planet. Maybe then there will be an actual chance for those who actually care about the planet and its remaining life to start anew.

originally posted by: pl3bscheese
a reply to: Quetzalcoatl14

"Sustainable Development" is a misnomer. There is nothing sustainable about human development. One solution causes another problem. I'm happy that you're working for what you believe in, but am not foolish enough to think this is attainable.

Except, a huge amount of progress has been made. Yes, there are still problems. But sustainable development has moved toward whole system, holistic solutions, in part to avoid the single industry or single issue myopia that can cause problems.

You want to save the world? You want to stop the mass pollution and destruction occurring? You think one person can do nothing to stop it? We'll I have a solution for you, the one thing you can do that will grind to a halt the beast, STOP BUYING STUFF! It is just that simply, cutting down on fuel usage, solar power, and all that jazz is a drop in the bucket but stop buying stuff, and you break the whole chain. Of course you need to eat and stay warm wear clothing and such, but everything else you think you need, we'll you don't, and by buying that junk you are killing everything and every one, from war over material, slave labor to make it, toxic chemicals to produce, waste, all the way to obsolescence.

SAVE THE WORLD, STOP BUYING!


a reply to: pl3bscheese

originally posted by: BestinShow
a reply to: loam

From Source:

the number of invertebrate animals -- such as spiders -- has decreased by 45 percent.

I'm sorry, but I have no problem with this.

Spiders are our friends

global3.memecdn.com...

a reply to: loam

I remember a TED talk from sometime earlier this year in which a British ecologist discussed the re-wilding of wolves in Yellowstone. He related how this had a reverberating effect into all aspects of the park's ecology, including the hydrological systems of the park. He argued that the reintroduction of the wolf allowed for the natural stabilization of the deer and beaver population (among others, of course). These reduced, but stable, herbivore populations lead to less beaver dams and more surviving saplings, in turn stabilizing erosion on stream banks and allowing for more birds to inhabit small, tree-lined gullies.

The same can be explained in the introduction of the sheep to the American Southwest. This created a grazing pattern that ended the previous routine of regular, small brush fires that much of the ecology of the southwest had depended on for millennia (in terms of clearing old growth, fertilizing the soil and in pine cone seed proliferation). The sheep eradicated - quite literally ex radix - the small grasses and sedges and lower, green twigs of many native species of the region. Thus, the regular, periodic small wildfires that would eliminate the build up of larger branches and dead trees were no longer allowed to occur annually. Instead, years and years would go by, in any given area, without so much as a spark of brushfire. However, when the fires finally did (and still do) come at greater intervals mind you, they are not served up a meager bit of dry sagebrush here and there with a sprinkling of pine needles and various other kindling. Rather, these mega fire events are greeted with an all-you-can-eat buffet of dead or dying trees, piles of dry branches and, of course, wooden structures.

Let's face it, any single act or action (or hypercorrective reaction) in any environment has major repercussions that many times are not seen or felt at the same level or on the same time-scale so as to allow for humans to see the connection.

originally posted by: soficrow
a reply to: Skywatcher2011

...the human race is growing and consuming everything in its path...

It is NOT human persons who are "growing and consuming everything," it's the corporate persons who are gobbling everything in their path.

And consumers are blinded by this fact. At the end of the day if the world doesn't stand up to the corporate then you might as well expect that humankind will fail on the turning of the blind eye.

I don't think is a matter of reducing population or increasing intelligence as much as it is facing obvious facts. We have the technology to develop societies that work with nature rather then consume and change it. Though, becoming a spiritual species like some people claim we used to be, would have a great effect, it can be done with a proper use of the things we've developed. reply to: FlyersFan

Do you know, every year, in UK alone we kill just over a billion animals for food. Yes. One freaking billion animals per year. But we only consume 35%. The rest. 65% . 650.000.000 of the animals gos in the bin to keep the supermarket price at what they tell us it cost. Let's worry about real stuff that we are not comfortable talking about,,

Sorry about English.. ( don't we all..!!)

It annoys me that people kill Rhinos for their horns, believing they have medicinal ppurposes; they don't. Tigers and leopards, particularly the snow leopard, are beautiful animals and they are killed for their skin. Although I hate this and I would never do it, I understand why some do. The money is insane and since these animals live in countries with low salaries and high unemployment I can see why they do this. The only way it will stop is if these countries change their entire infrastructure, and that's not going to happen anytime soon. That's why there will be more extinctions long before anything can be done about it.

good, it's about time to clear the room...

humans are just a virus spreading around and destroying everything...

maybe cockroaches will do better

a reply to: Gatman30

Worth repeating, and worth a try.

...We have the technology to develop societies that work with nature rather then consume and change it.

The experts say that worrying about the condition of our planet is bad for the economy. The main rule is to maximize profit. That maximizes pleasure and power for those who play the game correctly. Those few "winners" made this rule. They are the experts.

I keep reading that people don't naturally collaborate. I see that people are naturally more selfish than selfless due to survival concerns. It takes leaders to bring people together. Those "winners" are also our leaders.

yes, homo sapiens are on the way out. to be replaced by the bashir race. just a skinnier version of us, bigger eyes.more emotional stable, capable of making that god connection(samadhi) easier. this has happened before.

This has probably been said before in this thread but: As a species we have very little respect for this planet and have this flawed assumption that both animals and natural resources "renewable" and we can pretty much harvest what we want without consequence. Our species has a population of 7 billion. Try to comprehend that number. Think about the number of people you pass every day while driving to work. Its almost unimaginable. As a species, we take much more than we give back. Our outputs outpace our inputs tenfold and many of our inputs/"sustainable" resources are aa joke. Our population is out of control, and it can be seen by the effect we are having on the planet. I am sure there will be countless animals and plants that will become extinct in next 100 years. We will have exhausted a ridiculous amount of our natural resources as well, which will force us to dig deeper and deeper -thus poisoning our planet more. The only way our species will survive is by colonizing, and eventually destroying, other planets. But....I think it will be too late before we have the capability to do such a thing.

Not criticizing our species or our economic system, just thinking out loud. The die has been cast and there is really nothing we can do at this point except watch it all fall apart. Maybe not in my lifetime, It'll be my future children and grandchildren's problem. Right?

Hope im wrong, but in the mean time. KEYSTONE-XL!!!!