OT: My Father's Day Wish and Life on Earth

[Kirk007]

My work days are spent trying to create a world where my son, our sons and daughters and those that will come after, will live alongside the great diversity of species with whom we have co-evolved for millions of years. Many days it seems a quixotic venture; the challenges are daunting.

Climate Change is of course a terrible threat, but what is often overlooked is that climate change is in effect a "Johnny come lately" accelerant on a fire long out of control, a fire that independently threatens the very existence of our biosphere as we know it. Habitat fragmentation and destruction, and an inability to co-exist with other species has long been driving us to the point where the extinction crisis could be our doom even absent climate change. The antidote is complex and involves in my view 2 fundamental components: How we homo sapiens live - changes in human population and resource consumption rates, how we grow food, etc., and how we provide for the other 10 million known species with whom we share this planet.

For 25 years, the conservation biology directed ngo that I run, Wildlands Network, has advocated for 3 critical components of protecting the rest of the living: protection of large core habitats where species find shelter, food and space to live their lives; connected and linked together so that species can disperse and so that genetic mixing and hence healthy genetics are ensured; and the restoration of what we have removed - principally our large carnivores, in the sea and on land. This year, the great biologist Dr. E. O. Wilson will release his latest book, "Half Earth," in which he talks about these measures as part of the critical path for saving the Biosphere.

Our generation faces a fundamental moral question: Do we care enough for our children and future generations to get serious about protecting the biosphere? In the words of Dr. Wilson, addressing our wanton destruction of the living environment: "what kind of species are we to treat the rest of life so cheaply? What will future generations think of those now alive, this century, in our lifetime, who make an irreversible decision of this magnitude so carelessly?"

For this Father's Day my only desire is that folks start to become aware, and then to act -- in our own self interest and the interest of the rest of the living: Science is telling us that the only way to save the rest of life is to increase the amount of protected habitat to a rough allocation of half the earth's surface for us and half for the rest of living world. If we save the living environment we will also save the physical. If we save only the physical we will lose them both. Let's get busy.

"The Earth stands on the brink of its sixth mass extinction and the fault is ours" http://gu.com/p/4axmt/sbl

[William]

Not the most warm and fuzzy projection on Father's Day, but an important one.:)

There are a lot of facets to how humans occupy this plant. A lot of things humans could do to coexist with other species on this planet. Until man can be content with just what is needed to survive, preserve, and replenish, "keeping up with the Joneses" mass consumption practices of current and emerging "modernizing" populations/Countries will eventually break the bank. It may not be in my lifetime or even my children's lifetime, but it will happen eventually if humans don't act.









William

[tiretrax]

I share your work and passion. Thank you for posting, and Happy Fathers' Day to you.

[pjmsj21]

First of all this a great post. No surprise considering the author.

Secondarily if all of the daily decisions that we make were posed in such a way as to state how that decision would positively or negatively impact our sons/daughters or grandchildren, I think th choices that we make would be different.

An example would be the posting of the calorie count on menu items. It makes a bit harder to order that Big Mac when you read that it has 600 or so calories (purely a guess btw).

[Pastashop]

Hear hear!

[gasman]

I feel like we are a huge pack of starlings-taking over everything and pushing other species out. It would be good if all our actions were viewed with preservation of all further generations in mind. Well written and I agree.
I'm pessimistic that any change will be too little, too late.

[joosttx]

Father time, Mother Earth and a marriage on the rocks-- James Merril.

[SteveV0983]

Outstanding post! Maybe someday those who "claim" to care about future generations will realize that they will not necessarily have a planet to call home anymore unless they begin to respect the one we all share. And those of us who truly do care will continue to fight to protect the Earth and the animals who are the victims of human actions.
Fathers day should be about being a protector of what is precious, and that extends far beyond one's front door.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmVLcj-XKnM

[oldpotatoe]

And tempting to include here the various main players and how this very important issue has been and is being, made a political football. I remain a pessimist about this. We need this

[firerescuefin]

What would your realistic expectations be of:

The developed Western World

The industrialized (but have no concept of environmental conservation/ stewardship) world.

The underdeveloped/third/fourth world.

Having spent time in all three (or four).....don't see much room/desire to change in the later two, because their focus is on surviving to reach the literal tomorrow....and wonder how much desire for change/ change that can be driven from the former.

Again...realistic expectations.


My work days are spent trying to create a world where my son, our sons and daughters and those that will come after, will live alongside the great diversity of species with whom we have co-evolved for millions of years. Many days it seems a quixotic venture; the challenges are daunting.

Climate Change is of course a terrible threat, but what is often overlooked is that climate change is in effect a "Johnny come lately" accelerant on a fire long out of control, a fire that independently threatens the very existence of our biosphere as we know it. Habitat fragmentation and destruction, and an inability to co-exist with other species has long been driving us to the point where the extinction crisis could be our doom even absent climate change. The antidote is complex and involves in my view 2 fundamental components: How we homo sapiens live - changes in human population and resource consumption rates, how we grow food, etc., and how we provide for the other 10 million known species with whom we share this planet.

For 25 years, the conservation biology directed ngo that I run, Wildlands Network, has advocated for 3 critical components of protecting the rest of the living: protection of large core habitats where species find shelter, food and space to live their lives; connected and linked together so that species can disperse and so that genetic mixing and hence healthy genetics are ensured; and the restoration of what we have removed - principally our large carnivores, in the sea and on land. This year, the great biologist Dr. E. O. Wilson will release his latest book, "Half Earth," in which he talks about these measures as part of the critical path for saving the Biosphere.

Our generation faces a fundamental moral question: Do we care enough for our children and future generations to get serious about protecting the biosphere? In the words of Dr. Wilson, addressing our wanton destruction of the living environment: "what kind of species are we to treat the rest of life so cheaply? What will future generations think of those now alive, this century, in our lifetime, who make an irreversible decision of this magnitude so carelessly?"

For this Father's Day my only desire is that folks start to become aware, and then to act -- in our own self interest and the interest of the rest of the living: Science is telling us that the only way to save the rest of life is to increase the amount of protected habitat to a rough allocation of half the earth's surface for us and half for the rest of living world. If we save the living environment we will also save the physical. If we save only the physical we will lose them both. Let's get busy.

"The Earth stands on the brink of its sixth mass extinction and the fault is ours" http://gu.com/p/4axmt/sbl

[Mzilliox]

realistic expectations?

humans do nothing like usual. in fact, they hit the panic button adn say screw it, consume things even faster and go down in a flaming ball of fire. Of course the planet will then be fine, and all other species will rejoice, or at least any that are left. We waste more opportunity to evolve. it is certain the species moves the wrong way.

Positive outlook? educated and middle class humans make a conscious decision not to play this stupid game. turn it upside down. farm, grow and provide everything you need. rely on "them" for nothing. find joy in problem solving, not in conquest. drop the just because i can do it mentality.
Stop seeing animals as something less than ourselves.
stop eating things that have wrappers.
redefine what is possible, hat is normal, what is taboo.

if we treated poor environmental stewardship more like a sexual taboo, folks would manage it better. if we made fun of everyone who was wasteful. if we never put bad guys on tv. if we taught our children how to think, not pass a test.

haha im dreaming, i don;t come close to having that much faith in humanity...

all i can do is take care of my patch and hope a few people are watching

[rugbysecondrow]

From the top down, tomorrow is not a priority. Look at the debt and current deficit. Look at Social Security planning. Look at the ever expanding sprawl. Even youth sports are wasteful in that they are "travel team" oriented, because 11 year olds need to drive 3 hours to find proper competition. Waste is everywhere. I can manage my home, but what does that do when it is frittered away by other?

Unfortunately, it creates a society of individuals, I concern myself with mine and what I can control. I try to put little thought into anything outside of my sphere.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Kirk007]

Bob -

realistic expectations - I'm a pessimist on realistic. I don't think we do much of anything fast enough or that goes far enough. But I'll keep plugging away as I believe my son, and the other creatures on earth deserve nothing less than my very best effort even if it comes to naught in the end.

As to what could be done in the sectors of humanity you mention -- when E.O. Wilson's book comes out get a copy and read it. He's smarter than me, more optimistic than me and has spent a lot of time thinking about this from all angles. He is still an optimist. At a conference at Duke, he was asked by another world class Biologist how he gets up in the morning given all he knows about the condition of the biosphere. He laughed in response and said "the smell of coffee?" In other words he does the only thing that he can do, which is he does what he has the ability to do. Wilson through his words and prose and work of his foundation has the ability to touch and influence millions and that is what he is and will do.

We can and in my view have a moral and ethical obligation to humanity to do what we can, and the what we can is different for everyone. The first step is for folks to start doing what Rugby says we don't do, and on which I agree - we don't think about tomorrow and the future; we don't perceive long term threats as we are so busy just living day to day. But it wouldn't take that much to modify our thinking and actions to make accommodation for the rest of life on earth now and in the future, but again, I'm pessimistic on this happening in time to make a difference. How pessimistic - I have trouble congratulating folks on the birth or children - I cringe thinking of our world 20, 30, 50 years from now.

[joosttx]

when does preservation affect the natural process of evolution? In a grand scheme is extinction a bad thing? Its predicted, right? Is the more natural thing to do is try and preserve our species and more specifically me and if Dawkins is right my genes?

Seriously when does preservation become unnatural?

[maxdog]

Great post, that I actually feel compelled to respond to, despite the fact that I have little to add. No snarky comments (possibly to come), but all well thought out comments, positive to the discussion.
Personally I am one of the fortunate few, having been in the software business and able to retire over twenty years ago, at the age of 34. Though not wealthy, by the measures of our society, I had enough to escape the bowels the NY metropolitan area and purchase a beautiful piece of property in upstate NY. and live without the constraints of a regular job.
My answer to the problem, is to live (with my wife) as simply and thoughtfully as possible. I am of course privileged to be in this position and live were I can get almost all my food 'clean' and locally raised. My sports of choice are cycling and xc skiing which can be participated in environmentally and socially positive ways. The rest of my time consumed with restoring my old house, the chores required to live this life style and spending time with friends and family, and of course my various other interests. With regard to my house project, I do all the work myself, using as much natural and locally produced materials (such as locally milled lumber, stone from my land etc..) as I reasonably can.
I realize of course this perspective comes from someone lucky enough to live in one of the wealthiest and most privileged societies that now or ever has existed and never lose sight of all those who have toiled or died for that end.
How do we balance all the competing interests of life on this limited platform we live. I don't know, I just try to keep my needs as small as I can.
I just want to thank Kirk007, and all the others out there in the establishment, fighting to make things a little better.

[Kirk007]

when does preservation affect the natural process of evolution? In a grand scheme is extinction a bad thing? Its predicted, right? Is the more natural thing to do is try and preserve our species and more specifically me and if Dawkins is right my genes?

Seriously when does preservation become unnatural?

Yes evolution by its nature continues. But there has been a certain statis - not balance - to things. The current extinction crisis is happening at 100-1000x faster than ever before, putting into question whether any species can evolve fast enough to continue to persist in a rapidly changing world. What this article hasn't stated is the belief among some very smart conservation biologists that if (1) we don't slow the rate of extinction to closer to "natural" i.e. before us humans, rate, and if the earth blows through a 2 degree celsius temperature increase then we are looking at a situation where we could see the die off of 50% of all species in the next 30-50 years. At that point, the ability of homo sapiens to be in the surviving 50% could be tenuous. Past extinction events have taken from 5-40 million years before similar levels of biodiversity have evolved, so if we go we are gone for a long long time.

There's nothing unnatural about preservation - our genes' whole goal is to replicate and persist into the future. I don't know of anyone who is advocating that we try and save a particular moment in time on earth as a status quo, rather that we let earth evolve in a way and rate that isn't hyper-inflated by human population and consumption rates.

[verticaldoug]

As the gap between rich and poor widens, you will get to a point where the rich don't identify with the poor as really human anymore. At the point the elite have the robot army (which generation drones) to wipe out the poor, they will and give no more thought about it than we do when we kill a wasp hive or ant nest which we consider a pest.

Read one of the books by Yuval Harari if you think I am pessimistic or dark.

Happy Fathers Day by the way