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New species also sometimes need an empty niche to evolve. It's pretty tyrannical of us humans to decide that the species that exist now are the ones that get t

New species also sometimes need an empty niche to evolve. It's pretty tyrannical of us humans to decide that the species that exist now are the ones that get to inhabit that niche forever.

ruined 5y ago
all of humanity stands on the bedrock of a diverse and complex ecosystem. what's tyrannical is the set of people and institutions that unaccountably insist it's their right to go around systematically poking out thousands of fresh empty niches under the world's collective feet you're not actually concerned about the space available for new species. you're not even concerned with the species we have now. if you were concerned about species diversity, you would be concerned that we are way below replacement rates. you can't spin a mass extinction as some kind of victory for the liberty of nature.
- nitrogen 5y ago
  If all these ecosystems are so fragile, then it's our responsibility as a species to re-engineer them to be more robust.
  - ruined 5y ago
    if you want to have that conversation, you must agree it would be irresponsible to destroy the single extant system by applying large uncontrolled inputs, before such an engineering technique is understood. we are currently shitting where we eat.
  - smt88 5y ago
    Do you sincerely believe that humans can re-engineer ecosystems to improve upon hundreds of millions of years of evolution? We don't even understand any single organism or any ecosystem completely.
danielheath 5y ago
Biodiversity recovers at some rate, and we destroy it at some rate. At present, the magnitude of those rates is 100k to 1. That’s clearly an unsustainable situation.
- aeternum 5y ago
  The greatest increases in species diversity have generally occurred after extreme destruction. Early cyanobacteria killed nearly all life on earth by consuming all available iron and polluting the entire planet with toxic oxygen.
popcube 5y ago
sorry, we have no time to wait it happen, and even expect it will recovery is not practical. do you want to wait at least one million for it? is human still exists that times? human changed world in very short time, there are no time for evolution

New species also sometimes need an empty niche to evolve. It's pretty tyrannical of us humans to decide that the species that exist now are the ones that get to inhabit that niche forever.

ruined 5y ago

all of humanity stands on the bedrock of a diverse and complex ecosystem. what's tyrannical is the set of people and institutions that unaccountably insist it's their right to go around systematically poking out thousands of fresh empty niches under the world's collective feet you're not actually concerned about the space available for new species. you're not even concerned with the species we have now. if you were concerned about species diversity, you would be concerned that we are way below replacement rates. you can't spin a mass extinction as some kind of victory for the liberty of nature.

nitrogen 5y ago
If all these ecosystems are so fragile, then it's our responsibility as a species to re-engineer them to be more robust.
- ruined 5y ago
  if you want to have that conversation, you must agree it would be irresponsible to destroy the single extant system by applying large uncontrolled inputs, before such an engineering technique is understood. we are currently shitting where we eat.
- smt88 5y ago
  Do you sincerely believe that humans can re-engineer ecosystems to improve upon hundreds of millions of years of evolution? We don't even understand any single organism or any ecosystem completely.

danielheath 5y ago

Biodiversity recovers at some rate, and we destroy it at some rate. At present, the magnitude of those rates is 100k to 1. That’s clearly an unsustainable situation.

aeternum 5y ago
The greatest increases in species diversity have generally occurred after extreme destruction. Early cyanobacteria killed nearly all life on earth by consuming all available iron and polluting the entire planet with toxic oxygen.

popcube 5y ago

sorry, we have no time to wait it happen, and even expect it will recovery is not practical. do you want to wait at least one million for it? is human still exists that times? human changed world in very short time, there are no time for evolution