ecological

ECOLOGICAL CATASTROPHE.

Planet Earth is facing an ecological catastrophe which will threaten the survival of The Human Species. I f you think that I am exaggerating, read the following quotes from authoritative sources:-

The following quote is from The (London) i (newspaper) October 11^th, 2021, page 11, Article:- UK facing and “ecological meltdown” over biodiversity, by Alannah Francis:- “The UK - - - - may not have enough biodiversity to prevent an “ecological meltdown”, according to new data. There is only an average of 53 percent of The UK’s (ecological) diversity left - - - - according to analysis by The Natural History Museum. - - - - - - Experts consider the “safe limit” to prevent - - - crop failures - - - to be an average of 90 per cent. (My comment:- This means that The UK has vastly exceeded the “safe limit” already, and things look likely to get worse!) - - - “Much of the world has lost a large amount of its natural biodiversity” said Dr Adriana De Palma from The Natural History Museum”

The following quotes are from the book The Long Emergency, by James Howard Kunstler, published by Atlantic Books, 2005.

Page 8:- “Within one hundred years, between one third and two thirds of all birds, animals, plants and other species will be lost. - - - - Environmental scientists speak of an “omega point” at which the vast interconnected networks of Earth’s ecologies are so weakened that HUMAN EXISTENCE IS NO LONGER POSSIBLE.” (My capitals.)

Page 165:- “The United States - - - - has lost more than half of its wetlands.”

Page 241:- “Farmland has in effect been strip-mined for short-term gain - - - - Iowa prairie soils 150 years ago had about twelve to sixteen inches of topsoil; now they have only about six to eight inches of topsoil.”

Here are some quotes from the book Confessions of a Recovering Environmentalist, by Paul Kingsnorth, published by Faber a Faber, 2017.

Page 2:- Extinction levels are higher than they have been for 65 million years. - - - - We have eroded half of the Earth’s topsoil in just a century and a half, and THE REST MAY LAST US ONLY ANOTHER SIXTY YEARS.” (My capitals.) (My comment:- In sixty years time from now, how are we supposed to grow food without topsoil?)

Pages 51 to 52:- Between 2008 and 2013 the honey bee was reported to have dropped by 30 percent in Britain (and up to 50 percent in some other European countries). If the collapse continues, THE BEE PROBLEM COULD BECOME A HUMAN PROBLEM; MANY OF OUR CROPS RELY ON BEES AND OTHER INSECTS TO POLLINATE THEM. (My capitals.)

Page 53:- “We live in what is easily the most ecologically destructive culture in human history.”

Pages 85 to 86:- “Since my birth, Homo sapiens - - - has managed to kill off between a quarter and a third of all the world’s wild - - life (The author then provides statistics for various categories of wildlife 25 percent of land-based species, 28 percent of marine species etc.)

Page 214:- The current extinction rate is estimated at anything between a hundred and ten thousand times the expected rate of “background extinction.” ”

Page 222:- A great change is under way, across the Earth. We cannot prevent it now, and its outcomes are not going to be pretty for much of humanity - - - - - The future offers chaos, uncertainty, loss. To deny this is to deny reality. - - - - There is an abyss opening up before us.”

Pages 258 to 259:- “The pattern of ordinary life, in which so much stays the same from one day to the next, disguises the fragility of its fabric - - - - human civilisation is an intensely fragile construction.”

Pages 264 to 265:- “Humanity consumes 25 percent more of the world’s “natural” products than the Earth can replace – a figure predicted to rise to 80 percent by mid-century.”

The next quotes are from the book How Everything Can Collapse, by Pablo Sevigne (an agronomist with a PhD in biology) and Raphael Stevens, published by Polity, 2020

Page 57:- “Residues of insecticides - - - - cause collapses in insect populations, including bees.”

Pages 50 to 52:- The authors discuss “ecological interaction”. The general point they make is that an “ecosystem” consists of a large number of species WHOSE ACTIVITIES ARE ALL INTERCONNECTED. “When a species dies (ie:- goes extinct), it never dies alone. IT USUALLY TAKES SOME OF ITS NEIGHBOURS WITH IT.” - - - The authors explain that a particular species has “vertical” connections to other species (its predators and its prey), and “horizontal” connections to other species (ie:- its neighbours with whom it lives in harmony).If a species goes extinct, its predators go hungry (and possibly go extinct). Its prey proliferates, harming other species, who might be forced into extinction. The authors provide an example:- “The extermination of sea otters causes a proliferation of sea urchins (their prey), WHICH TRANSITIONS THE SEABEDS INTO DESERTS, which in turn impacts on other food chains.”

(My comment:- Ecological destruction involves KNOCK-ON EFFECTS, POSSIBLY ON AN EXPONENTIAL SCALE.)

Page 51:- The authors tell us:- “The collapse of the population of SOME pollinators can cause the widespread collapse of ALL pollinators of an ecosystem.” The authors refer to this phenomenon where the extinction of one species causes the extinction of related species as “co-extinctions”,

(My comment:- Basically an ecosystem is a system of INTERCONNECTED SPECIES. Remove one species, and unforeseen and possibly catastrophic collapse of many related species – both “horizontally” and “vertically” can occur.)

Page 52:- “Since the year 1500, 332 species of terrestrial vertebrates have disappeared. - - - - - in 2003, a study estimated that 90 per cent of the biomass of large fish had disappeared since the beginning of the industrial era - - - New Zealand - - - - has lost half its bird species

Page 54:- “And how - - - can the function of pollination (which involves 75 per cent of the species cultivated in agriculture) be guaranteed in the absence of pollinating insects? BY USING CHEAP LABOUR TO POLLINATE FRUIT TREES FLOWER BY FLOWER, AS IS THE CASE IN THE SICHUAN REGION IN CHINA WHERE BEES HAVE VANISHED? (My capitals and highlighting.)

Following up on the topic of Bee extinction, here is a quote from Time (magazine), issue for March 27^th, 2017 – Article – The Bee Drone, by Julia Zorthian:- The article discusses a mechanical device called “Plan Bee”, which is a hand-sized drone that can pollinate flowers. This device is presently in prototype. The author tells us:- “Similar technology may soon be necessary - - - - - as pesticides and climate change threaten the future of bee colonies round the world – and, by extension, the crops they pollinate.”

This quote is from the book The Power of Geography, by Tim Marshall, published by Elliott and Thompson, 2021, pages 245 to 246:- The author discusses The “Sahel” (“A 6,000 kilometre-long corridor across Africa connecting the Red Sea to the Atlantic” – bordering The Sahara desert, which lies to the north of The Sahel):- “An increase of cattle - - - more grass was eaten. This led to SOIL EROSION AND DESERTIFICATION - - - topsoil - - -carried away by wind erosion - - - - - THE SAHARA ADVANCED 100 KILOMETRES INTO THE SAHEL - - - - The FAO says OVER 80 PERCENT OF THE LAND IS DEGRADED.” (My capitals.)