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We won't. It makes me sad to think that 50-100 years from now most of the species we know and many more we don't will be extinct. The only things left alive w
by diveanon 6y ago
We won't.
It makes me sad to think that 50-100 years from now most of the species we know and many more we don't will be extinct.
The only things left alive will be what we need to survive and whatever manages to carve a niche out of the blasted landscapes we leave in our wake.
- the-dude 6y agoIsn't this a bit exaggerated?
- eggsmediumrare 6y agoBetter to act like it isn't.
- pessimizer 6y agoCare to offer your own diagnosis, or just here to frown at people?
- diveanon 6y agoI'm old, I tried over my lifetime and failed. Give it a shot if you care. Education isn't the problem, it's the will to sacrifice our comfort for a better world.
- ironmagma 6y agoIn what sense? Seems realistic to me. The past ten years alone have been terrible for extinction; we lost about 500 species. And there is a feedback loop with these sorts of things.
- mimikatz 6y agoYou're not accounting for adaptation, which nature is very good at.
- cloudwalking 6y agoNot at the timescale humans are forcing.
- sp332 6y agoThings will probably fill in niches later, but there will still be a lot fewer species by the end of the century, which is what the original comment said.
- diveanon 6y agoEvolution takes time. We are much better at consumption than nature is at adaptation.
- the-dude 6y agoDo you have a source for that fishy number?
- Omnitaus 6y ago"Since 1900, 543 species of vertebrates have gone extinct. And those are just the ones we know of. In the past century, we have witnessed the disappearance of the ivory-billed woodpecker (Campephilus principalis), the Round Island burrowing boa (Bolyeria multocarinata), the laughing owl (Ninox albifacies), the sea mink (Neovison macrodon), and the golden toad (Incilius periglenes), to name a few." https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/less-than-a-thousand-remain-new-list-of-animals-on-the-brink-of-extinction/ https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/less-than-a-thousand-remai...
- the-dude 6y ago@Omnitaus, you seem to be dead? Check the thread in incognito.
- ironmagma 6y ago“In the past decade, 467 species have been declared extinct (though they might have gone extinct in decades prior), according to the global authority on species conservation status, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, or IUCN.” https://biobrief.org/species-the-world-lost-2010-2019/ https://biobrief.org/species-the-world-lost-2010-2019/
- giardini 6y agoAnd how many new species arose?
- diveanon 6y agoIs that an attempt at a counter argument? Burden of proof is on you if you want to make a claim like that.
- sp332 6y agoHere's an estimate that shows one third of all species going extinct by 2070 https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/21/weather/species-extinction-climate-trnd/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/21/weather/species-extinction-cl... And "In a worst-case scenario, that number could rise to over 55%."
- ckastner 6y agoThis protected death of millions of species, 50 years out from now, is based on an analysis of 538 of them. That sounds woefully inadequate information for something as complex as what this model is trying predict. That's like predicting the weather from only a handful of temperature sensors, or doing patient studies with N=4.
- hanniabu 6y agoIf you select the proper species then you can make fairly accurate deductions due to cascading effects of the food chain.
- diveanon 6y agoKey indicators and foundational species like coral are effective metrics. A mass die offs of coral, which is currently happening, will decimate ocean ecosystems and have a cascading effect on the rest of the world. People have been saying this for decades, its not new news. Its just inconvenient and impacts shareholders.
- giardini 6y agoLuckily no one is able to predict most anything beyond 4 years in the future. Ask any economist or epidemiologist.
- diveanon 6y agoThis is false. We have been accurately modeling climate change for over 50 years now. Also, epidemiologist have been predicting a coronavirus outbreak specifically for about 10 years, and a larger global pandemic for about 100. You can choose to ignore science if you want, but that doesn't mean people havent been warning us.
- alltakendamned 6y agoI think we can debate magnitude, but not direction. I feel recently it's been a long time since I came across examples of where nature is increased or restored. Every time it's about nature disappearing.
- sojournerc 6y agoBeware of availability bias here. Bad news is reported far more often than good. There are signs of the planet greening as a result of higher CO2, for instance. That doesn't diminish the potential damage, but it's not all bad.
- diveanon 6y agoThe largest mass extinction in history was due to rising 02 levels. Its the rate of change, not the change itself that causes mass extinctions.
- diveanon 6y agoThe only example I can think of is the area around Chernobyl seeing a return of many species. Which just goes to show that deadly radiation is better for the environment than the presence of humans.
- diveanon 6y agoNot really, we have lost 50% of the life in our oceans over the last 30 years. Current trends show major ecological collapse within our lifetimes.
- loopz 6y agoDavid Attenborough thinks we can. We simply can't afford not to in the newest Netflix documentary: David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet (2020) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11989890/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11989890/ But it doesn't mean it won't happen without a wake-up call. The answer is simple, just stop destroying what has caused unprecedented equilibrium in temperatures during the latest rise of civilization in the past 10k years.
- diveanon 6y agoDavid Attenborough believes its his responsibility to give a message of hope in the effort of making a change. I admire his drive, but I also believe it is futile. Humankind has done nothing but expand and devour over its short history on this planet, nothing that we have done makes me think this trend will stop.
- electricEmu 6y agoFor years I've watched the rivers in Washington State receive consideration. Progress has been made and continues to be. Saying humankind has done "nothing" is not only mistaken, but makes for poor conversation. Perhaps more people should take a page from Attenborough. https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2020/dec/17/for-the-first-time-in-more-than-80-years-salmon-sp/ https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2020/dec/17/for-the-first-...
- diveanon 6y agoI think it speaks volumes that the very people responsible for this positive change were themselves victims of near extinction due to consumption and greed. The only real hope the worlds ecosystems have is drastic and sudden reduction in human population, which won't be pleasant for anyone. This was proved by the resurgence of nature in the areas surrounding Chernobyl. I've been a part of a coral conservation project in SEAsia for the last 15 years, and we have seen more recovery over the last year due to tourists being gone than ever before. Unfortunately the boat captains who were ferrying snorkelers before have gone back to fishing the reefs, so that change was short lived. We are also beginning to see signs of a major bleaching event. The long term impacts of COVID are going to see a relaxation of ecological protections worldwide, which I imagine will have a similar effect.