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Author Topic: Future Earth  (Read 36702 times)

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AGelbert

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Re: Future Earth
« Reply #60 on: January 04, 2015, 01:55:15 pm »
10 Animal Species That Could Vanish in 2015 if We Don’t Act Now

Anastasia Pantsios | January 3, 2015 10:33 am

Anyone who has ever visited a zoo has probably seen the charts depicting how this or that animal’s habitat has shrunk, thanks to human encroachment, climate change or both. And while some animal rights activists oppose zoos and animal captivity, if we don’t address the disappearance of their territory, many animals themselves could disappear from the face of the Earth—many of them as early as this year.

Habitat destruction in rapidly developing areas has threatened animals such as the South China tiger. Photo credit: Shutterstock

The Center for Biological Diversity says there’s an “extinction crisis” underway that threatens our planet’s biodiversity.

“Our planet is now in the midst of its sixth mass extinction of plants and animals—the sixth wave of extinctions in the past half-billion years,” says Center for Biological Diversity. “We’re currently experiencing the worst spate of species die-offs since the loss of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Although extinction is a natural phenomenon, it occurs at a natural ‘background’ rate of about one to five species per year. Scientists estimate we’re now losing species at 1,000 to 10,000 times the background rate, with literally dozens going extinct every day. It could be a scary future indeed, with as many as 30 to 50 percent of all species possibly heading toward extinction by mid-century.”

And the reason for species extinction has been upended.

“Unlike past mass extinctions, caused by events like asteroid strikes, volcanic eruptions and natural climate shifts, the current crisis is almost entirely caused by us—humans,” says Center for Biological Diversity. “In fact, 99 percent of currently threatened species are at risk from human activities, primarily those driving habitat loss, introduction of exotic species and global warming.”

The disappearing species include mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish, birds and invertebrates such as corals, earthworms and butterflies.

Here are some of the species that may not live to see 2016, thanks to humans. The World Wildlife Fund rates all of these species “critically endangered.”



1. Black Rhino. Recently a white rhino died at the San Diego Zoo, leaving only five in the world. But the black rhino is also threatened. With fewer than 5,000 left in the wild in the grasslands and deserts of coastal east Africa, they’re sometimes killed for food but their double horns are a valuable product in this impoverished area. Ninety-six percent of their population was destroyed from 1970 to 1992. Conflict in countries like Sudan, Rawanda and Somalia has hampered conservation efforts.




2. Javan Rhino.
Indonesia’s Javan rhino is even more threatened than the black rhino, with possibly only 35 remaining. They’re dying of disease and an invasive species that has destroyed their food source. Poaching already wiped out a subspecies of this rhino in Vietnam in 2010 and threatens this one as well. They also face threats from reduced genetic diversity and natural disasters such as volcanos and tsunamis.




3. Hawksbill Turtle. Found in tropical oceans, especially coral reefs, they feed on sponges, sea anemone and jellyfish and are essential to the health of coral reefs. They’re fighting threats from every direction, including habitat disruption, pollution, poor fishery practices and illegal trade in their prized shells.




4. Soala. Often called the Asian unicorn, this previously unknown mammal was discovered in Vietnam in 1992. It’s unclear how many there are since they tend to elude human contact, with estimates ranging from a few dozen to a few hundred. The forests of Vietnam and Laos where they live are being cut down to expand agriculture, forcing them into ever-smaller territory. Closer contact with humans means they’re more hunted as well.





5. South China Tiger. This species of tiger hasn’t been seen in the wild for 25 years, existing only in zoos. Although hunting them was outlawed in China in 1979 and its survival made a conservation priority there in 1995, the country’s rapid development has meant that their habitat is fragmented into areas too small to support a population.




6. Yangtze Finless Porpoise. The Yangtze River was once home to two porpoise species, but one, the Baiji dolphin, was declared extinct in 2006, the first time human activity wiped a dolphin species off the planet. The Yangtze finless porpoise has a remaining population of less than 2,000 individuals and could go the same way as the Baiji if its food supply, threatened by overfishing, continues to dwindle. It’s also threatened by pollution and ship movement.




7. Western Lowland Gorilla. This small gorilla, found in the dense rain forests of west central Africa, was once one of the most numerous but its population has been decimated by ebola. And while hunting them for bushmeat is illegal, timber and other companies making forays into distant forests have also made poaching and bushmeat trade easier—and facilitated the transfer of ebola to humans.




8. Vaquita.
There are probably less than 100 of these rare marine animals left in the wild. They’re often caught in gillnets from the illegal fishing  trade in protected areas in Mexico’s Gulf of California. Half the population has disappeared in the last three years, with one in five drowned as bycatch. They’re one of the most critically threatened species.




9. Sumatran Elephant. There are only 2,400-2,800 Sumatran elephants left on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, with half their population gone in one generation due to habitat loss through deforestation by the paper, pulp and palm oil industries. In addition, they’re often killed in “human-elephant conflict” when they trample homes and crops—another result of destroying their natural feeding grounds.




10. Mountain Gorilla. This gorilla, which lives in the mountainous forests of central Africa, is jeopardized by human encroachment forcing them into more dangerous territory, as well as by poaching and civil conflicts. They number less than 1,000 but the good news is that, thanks to conservation efforts, their numbers are growing. So they could dodge the extinction bullet.
http://ecowatch.com/2015/01/03/animal-species-extinction/


Jeff Comment:
Quote

Acting now must include reducing human population to a sustainable 2 billion or preferably below by coercing or dissuading from procreating. China is now sending people to Africa to **** that continent to alleviate the fact that it can't support all of its citizens. It already can't feed itself and has been leasing land in other countries to grow its food. That has burdened natives and destroys wildlife habitat. People are THE problem and not discussing our overpopulation, deluding ourselves that we can do what we want and save wildlife will lead only to disaster. It isn't that a species disappears but that those we don't value suffer and that must end.

Agelbert reply:

Yes, Humans are THE problem. But your emphasis on ALL humans is blame the victim logic when you leave out the subset of humans with the most gigantic, humongous, war profiteering, biosphere destroying, profit over people and planet carbon footprint.

You made a very valid point when you said, "those who we don't value suffer and that must end". That applies to the overwhelming majority of  humanity with a low carbon footprint as well. THEY have ALWAYS suffered at the hands of the human predators along with thousands of species in nature.

Comment on an article on non-human  predators and the public attitude towards them:
Quote

"Predators have undergone a remarkable transformation in the public consciousness in the last century. While certainly not universally admired they certainly get more favorable press than in years past."

Agelbert reply:

Especially the human ones... See News Media, CEOs and Wall Street...

The non-human predators get a bum rap while the human ones that stupidly do not limit their predation to what they need to live and eat, thereby endangering ALL of the biosphere, get the ALPHA MALE moniker in a truly Orwellian distortion of reality in nature.

I blame the deliberate ignoring of the massive levels of cooperation, nurturing and symbiotic interdependent caring observed in nature and the hyping of the relatively TINY, though important, role that predation plays in the perpetuation of species.

The biomass of the trophic levels that eat SUNLIGHT far exceeds that of the higher order trophics. In fact, without the phototrophic life forms, no high order intelligence or predator can exist in our biosphere. We ALL indirectly are eating SUNLIGHT! That does not make us parasitic of, commensal or symbiotic with the sun. The sun is NOT our "prey"; it is what gives us LIFE with no sweat off its back, period. But that is glossed over in scientific studies.

The mistaken  view  taught to all of us that in nature EVERY life form (when the reality is a small minority of the total biosphere biomass!) is in a 24/7 competitive life or death struggle in a predation pecking order totem pole where only the top position (apex predator) is the "crown" of evolution is duplicitous and ignorant. 

I blame a massive fail in the proper interpretation of the Theory of Evolution FROM THE START!. Our society has become a culture that HONORS and CELEBRATES the ability to KILL as proof of viability in nature when that is EXACTLY backwards.

But Wall Street likes it. The DISTORTION of Evolutionary Principles through propaganda justifying rampant, unchecked predation as the sine qua non of an "Apex Predator" (not!) is DRILLED into every child's mind by the SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY. 

And that's why no kid in high school gives a second though to cutting a frog open and killing him in the name of "science".   >:(

Nature is, and always was, about LIFE, not DEATH.  
Quote

"A society that loses the capacity for the sacred, that lacks the power of human imagination, that cannot practice empathy, ultimately ensures its own destruction" - Chris Hedges

If you think the scientific community does not contribute to this mindset with all the KILLING they do for "science" and "the good of society", I have a bridge to sell you in Brooklyn.



We need a paradigm shift in science. Science should not be for sale to justify human cruelty against other humans and other earthlings, PERIOD.


The Fossil Fuel Industry and Wall Street mindset exemplifies a FAILED PREDATOR Evolutionary DEAD END

The 1%'s Responsibility to Shoulder 80% of the COST of a 100% Renewable Energy World with a VIABLE BIOSPHERE for ALL EARTHLINGS.
« Last Edit: January 04, 2015, 03:10:46 pm by AGelbert »
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

 

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