Saturday, December 30, 2006
Thoughts on Extinction and Environmental Change
Thoughts on Extinction and Environmental change...
An urge to reiterate this point(made elsewhere) overcame the Clarion after the news broke(no pun intended) that an ice shelf bigger than Manhattan had detached from the northern coast of Ellesmere Island, Canada in August 2005.
This ice shelf was one of the six ice shelves(glacier tongues) in the Canadian Artic. Now there are five. The Ayles ice shelf was believed to be at least 3,000 years old.
further reading on Ice melting
There is no doubt that the near infinite array of life-forms demonstrate Earth’s ability to adapt to almost any conditions. The question is not: "Are there life-forms on Earth that will be able to adapt to the massive changes in the environment that humanity is making?" Undoubtedly, some life-forms will be able to adapt. The question, which is made much more profound and pertinent by the five previous mass species extinctions, is rather: “Will humanity be one of the species that can adapt and survive?”
An urge to reiterate this point(made elsewhere) overcame the Clarion after the news broke(no pun intended) that an ice shelf bigger than Manhattan had detached from the northern coast of Ellesmere Island, Canada in August 2005.
This ice shelf was one of the six ice shelves(glacier tongues) in the Canadian Artic. Now there are five. The Ayles ice shelf was believed to be at least 3,000 years old.
further reading on Ice melting
There is no doubt that the near infinite array of life-forms demonstrate Earth’s ability to adapt to almost any conditions. The question is not: "Are there life-forms on Earth that will be able to adapt to the massive changes in the environment that humanity is making?" Undoubtedly, some life-forms will be able to adapt. The question, which is made much more profound and pertinent by the five previous mass species extinctions, is rather: “Will humanity be one of the species that can adapt and survive?”
Labels: ecology, thought, weather
