One Planet No Longer Enough

I doubled my word count yesterday for NaNo (but I'm still well behind pace since I haven't done any writing today) and my brain is fried, so I decided to do some blogging to break things up a bit. During my "light" reading break, I ran across this article and felt compelled to share it.

According to a report put together by the environmental group WWF, "the Earth's natural resources are being used 25 per cent faster than the planet can renew them." And at that rate, and the anticipated rate of human population growth, the report predicts that "large-scale ecosystem collapse" is likely by the middle of this century.

The two biggest contributing factors to ecological destruction by human beings has been our propensity to consume natural resources faster than Mother Nature can replenish them and in consuming so much so fast, carbon-dioxide emissions are at their highest and account for 48 percent of the damage humans have had on the environment since 2003.

The WWF also noted a decline in biodiversity across the board and around the world with animal species suffering an overall 27 percent decline. Tropical land species suffered the biggest hit with a 55 percent decrease in population among the 695 species monitored.

So let me spell it out for you - Human beings suck when it comes to taking care of the environment that surrounds us. If we drive too many plant and animal species to extinction, if we continue to release unprecedented amounts of carbon-dioxide into the atmosphere, if we continue to ignore that our gluttony is killing the Earth - we won't have an Earth to abuse anymore.

When you think about it, it isn't about politics, or money, or jobs - it's about survival; and human beings MUST change if they wish to stick around.