The Earth Organization is an international, independent, non-profit group which seeks to reverse the dwindling spiral of the plant and animal kingdoms and our environment through education and action.

Sunday 7 July 2013

The War on Life


"The War on Life"
Published in the Namib Times,
By Marcia Stanton

You’re on a flight, off to somewhere fun.  You look out at the wings of the airplane and you are amazed at how strong it is.  Suddenly you look and you see a nut and bolt come apart.  At first, you think it will all be fine... until another comes off, and then another.  The wing starts coming apart. You panic.  The plane will not be able to keep flying with a broken wing.  If only that mechanic had paid attention and made sure the plane didn’t lose all those nuts and bolts.  Perhaps one or two lost would have been fine, but losing so many made it so weak it eventually fell apart. 

The same holds true with removing species from our planet.  As species die off and don’t get replaced, the weaker the Earth gets and the more likely we are to crash.  Currently it is estimated that we are losing approximately 10,000 species per year. These species are permanently gone- they are extinct.  Some might say that extinction is natural and it’s always occurred, but the problem is that the current rate of extinction is between 1,000 to 10,000 times higher than normal. 

We humans are almost wholly responsible for this drastic increase in species loss. We demand too many resources. We pollute, mine, create industrial areas, construct roads, power lines and power plants, build unnecessary structures, and hunt, fish, and collect too many species.  Simply put, worldwide we take way more than we need.  We effectively convert areas where animals live into places they cannot survive, all to meet the demands of excessive human wants. 

One by one, we drive species to extinction, never to return.  Yet each species has a unique role to play.  If you remove one species, it affects all the other species in a negative way.  A healthy ecosystem is a balance of a variety of species which depend on each other.  None survive alone.  A larger variety of species makes the environment stronger, just as more nuts and bolts in an airplane make it stronger. This is what we call biodiversity.

Biodiversity provides food security, jobs, medicine, disease and disaster control, and social, cultural and spiritual needs. Only 5 percent of known plant species have been screened for their medicinal values, although we continue to lose at least 100 plant species daily. According to the World Resources Institute, “surprisingly, scientists have a better understanding of how many stars there are in the galaxy than how many species there are on Earth.”

Although we don’t yet know all the species on the planet, we do know that at least 80 percent of our needs come directly from species including those we don’t know by name.  In our greedy drive to be ‘civilized’ – to have more than what we need - every year we destroy 10,000 of the very species which are essential to our own survival.

The question remains “can any civilization wage relentless war on life without destroying itself and without losing the right to be called civilized?” Rachel Carson

6 comments:

  1. http://www.nepalguideinfo.com/everest-base-camp-luxury-trekking-guide-package-cost-lodge-itinerary-autumn-spring/

    ReplyDelete
  2. The Shiva excursion Pvt Ltd is local base Trekking Agency in Nepal as Under Nepal government license holder tourism board. Over 15 years Experience Nepal Trekking, Tour and Peak Climbing leading by tour leader Arjun Nepal. Over 70% Past client repeat and fully satisfied with our services in Nepal. The list of Best trekking company in Nepal as refer by many client those who take’s ours services and high quality hospitalities in Nepal.
    Most of Trekking Companies are same as services but selected which is best and more Nepal Trekking Company Reviews and make happy valuable customer trekking in Nepal. Therefore search right Nepal Trekking Agency. Because many Trekking Agencies are not best quality and just make money never looking furthers services with any kind of activities in Nepal. The Shiva Excursion is high recommend Everest Base Camp, Annapurna Base Camp, Upper Mustang, Manaslu Circuit and Many Others Trekking routes in Nepal.
    So coming this year 2017 heading to some others Trekking Peak as Island Peak Climbing, Mera Peak Climbing, Lobuche Peak Climbing, Chulu West and Chulu East Peak Climbing in Nepal, Many type of Activities normal hiking, moderate trekking, high pass and hard adventures Peak Climbing in Nepal. Nepal is beautiful little high mountain and latest trekking trail and Others Package Tour, Kathmandu Valley, Nagarkot dhulikhel tour, Kathmandu to Chitwan, lumbini pokhara tour and Bandipur Tour in Nepal.
    Highly promoted and local top Trekking agency as Shiva Excursion is most popular trekking Company in Nepal. Mainly offers packages trip and adventures activities choice of the valuable client design by custom Itinerary and reasonable cost deal to Shiva Excursion with Excellent Client Reviews Nepal Trekking Companies.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Adventure Great Himalaya is a government registered trekking company in Nepal with qualified and experienced professionals. Adventure Great Himalaya has provided thousands of high quality trekking and tour trips for clients from all over the world. If your interest lies in Trekking In Nepal, Peak climbing, Tour in Nepal and River rafting or Cultural Sightseeing, our professional and knowledgeable staff are available for your service. Leave your worries to us and enjoy your holidays in Nepal.


    Adventure Great Himalaya
    Tour in Nepal
    Trekking in Nepal
    Everest Base Camp Trek

    ReplyDelete
  4. Annapurna Base Camp Trek start pokhara to ghorepani poon hill and continue to ABC Trekking, this trip can complete Annapurna Base Camp Trek 7 days as well and Also if have enough time can make Annapurna Base Camp Trek 10 days. Annapurna Base Camp Trek route is very beautiful and Perfect Himalayan scenery. the only make Annapurna Base Camp trek difficulty. June to August and JanuaryFebruary.Annapurna Base Camp Trek distance is around 200 miles. there are many Travel has been read Annapurna Base Camp Trek blog. September to November is one of the Best Season makes the trek to Annapurna Base Camp.
    Rabingrg12345

    ReplyDelete
  5. Everest Trekking Routes could be a Nepalese trekking company closely-held and operated by a competent and a skilled native team of trekking consultants. We have earned a superb prime rating in Trip adviser and being suggested on Lonely The planet as per the optimum clients' happiness over our reliable service in organizing the safe and nice trekking and mounting journeys. individualize service and safety on prime of any agenda in organizing any of our trekking in Nepal and mounting journeys within the mountain range. we tend to guarantee practiced, competent and medical trained trek leader to guide your journey Trekking in Nepal to climb with correct safety make a copy like a gas cylinder or PAC bag and comprehensive care kit. Proud to be a pioneer and accountable tour operator to Porters on all high altitude Kingdom of Nepal treks and mounting visit reasonable value.Trekking in Nepal is final Activities to explore and know the incomparable native culture and thrilling beauty and splendor of the high mountain range. we tend to do stand out among the remainder in leading our trip in most accountable method Olympian each expectation. we've got earned a superb name for absolute dependableness, caring and safety over the year in organizing trekking within the Himalaya. With our dedicated native team of experts' work commitment and over two-decade-long tour in operation expertise, we tend to doubtless ensure the safe and better of Kingdom of Nepal trekking Guide expertise to any or all our valued trekkers. so we've got over forty you rather than recurrent trekkers every year UN agency while not a shred of doubt continuously select America for his or her final trip to the Kingdom of Nepal treks to mountain chain expeditions. several travelers square measure connotation America as they need to be seen America in action on earlier trip experts and reliable service we tend to cater to make sure the most effective and safe journey vacation of the period of time. Proud to share that we've got achieved an expert Everest Trekking Guide, Annapurna Trekking Guide, Manaslu Circuit Trekking Guide in Nepal.

    ReplyDelete