HALF-EARTH – Our Planet’s Fight for Life, a review of E.O.Wilson's Book and Project for Sustainability

How do we come to appreciate Biodiversity?

We, mankind, tend to think that as the only cognitive creature on Earth, we are the focus of the planet’s bounty, and everything done on earth should be done for our benefit. But what about the other ‘Millions’ of living species on earth? Don’t they have a right to live… to flourish and enjoy our planet?

Many of our discussions have been about just that, the right of all living things to continue…unabated by human interference, and allowed to survive naturally. Man does not seem to understand, and appears unconcerned with the future of the other species within our ecosystem. Indeed, through our actions we are making the Earth less and less sustainable, and even now we are paying the price. Global Warming isn’t hype, it isn’t smoke and mirrors established to create new funding for the scientific community. Neither is the damage we are doing to our land, seas, rivers, aquifers, and sky. 

We are truly leaving the world in a mess…causing damage almost everywhere man chooses to go. 

Edward O. Wilson, considered among the world’s most renowned Naturalists and Biologists, has captured his thoughts on the destruction we have brought to the world in the few short (in geologic terms, to be sure) centuries of our human dominance. In an attempt to gain our attention, he has written HALF-EARTH – Our Planet’s Fight for Life (2016/New York) in which he charts our course along our destructive path to a point where we have begun to conserve…but way too slowly to achieve success in our attempt to save the Biosphere and the diversity of species that it holds.

As always, E.O. Wilson has provided us with a powerful treatise for our consideration, this one on the life around us, and on the impact that humankind has had, and continues to have on that life. He proposes that we are capable of saving most of that biodiversity…but that we need to choose the course of action that might bring that about, and that we have only limited time to act.

In his closing arguments in HALF-EARTH Wilson states:

‘If humanity continues its suicidal ways to change the global climate, eliminate ecosystems, and exhaust Earth’s natural resources, our species will very soon find itself forced into making a choice, this time engaging the conscious part of our brain. It is as follows: Shall we be existential conservatives, keeping our genetically based human nature while tapering off the activities inimical to ourselves and the rest of the biosphere? Or shall we use our new technology to accommodate the changes important solely to our own species, while letting the rest of life slip away? We have only a short time to decide.’

His last chapter, only 3 pages long…but with such importance, offers a suggestion that is clear and concise. We need to take immediate action to create a series of reserves/preserves the world over that will help us to save the diverse population of species that are the citizens of our planet. By committing to the creation of these wilderness sites, some native, some rebuilt from their present state, and others completely recreated …from previously destroyed regions, we will set into motion a process that will deliver, not for us…for we shall never see it, a world with an abundance of nature regenerated over centuries to return our Earth to a balanced state for all future generations. 

This would be done through the HALF-EARTH concept. As noted by Wilson, 'In a world gaining so swiftly in biotechnology and rational capabilities, it is entirely reasonable to envision a global network of inviolable reserves that cover half the surface of Earth.'

This is an interesting read, with real consequence, which I highly recommend. And after reading HALF-EARTH I also recommend supporting the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation and their HALF-EARTH Project.

Sponsoring the Anthropocene Era May Mark Our Demise.

What is an ecosystem?

No, really...what is an ecosystem? Give it some thought, and then consider that if one species is removed from an ecosystem, is there any real impact?

Darwin said, in closing the 'Origin of Species',

"It is interesting to contemplate an entangled bank, clothed with many plants of many kinds, with birds singing on the bushes, with various insects flitting about, and with worms crawling through the damp earth, and to reflect that these elaborately constructed forms, so different from each other and dependent on each other in so complex a manner, have all been produced by laws acting around us."

As Edward O. Wilson points out in his book, 'Half-Earth; Our Planet's Fight for Life', those who believe that we can press living communities of species to extinction, and then expect them to be replaced by invasive species, delivered by the hands of humanity, to form healthy new ecosystems...those Anthropocene sponsors are both misguided and misinformed...for what took millions of years to achieve balance cannot be replaced by makeshift, and clearly unplanned transition to our human-centered world.

Through Global Warming, habitat destruction, the runaway growth of human population, resource consumption, over-harvesting of animals of all kinds for our use, and pollution...we are changing the planet, and we need to stop this lunacy now, or man very well may not be included in the ecosystems of the future.

Bleaching Demonstrates the Change to our Environment.

Most of us say we believe in saving the planet...but we don't seem to realize that we are already behind the power curve!

Our failure to address Green House Gas (GHG) emissions has caused both a warming of our atmosphere and an increase to the acidification of our oceans through increased CO2 absorption.  Many species are being affected, but perhaps the clearest image of this destruction is found in coral reef systems the world over, this because coral is directly impacted by both temperature change and acid encroachment.

This is a bleached coral head...before and after.

There are nearly 45,000 species of coral in our oceans today. As a 'family' that is extremely sensitive to temperature change and acidity, corals are headed for hard times...bleaching (seen in this photo), a term used to explain their transition from flourishing to dead, is underway on all major reef systems and it is anticipated that, with a 1* change in average ocean temperatures, more than 38% of all coral species will be extinct by 2050!

That is more than 16,000 varieties of corals...gone due to man-made pollution and a change in the temperature of our seas. We can't stop it all, but if we fight the trend set by those who think it can't be changed, or worse...those who think it isn't happening...we can reduce the GHG going into our atmosphere enough to slow the loss and hopefully hold the line before even more destruction is realized.

It's our fault...we...mankind made the mistakes that have gotten us to this point, and we should be able to put a stop to the destruction before a reasonable recovery is beyond reach.