Two-thirds of world's resources 'used up'

[Nordmadr]

Two-thirds of world's resources 'used up'

Tim Radford, science editor
Wednesday March 30, 2005
The Guardian

The human race is living beyond its means. A report backed by 1,360 scientists from 95 countries - some of them world leaders in their fields - today warns that the almost two-thirds of the natural machinery that supports life on Earth is being degraded by human pressure.
The study contains what its authors call "a stark warning" for the entire world. The wetlands, forests, savannahs, estuaries, coastal fisheries and other habitats that recycle air, water and nutrients for all living creatures are being irretrievably damaged. In effect, one species is now a hazard to the other 10 million or so on the planet, and to itself.

"Human activity is putting such a strain on the natural functions of Earth that the ability of the planet's ecosystems to sustain future generations can no longer be taken for granted," it says.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/science/story/0,12996,1447921,00.html

Olaf

[yella_dawg]

1. The Gaea theory...

The mathematical one, not the new-age one, provides a model where the ecology is stable under stress until a critical point is reached. At that point, the entire system slips into chaos until a new stable point emerges. The math is elegant, but when you start trying to apply the results to reality, it gets really scary, really fast. The linear-based estimates of the effects of global warming are nirvana compared to the non-linear Gaea model.

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

2. Scary...

I wish more people were concerned about this because then maybe something might be done to help fix the problem.

[bloom]

3. tuna, swordfish and sharks...

"An estimated 90% of the total weight of the ocean's large predators - tuna, swordfish and sharks - has disappeared in recent years."


And the ones that are left have too much mercury in them to eat.

[dutchdemocrat]

4. Wow

That's not the feel good story of the day - but probably the most important one that has ever graced this website because it really reflects on the future of life on earth.

[iconoclastNYC]

5. Not a problem until Halliburton can get no-bid contracts to solve it. N/T

[dutchdemocrat]

6. Kick - this is pretty important.

Does Schiavo really matter? Or is everyone jaded on environmental stories?

[Fovea]

7. The City Beautiful movement in the 19th C.

Called green spaces "the lungs of the City."
In many cases we now call the same area "suburbia."
It shows in the environmental degradation out there now, as bad as it does in the cities in many cases.

Hope some day we can live up to the standards of the 19th C.

[mike_c]

8. kick-- this is more important than most issues of the day...

...and less likely to be given attention than most, until it is too late.

[progressoid]

9. Well, thank god we got rid of those WMDs in Iraq - - Whew.

Now we can solve another huge issue....Teri Schiavo.