What in the world is happening to our planet and why?
We live in a wounded world that is in dire need of healing. We all should be troubled and terrified by what we have done and continue to do. Humans have made huge and horrific global messes that need to be repaired now. The overriding sense of turmoil is apparent to anyone who takes the time to pay attention. Researchers and non-researchers alike are extremely concerned about unprecedented global losses of biodiversity and how humans suffer because of our destructive ways. We are animals and we should be proud and aware of our membership in the animal kingdom. However, our unique contribution to the decimation of the planet and its many life forms demeans us.
Humans are big-brained, invasive, and omnipresent mammals who seem to think they can do almost anything they want. Individuals in most cultures claim to love nature and other animals but then go on to abuse them in a multitude of ways. Clearly, our relationship with the rest of the world is a very confused one and our actions are often contradictory and paradoxical. Why do we ignore nature when the messages about our abusive and excessive behavior are abundantly clear?
One would have to be a hermit not to hear about the damage we are causing on the planet, yet we continue our harmful ways as if in we're living in oblivion. Sadly, most people do not have access to information that will help them understand our place on Earth and the consequences of our behavior. Most people are also unable to do much if anything about the dire situation in which we find ourselves.
We are here, there, and everywhere and this isn't good for us or other species because our peripatetic omnipresence and short lifespan have removed us from the nuances - the ups, downs, and timelessness - of natural cycles. Our global presence is a problem because we are able to trespass at will even when we're not physically present, and there aren't any ecosystems in which we're not present and intrusively damaging. Truth told, we're a species whom almost all other species could easily live without. We breed too much and over consume as if it's the thing to do. To wit, The Global Footprint Network reports the world's 6.7 billion humans are now consuming all resources 30 percent faster than the sustainable rate of replenishment. In the United States, people are consuming resources nearly 90 percent faster than the Earth can replenish them (http://www.worldpopulationbalance.org/wpb_newsletters/wpb_newsletter_2009aug.pdf).
Humans have an interesting past. We evolved in a world unimpeded by "human progress" and then we began tripping over our own feet. Once, we were alert to and in tune with nature and the other beasts with whom we shared space. There was competition for survival but also reverence and respect, and we knew that coexistence and sustainability were necessary even before science told us this was so (as evidenced by remnant indigenous cultures). When did we begin ignoring nature? Why did we start ignoring our need for untainted and healthy food, clean water, clean air, and reasonable shelter? How did we become so disconnected from nature and an understanding of basic ecological processes? What allows us to tolerate human-induced losses in biodiversity? What can we do about the distance and alienation from nature and other animals that allows us to be so damaging? While it may be that some early humans lived unsustainably (e.g., Easter Islanders) and life back then is easy to romanticize, it is not only our peripatetic nature and mobility but also our ability to deal with situations using technological fixes unavailable to early humans that allows us today to live out of synch, in abusive ways, with natural rhythms and other species, at least for now. Our escape into technological fixes, many short and superficial, gives us a false sense of security that all is okay. Clearly it isn't.
Among the main reasons for our disconnect centers on our ignoring the fact that we are not exempt from ecological principles that we accept for all other species. Our big-brains also allow us to come up with short-lived band-aid solutions that diminish our unsustainable and destructive habits. One way we clearly ignore nature is in our purchasing practices. Buying something is a vote for the production and sale of that product and in some cases implicitly grants permission to abuse animals, destroy forests, rivers and oceans, support child labor in sweatshops, and more. For example, people who know about the humane and ecological effects of, for example, factory farming, but dismissively say "Oh, but I love my steak", must be shown that this behavior significantly contributes to the demise of Earth and other animals (Bekoff 2010). People who over-consume by buying gas-guzzling cars and SUVs or trophy homes need to be shown how easy it is to change their ways and still be happy, in fact, probably happier.
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