Climate change disrupts Eco-systems, and life on earth, or biodiversity, depends on eco-systems. It really is just that easy. It just does not happen as a Hollywood blockbuster would portray, so few people pay much attention to it.
Right now, all over the world, there are refugees from areas where not enough land/water/food/soil are abundant. War is often the result, as is famine, drought, further erosion, and more degradation. Conflict is inevitable within our own species when resources are scarce. It is an every day, all day, assault against all other needed species, however.
We don’t know because it is unpleasant to know, so we feel helpless and powerless. How can we know our own impact, both good and bad, if we ignore it by our own need of solace from bad news? The news that is good should be emphasized. Any problem created by people has its best shot of being solved, also, by people.
Yes, it is true that volcanoes, on which many of us make a livelihood, pump tons of CO2 into the air. However, volcanoes have done always done so, and we cannot (although we try) control them, we CAN control what we burn, however. The emphasis must shift from what is natural, to what positive impact humans can have.
Creatures and plants of earth co evolved to provide one another with all the tools to regenerate life in an on-going flow of creation. Flowers are shaped perfectly for specific bees, birds, bats and more to provide pollination. Predator species, such as wolves, fox, and big cats keep other species from becoming dangerously concentrated.
For every living thing, and for all abiota (non living materials and systems) exist in eco-systems. We are a part of eco-systems whether we wish to be or not. We do conquer and manage them, but nature’s laws are very direct once one organism sets the balance way off kilter. Those areas that are destroyed, or denuded, can collapse taking the whole inter-dependent safety net with them.
When grasslands and meadows are overgrazed, some plants such as willow and aspen can die off and never recover. Then those young forests never get a chance to become full woodlands. Every living thing from pine cone to grizzly bear is affected without those “lungs” of the earth. When one predator is gone, such as wolves, smaller opportunistic predators, such as coyotes, take their place and can become a nuisance and may eat your toy dog or cat.
Every way of migration by people has brought extinctions, so clearly extinctions haven’t ended life on earth yet. It is hard for some people to believe that lost species affect us now, since they seem not to have done so in the past.
Although we do know slow loss of biodiversity is dangerous, we don’t know the exact details of how it will affect a myriad of interactions. In truth, although we know of cascades, and decline, no one knows all details of the natural consequences. Still patterns and models can be at least indicative of what will happen in fallen eco-systems that lose vital organisms, and many scientists do study what has happened in places where life has been extinguished before.
Slow and steady decay of biodiversity affects long term viability. There are species we have not even identified that are going extinct on a daily basis. This is due to land being claimed out of forest, prairie, and more for human use and habitation. Migration patterns are changing as organisms always seek to find a way to make a living, including the human species.
Whether or not we give attention to the decline of the bees, or pollinating, birds, does not mean they are not affecting our lives. For people to help life on earth, they must first become aware of it, appreciate it, and finally cherish it enough to know it as our kin.
