Monday, 20 January 2020

Do Humans Really 'Risk Living in an Empty World'?

A UN spokeswoman on biodiversity has claimed that humans, by continuing to cause mass extinctions (just like a giant meteor hit), 'risk living in an empty world' (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/20/humans-risk-living-in-an-empty-world-warns-un-biodiversity-chief-aoe). Most of her points are made very effectively (that there is too much talking about the issue but much less doing) but I worry about this headline. Even with our technologies, it may not be possible for humans to avoid driving themselves to extinction by wrecking the systems that maintain complex life. There is a danger that microbes will re-inherit a much-changed planet. 
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