Humans and the Natural World Article 1
 

It could be said that humanity is managing an ecological scheme in which society robs nature and future generations to pay for short-term economic gains today. With disinformation campaigns carried out in order to protect vast profits.  Sadly it is doubtful that the scale of changes we need will be made in time to protect the Living Earth.

 

On some level, we acknowledge that the way many people are living today is contributing to the destruction of much of the natural world, as well as the future well-being of humanity. We sense growing unhappiness relating to our collective addiction to consumption and rapid economic growth. Hopefully things, in relation to the social, political and natural world will change for the better as a result of overwhelming scientific evidence and increasing public concern about the crises confronting the natural world, and thus humanity itself. Sadly, frequently the application of ‘positive solutions’ fail to materialise, simply because political and economic decisions are taken with little heed for future health of the natural world,  as well as the health of this and future generations.

Professor Sir Robert Watson, who led a UN leading scientific report that delved more deeply than anything before into the causes of possible nature collapse, According to the report, so far three-quarters of the world’s land surface has been severely altered by human action.  According to Professor Watson humanity is also decimating the living systems on which we depend by emitting carbon dioxide leading to increasing hurricanes, droughts and floods as a result of global heating. For him and others, the goal is to persuade NGOs and various government departments, such as agriculture, transport and energy because they are often the responsible for the drivers of biodiversity loss,” he said.

Our pursuit of convenience and wealth is accelerating the destruction of the natural world. Scientists estimate that many species are lost every year. For numerous species, survival is no longer about being adaptable in the wild; it’s about fitting in best with the many unnecessary and wasteful needs of humankind in general.

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Humanity’s actions are causing a rapid loss of biodiversity and with it the Living Earth’s ability to support complex life forms. Yet few political, economic or social systems are prepared to handle the predicted disasters, or even capable of such action.  The problem is often compounded by ignorance and short-term self-interest. In fact, the scale of the threats to the Earth’s biosphere and all its lifeforms is so great that it is at times difficult to grasp even for a number of well-informed experts.

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We live on a planet in which the human footprint is so large it leaves little space for anything else. Three-quarters of all land has been turned into single-use farm lands, or covered by concrete and discarded human waste, or otherwise significantly altered by human action. Again much of the marine environment has also been changed by fish farms, shipping routes, subsea mines and other projects. Three-quarters of rivers and lakes are used for crop or livestock cultivation. As a result, more than 500,000 species have insufficient habitats for long-term survival. Many are on course to disappear within decades.

In light of such findings—climate scientists have concluded that the best explanation of recent observed warming includes a significant anthropogenic component. Too often the Earth’s resources are treated not as vital assets with which human existence depends. Indeed, for too many the environment is an abstraction, not a living, reacting and creating life force with which we are intrinsically connected in co-productive association. 

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The world’s leading scientists are warning that the planet’s life-support systems are approaching, if not already the case, a danger zone for humanity. The results of the most comprehensive study of life on Earth ever undertaken,  the 1,800-page UN’s research body on nature study, tells us that much of the Earth’s as wildlife, and thus future generations, are at risk unless action is taken now to reverse the loss of plants, insects and other creatures on which humanity depends.  

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There seems to be a growing consensus that the 21st century will be the century of megacities. Such cities are at present major sources of global greenhouse gas emissions due to their reliance on hydrocarbons in order to function. They require vast networks of commodity chains to keep them functional, importing food, consumer goods, building materials, water, and power.  Although cities cover only 2 percent of the world’s land surface, they consume over 75 percent of the earth’s material resources.

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Given how megacities concentrate human activity, attention has thankfully turned to the possibility of cities also being able to lessen their impacts through the growth of inner-city healthy ecosystems and green spaces to enhance the quality of life for their citizens. With the possibility of utilizing renewable sources of energy, etc., cities have recently been seen as not just global economic forces, but also able to implement sustainability programs and policies that will reduce their impacts, and hence on Earth’s natural systems.

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