Ecologists Unite to Publish Perspective on the Earth’s Condition

• NPG
• March 8, 2021
• NPG Commentary
• 2 Comments

March 9, 2021

Ecologists Unite to Publish Perspective on the Earth’s Condition

Is It Possible to Avoid a Ghastly Future on Earth?

“Humanity is causing a rapid loss of biodiversity and, with it, Earth’s ability to support complex life. But the mainstream is having difficulty grasping the magnitude of this loss, despite the steady erosion of the fabric of human civilization.” – Introduction to Underestimating the Challenges of Avoiding a Ghastly Future

In January, 17 of the world’s leading ecologists published an article titled, Underestimating the Challenges of Avoiding a Ghastly Future. Yale Environment 360 described the work by stating: “A group of the world’s top ecologists has issued a stark warning about the snowballing crisis caused by climate change, population growth, and unchecked development.” In publishing their work, the authors hope not to dishearten readers but to share a clear and concise look at where the world is today to allow for a better understanding of how to address these issues for a brighter future.

The authors provide many facts about the Earth, climate change, population growth, and continued development:

• Humans have altered about 70% of Earth’s land surface and ocean
• Wetlands have lost 85% of their natural area
• Kelp forests have lost 40% of their natural area
• Seagrass meadows are disappearing at 1% per year
• The ocean’s large predatory fish are two-thirds gone
• Coral reefs have lost half their living mass
• Agriculture has halved the weight of living vegetation on land, driving a diversity loss of 20%
• 40% of extant plants are currently endangered
• Farmed animals and humans now constitute 96% of all land vertebrates; only around 5% are wild, free-living animals
• The world’s wild populations of birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, and amphibians have declined by an average of nearly 70% in just the last 50 years
• More than 700 vertebrate species have gone extinct over the last 500 years
• These disruptions and declines have caused the deterioration of soil, air, and water quality; pollination; carbon sequestration; and human health
• Other things have increased: floods, fires, the number of malnourished people, plastic pollution, general toxification, and infectious epidemics

Their perspective concludes with the authors noting their decision to lead with dire facts and also their acknowledgment that hard work must be done at all levels: local, regional, national, and worldwide, saying: “We have summarized predictions of a ghastly future of mass extinction, declining health, and climate-disruption upheavals (including looming massive migrations) and resource conflicts this century. Yet, our goal is not to present a fatalist perspective, because there are many examples of successful interventions to prevent extinctions, restore ecosystems, and encourage more sustainable economic activity at both local and regional scales. Instead, we contend that only a realistic appreciation of the colossal challenges facing the international community might allow it to chart a less-ravaged future…It is therefore incumbent on experts in any discipline that deals with the future of the biosphere and human well-being to eschew reticence, avoid sugar-coating to the overwhelming challenges ahead and ‘tell it like it is.’ Anything else is misleading at best, or negligent and potentially lethal for the human enterprise at worst.”

NPG believes everyone must work together to slow, halt, and eventually reverse population growth. By contacting our representatives and speaking out within our communities, towns, and states, we can enact change and stand with the ecologists working towards a sustainable future for all.

To read more about population issues, please explore NPG’s Forum paper series, notably:

A Message Called “Covid-19” by Greeley (Gregg) Miklashek, MD

Will Affluence Ruin the Environment? by Edwin S. Rubenstein

The Scale of Things and Demographic Fatigue by Walter Youngquist

Crushing Biodiversity with the Weight of the Human Race by Leon Kolankiewicz

MAKE A GENEROUS CONTRIBUTION TODAY!

2 Comments to “Ecologists Unite to Publish Perspective on the Earth’s Condition”

• Greeley Miklashek, MD

  March 9, 2021

  Thanks for this! If I remember correctly (I read tons of this material and ever more is, thank God, being published by the day!), this cited report mentioned human overpopulation a major problem. What no one seems to note is the fact that were it not for our ever more expensive healthcare “industry”, only a tiny fraction of us would be alive today. Mother Nature would have culled most of us some time ago, and not by just COVID-19. Remember, the 1918 “Spanish” flu took 1/3 of the human population worldwide, including two of my grandparents and a great aunt, forever changing my own family history.

• Norma Friedemann

  March 9, 2021

  We will soon run out of oil, natural gas, and a little latern coal