I am not a person who believes in providence, or the market’s invisible hand, or the balances that protect democracy, or Gaia. There are systems that are stable for long periods because of massive negative feedback. But that very feedback can turn positive under unusual situations, equalibriums can disappear and systems collapse.
I do not know whether we are going to ‘fall over a cliff’ and I don’t think others do either. We just don’t know enough. It is certainly clear to me that we are in danger, just not how much. WE DO NOT KNOW.
The planet has had periods of mass extinction before and has recovered, but the recovered biosphere was very different from the lost one. Technically we are losing species at the sort of rate that appeared during previous mass extinctions. Humans may be the ‘dominant life form’ that loses out this time.
Technically we are losing species at the sort of rate that appeared during previous mass extinctions.
I don’t have a good cite handy, but I’ve read enough on the subject over the years to say confidently that, technically, no, this is just not the case.
I am not a person who believes in providence, or the market’s invisible hand, or the balances that protect democracy, or Gaia. There are systems that are stable for long periods because of massive negative feedback. But that very feedback can turn positive under unusual situations, equalibriums can disappear and systems collapse.
I do not know whether we are going to ‘fall over a cliff’ and I don’t think others do either. We just don’t know enough. It is certainly clear to me that we are in danger, just not how much. WE DO NOT KNOW.
The planet has had periods of mass extinction before and has recovered, but the recovered biosphere was very different from the lost one. Technically we are losing species at the sort of rate that appeared during previous mass extinctions. Humans may be the ‘dominant life form’ that loses out this time.
I don’t have a good cite handy, but I’ve read enough on the subject over the years to say confidently that, technically, no, this is just not the case.
Here are some links to numbers and graphs:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/03/2/l_032_04.html
http://www.whole-systems.org/extinctions.htmls
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=The_Sixth_Great_Extinction
The rate to extremely high and that rate will continue (probably increase) if nothing is done.