Tag Archives: human-impact

15,000 Scientists From 184 Countries Warn Humanity of Environmental Catastrophe

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GR: This is the 25-year update of the warning scientists gave in 1992.

“More than 15,000 scientists have signed a chilling article titled “World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity: A Second Notice,” urging global leaders to save the planet from environmental catastrophe.

“The plea, published Monday in the international journal BioScience, is likely the largest-ever formal support by scientists for a journal article with 15,372 total signatories, Motherboard noted. The scientists represent 184 countries and have a range of scientific backgrounds. Prominent signatories include Jane Goodall, E.O. Wilson and James Hansen.

“The “Second Notice”—an update to the original version published 25 years ago by the Union of Concerned Scientists and signed by 1,700 scientists then—underscores the lack of progress from the original document.

“The first notice started with this statement: “Human beings and the natural world are on a collision course.” It described trends such as the growing hole in the ozone layer, pollution and depletion of freshwater sources, overfishing, deforestation, plummeting wildlife populations, as well as unsustainable rises in greenhouse gas emissions, global temperatures and human population levels.

“Unfortunately, the authors of the current article said that humanity has failed to progress on most of the measures.

“They ominously warned, “time is running out.”

“Especially troubling is the current trajectory of potentially catastrophic climate change” from the burning of fossil fuels and other human activities, the paper stated.

“William J. Ripple, lead author of the current article and a distinguished professor of ecology at Oregon State University, told the Associated Press he was stunned by the level of support for the manuscript.

“I initially sent it out to 40 of my colleagues,” he explained. “After 24 hours there were 600 scientists who signed it. Within two days, there were 1,200. There were so many people signing that our website crashed a couple of times.”

“According to the AP, the researchers document a number of alarming trends from 1992 to 2016, such as a 28.9 percent reduction of vertebrate wildlife, a 62.1 percent increase in CO2 emissions, a 167.6 percent rise in global average annual temperature change and a 35.5 percent increase in the global population (about 2 billion people).” –Lorraine Chow (More: https://www.ecowatch.com/scientists-environmental-warning-2509347840.html.)

A Spectacular Thug Is Out of Control

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GR: As I’ve often reported, only construction and total habitat destruction have done as much as invasive plants and animals to reduce global biodiversity and productivity. Introduction of invasive species is continuing its impact and the rate is accelerating. Global warming is gaining fast, and will combine with the others of the human impacts to push the human impact on the Earth to extremes that will require millions of years of recovery after we are gone. Here’s a report by Paul Simons on an invasion that will take years of intense labor to stop.

Invasive rhododendron ponticum spreading on the Isle of Mull, Scotland. Photograph: Mark Boulton/Alamy Stock Photo

“Rhododendrons are flowering now in a magnificent springtime spectacle – but they are thugs, invading some of our finest and most precious countryside with catastrophic impacts on wild plants and animals.

“Rhododendron ponticum was first brought to Britain, probably from Spain or Portugal, around 1763 for botanical gardens and used on big estates as cover for game birds. But the shrub has spread out of control with huge damage to many native woodlands, heaths and other wild places like the Snowdonia national park. The plant now covers 98,700 hectares, roughly 3.3 per cent of Britain’s total woodland, a report by the Forestry Commission found, and Scotland has been hit particularly hard, where it covers 53,000 hectares.

“Rhododendron grows into huge bushes with thick vegetation that blocks out sunlight and smothers most other wild plants and trees, stopping them from growing or regenerating. Its leaves are toxic to animals and repels wildlife from earthworms to birds. Many bushes have become infected with the highly pernicious tree disease called sudden oak death that threatens many types of trees and shrubs. Outbreaks of the disease in the UK, especially on larch trees, have often been linked to Rhododendron ponticum.

“Each plant can produce one million or more tiny seeds each year that spread in the wind, and it also spreads with massive tangles of branches rooting in the ground. The plant is incredibly difficult to get rid of by digging up or using herbicides. Snowdonia national park and several other sensitive areas have tried to destroy the invading rhododendron involving hundreds of people over many years digging up the plant. It’s expensive, time-consuming and takes years to completely eradicate.” –Paul Simons (Source: A spectacular thug is out of control | Science | The Guardian.)

Human habitat destruction is decimating giraffe populations

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GR: The needs and desires of humans cause extinction, pollution, desertification, ocean acidification, and global warming. Failure is certain if we tackle any or all of these without first working to reduce the human population.

“In a year filled with many…memorable…milestones, 2016 closed with a truly depressing one, as giraffes were added to a list of “vulnerable” species headed towards eventual extinction for the first time. Their numbers have declined precipitously over the last three decades, according to a report released by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, which maintains endangered species lists.

“The culprit? You guessed it—human population pressures.

“Habitat destruction due to human activity—such as logging, farming, and armed conflicts—is pushing giraffe populations to the breaking point throughout the African continent. An ever-expanding human population, largely unchecked due to a huge unmet need for family planning, is having a frighteningly damaging effect on these majestic animals.

“U.S. funding of international family planning programs has the greatest impact in the developing world, where women desperately want to limit their family size but lack the means to do so. All ten of the countries with the highest total fertility rates are currently located on the African continent. Home to some of the world’s most iconic wildlife, these nations are struggling to meet the needs of their human inhabitants while protecting the natural habitats that these animals depend on.

“And sadly, the implementation of the Global Gag Rule has thrown another huge obstacle into the path of slowing population growth throughout the developing world. It deeply undermines progress made towards smaller families and more sustainable communities. Humans and wildlife alike will suffer the consequences if we don’t keep fighting to make international family planning a funding priority.+ –Natalie Widel (Source: Human habitat destruction is decimating giraffe populations.)

Behind New Zealand’s wild plan to purge all pests

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Invasive Species

GR:  After 1500 AD, sailing ships and then later on, motor-powered ships began transporting and introducing plant and animal species all over the globe. Freed from the predators and diseases of their homes, some of the introduced species became invasive–that is, they began spreading, replacing native species, and decreasing ecosystem stability and productive. This is not news, of course, biologists have long been aware of the devastation caused by invasive species.

Eradicating invasive species is very expensive and very difficult. National resolve and full public support are required. Eradication is something that we humans, who are responsible for spreading the invasive species, should be about everywhere.

However, it is essential to place greater focus preventing the initial introduction of non-native species. Prevention is cheaper and kinder than eradication. And again, prevention is not a new idea. Natural resource managers have known how to prevent invasions for the past century. In many instances, they just don’t take the necessary steps. Here are some articles on invasive plants.

New Zealand has one of the worst invasive plant and animal problems in the world. The article below describes an ambitious and necessary plan to do something about it.

New Zealand Eradication Plan

New Zealand has three invasive species of rat. The Pacific rat, or kiore (Rattus exulans), was introduced from Polynesia in about the twelfth century; the ship rat (Rattus rattus) arrived in the late 1700s; and the Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus) became established in the 1860s. All three prey on native birds, insects and lizards, and have been blamed for the decline or extinction of a variety of species.

“Razza the rat nearly ended James Russell’s scientific career. Twelve years ago, as an ecology graduate student, Russell was releasing radio-collared rats on to small islands off the coast of New Zealand to study how the creatures take hold and become invasive. Despite his sworn assurances that released animals would be well monitored and quickly removed, one rat, Razza, evaded capture and swam to a nearby island.

“For 18 weeks, Russell hunted the animal. Frustrated and embarrassed, he fretted about how the disaster would affect his PhD. “I felt rather morose about the prospects for my dissertation,” he says.

“Although there was a lot of literature on controlling large rat populations, little had been written about tracking and killing a single rodent, which turns out to be rather important in efforts to completely eradicate a species. “It demonstrated how hard it is to catch that very first rat as it arrives on an island — or, conversely, the very last rat that you’re trying to get off,” says Russell, now at the University of Auckland.

Brushtail possums are among the numerous invasive pests regularly culled in New Zealand.

“Razza’s escape became the subject of a paper in Nature1 as well as a popular children’s book. And now, with more than a decade of successful pest-eradication projects behind him, Russell is taking on a much bigger challenge. He is coordinating research and development for a programme that the government announced last July to eliminate all invasive vertebrate predators — rats, brushtail possums, stoats and more — from New Zealand by 2050 to protect the country’s rare endemic species.” –Brian Owens (Continue reading:  Behind New Zealand’s wild plan to purge all pests : Nature News & Comment)

The harlequin ladybird is a clever little devil

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GR:  This is a good example of the unintended harm caused by human efforts to improve nature for human benefit.  Accidental and intentional introductions of plants and animals from one continent to another releases the plants and animals from their native predators and diseases. If they multiply, they can replace whole ecosystems and cause drastic reductions in biodiversity and productivity. After the immediate effects of habitat loss to construction, human-introduced invasive species are the most significant contemporary destructor of nature. As global warming effects grow, surviving humans will probably share the Earth with these species.

“Tricked out in Halloween orange and black, a harlequin moves awkwardly through a micro woodland of moss on the concrete as if it were wandering through an alien world, which in some respects it is. This is Harmonia axyridis succinea, a beetle that began its global travels somewhere in eastern Asia between Kazakhstan and Japan.

“Because its larva has an insatiable appetite for aphids and other small insects it was taken to America in the 1980s for the biological control of crop pests. It was so successful that it has been transported into European agriculture, too. To show its appreciation the beetle, called the Halloween ladybug in the US and the harlequin ladybird in Europe, has had a population explosion.

“This is such a common story of what happens when commerce controls nature for its own ends that it comes as no surprise that a creature pressed into servitude causes fear on liberation. It arrived here in 2004 and in 10 years spread throughout an area that took grey squirrels a century to colonise.

Harlequin ladybirds declared UK’s fastest invading species

“Described as a “voracious invader” with a frightening appetite for other ladybirds and the eggs of butterflies and moths, the harlequin causes understandable alarm, given the threat it poses to Britain’s beleaguered wildlife. By the time the harlequin arrived here it was far too late to do anything about it.” –Paul Evans (The harlequin ladybird is a clever little devil).

NPR Poo-Poos Catastrophic Wildlife Collapse; Issues Happy Pills Instead

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GR:  I have often lamented the lack of ecological knowledge among our leaders and news media.  Here’s a story by Joe Bish that illustrates the problem of ignorance among reporters.

“If you are like me, you may often wonder why such a great percentage of your fellow citizens do not fully appreciate the ecological crisis. But then, you read a report such as published by NPR below: this odious gem was printed in the wake of the recent World Wildlife Fund Living Planet Report.

“I initially guffawed at the temerity of the reporter to sow doubt about the massive publication’s authenticity, mangle Stuart Pimm’s sentiments, and finally force-feed the reader a good dose of artificial happy pills. However, the more I read the article, the more insidious it became — for the simple reason it just does not convey the dire nature of what WWF published. It’s simply terrible reporting — and therein, perhaps, is one reason so few truly grasp the predicament we face. Recall this is an NPR story that probably reached multiple millions of people.

“The reporter, Rebecca Hersher, seems to have plenty of experience — see below — just hardly any that pertains to ecology. Therefore, she is left with the standard artifice of modern journalism: to manufacture controversy and look for “another point of view.”

“NOTE: Hersher came to NPR from Nature Medicine, where she wrote about biomedicine and pharmaceuticals, and started her career in science, with a B.A. in Neurobiology from Harvard University in 2011. She has been a staff member of NPR’s All Things Considered. She was one of the producers of NPR’s Peabody-winning coverage of the 2014 Liberia Ebola epidemic (work that won her the Edward R. Murrow award for use of sound.) During her time at NPR, she also embedded with U.S. troops in Afghanistan on an assignment with NPR Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman.”–Joe Bish, Population Media Center (NPR Poo-Poos Catastrophic Wildlife Collapse; Issues Happy Pills Instead).

The Real Monster in the Woods

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GR:  Numerous studies have documented the negative impact human presence has on wildlife. Animals avoid areas frequented by people.  This is why we must avoid building trails in important habitats. Strolling along a desert stream bank might be pleasing for people, but it is frightening for wildlife.  Wildlife is under attack from so many of our activities, it seems that anyone who loves nature enough to want to take a nature walk, would want to take care to avoid the most important wildlife habitats.  In deserts, those are the stream banks.

“Humans are the scariest thing in nature

“Halloween is creeping up on us, making this the perfect time to think about what scares you: Is it spiders? Heights? Perhaps this election?In most cases, steering clear of potentially venomous critters or deadly falls is a pretty good survival mechanism. But when you react to fear, it’s not just your own hide you’re saving. Your avoidance of certain animals or places has an impact on the ecosystem, whether it’s the ability of spiders to continue trapping and consuming their insect prey or minimizing high elevation habitat erosion. (Hopefully your fear of this election will lead you to vote, which will certainly have an impact on the world.)

“Fear shapes nature. The fear of being eaten by large carnivores, for example, helps keep smaller carnivores like badgers, foxes and raccoons from wreaking havoc on their food sources, affecting the balance, structure and function of their ecosystem.

“But large carnivore populations have seen truly terrifying losses in recent years. An analysis of 31 carnivore species around the world found that 75 percent are declining, with nearly 55 percent occupying less than half of their former ranges. As these species disappear, so do the benefits they provide, such as habitat restoration, disease control and the fear they instill in other creatures.

“As wolves, bears and other large carnivores have disappeared from ecosystems, scientists have wondered if humans could step into their role in the “landscape of fear.” A new study from Western University tested the theory of whether humans could substitute as the monster-hiding-in-the-bushes for smaller carnivores. After all, we have inflicted the worst slasher movie imaginable on wildlife, with our actions driving plants and animals extinct at 1,000 times the natural background rate.

“It turns out our scare tactics are much, much worse.

“Not only are smaller carnivores killed by human hunters at a rate more than four times greater than by nonhuman carnivores, but the fear we strike in their hearts goes much deeper.

frightened-badger“Badgers typically respond to fear by spending less time foraging, becoming more vigilant and reducing the number of visits to a particular food source. When researchers played a spooky soundtrack of humans talking, most of the badgers didn’t feed at all and the brave few who ventured out spent significantly less time feeding than they did with the sounds of bears, wolves and dogs. The effects of this paralyzing terror may be as great, if not greater, than the effects of directly killing small carnivores, which in turn could affect every plant and animal lower than them on the food chain. As one of the researchers noted, “Humans may be distorting ecosystem processes even more than previously imagined.” –Stephanie Feldstein – The Real Monster in the Woods – Center for Biological Diversity – Medium