Radical Noesis - Thinking outside the box

If we leave aside for just a second the ethical (everybody has a right to live on this planet, right?) and scientific advantages that it has, biodiversity is good for the entire ecosystem (in this case, the whole globe) since different species provide different functions to the other members of the system, and all of them base their life on the "work" of the others: just imagine how boring and dead would be a world where there are only plumbers, or - that would be plain hell - only lawyers...

In addition, an ecosystem variegate and diverse is a lot more resistant to external shocks: if the world was just one, single, huge field of soy and we all depended on that crop, a disease that hit that plant would kill just about everybody - luckily we are not at that point, aren't we?

Finally, biodiversity is the source of our different products, medicines and foods: it's not all that good to our health to eat only and always the same cow, always fed with the same soy (see above), grown by the same corporation protected by always the exact same lawyer (again, see above), right?

Anyway, I guess the idea is clear: biodiversity is good, our Mother Earth has always been "biodiverse" for thousands of years - and our own life (as specie) benefited a lot from this healthy and useful characteristic of the ecosystem we are part of.

Well, guess what? The Convention on Biological Diversity (a "pact" signed by 150 government leaders at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, dedicated to promoting sustainable development and part of the United Nations Environment Programme) in it's Global Biodiversity Outlook 2 that came out on the 20th is telling us that:

Biodiversity is being lost at all levels:

- Deforestation continues at an alarmingly high rate. Since 2000, 6 million hectares of primary forest have been lost annually.
- Marine and coastal ecosystems have suffered due to human activities. In the Caribbean, average hard coral cover declined from 50% to 10% in the last three decades. 35% of mangroves have been lost in the last two decades.

- While protected areas cover some 13% of the world’s land area, these are unevenly distributed, with only 2/5 of the world’s ecoregions reaching the 10% benchmark. Only some half a percent of marine areas are covered. And not all of these areas are effectively managed.
- The average abundance of species is declining – 40% loss between 1970 and 2000. Species present in rivers, lakes and marshlands have declined by 50%. Declines are evident in amphibians, African mammals, birds in agricultural lands, corals and commonly harvested fish species.

- Habitats, such as forests and river systems are becoming fragmented, affecting their ability to maintain biodiversity and deliver ecosystem services.

- The intensification of fishing has led to a decline of large fish. In the North Atlantic, their numbers have declined by 66% in the last 50 years.

Do you happen to think that humans have something to do with all this? Noooooo....

Nitrogen Fixation: Humans are contributing more nitrogen to ecosystems than all other natural processes combined. This contributes to so-called “nutrient-loading”, leading to problems such as the creation of “dead zones” in marine systems, as observed in the Gulf of Mexico.

Invasive alien species: The rate and risk of the introduction of alien invasive species, such as the zebra mussel or the water hyacinth, has increased significantly in the last few years, with significant economic costs.

Over-exploitation: Unsustainable consumption continues, as indicated by our growing ecological footprint. The demand for resources at the global level now exceeds the biological capacity of the Earth by some 20%

Ok, we worry a lot about Peak Oil. What if what we are facing is actually Peak Life?