BiGCB report: June 7, 2012 - Discussion
June 7th Nature issue contains a report from "...scientists from around the world is warning that population growth, widespread destruction of natural ecosystems, and climate change may be driving Earth toward an irreversible change in the biosphere, a planet-wide tipping point that would have destructive consequences absent adequate preparation and mitigation."****
Here are their recommendations summarized in the UCB letter:
[indent]"[The scientists] concluded that there is an urgent need for global cooperation to
[indent]- reduce world population growth and per-capita resource use,
- replace fossil fuels with sustainable sources,
- develop more efficient food production and distribution without taking over more land, and
- better manage the land and ocean areas not already dominated by humans as reservoirs of biodiversity and ecosystem services."[/indent]
[/indent]
The human mind can accomplish these goals in cultivating one's own honesty and non-harmful conduct.
The alternative is to understand what children and grandchildren, other sentients, are likely to experience, even returning oneself to suffering conditions and what is happening already in resource-depleting/warring areas (some of which my tax dollars are causing).
A tall, worthwhile order, but that's life
****Competing financial interests: The authors declare no competing financial interests.
Authors:
Affiliations
Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
Anthony D. Barnosky, Charles Marshall & Nicholas Matzke
Museum of Paleontology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
Anthony D. Barnosky & Charles Marshall
Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
Anthony D. Barnosky
Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA
Elizabeth A. Hadly
Integrative Ecology Group, Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC, Calle Américo Vespucio s/n, E-41092 Sevilla, Spain
Jordi Bascompte
TRU NORTH Labs, Berkeley, California 94705, USA
Eric L. Berlow
Department of Biology, The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131, USA
James H. Brown
Department of Geosciences and Geography and Finnish Museum of Natural History, PO Box 64, University of Helsinki, FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland
Mikael Fortelius
Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
Wayne M. Getz, John Harte, Rosemary Gillespie & Justin Kitzes
Energy and Resources Group, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
John Harte
Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California, One Shields Avenue, Davis, California 95616, USA
Alan Hastings
Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Alameda 340, Santiago, Chile
Pablo A. Marquet
Instituto de Ecología y Biodiversidad, Casilla 653, Santiago, Chile
Pablo A. Marquet
The Santa Fe Institute, 1399 Hyde Park Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501, USA
Pablo A. Marquet
Facultad de Ciencias Biologicas, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Alameda 340, Santiago, Chile
Pablo A. Marquet
Pacific Ecoinformatics and Computational Ecology Lab, 1604 McGee Avenue, Berkeley, California 94703, USA
Neo D. Martinez
Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, British Columbia V5A 1S6, Canada
Arne Mooers
California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Drive, San Francisco, California 94118, USA
Peter Roopnarine
Department of Geology, University of California, One Shields Avenue, Davis, California 95616, USA
Geerat Vermeij
Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA
John W. Williams
Department of Biophysics and Biochemistry, University of California, San Francisco, California 94102, USA
David P. Mindell
Department of Conservation Biology, Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC, Calle Américo Vespucio s/n, E-41092 Sevilla, Spain
Eloy Revilla
Center for Conservation and Sustainable Development, Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, Saint Louis, Missouri 63110, USA
Adam B. Smith
editx1
Here are their recommendations summarized in the UCB letter:
[indent]"[The scientists] concluded that there is an urgent need for global cooperation to
[indent]- reduce world population growth and per-capita resource use,
- replace fossil fuels with sustainable sources,
- develop more efficient food production and distribution without taking over more land, and
- better manage the land and ocean areas not already dominated by humans as reservoirs of biodiversity and ecosystem services."[/indent]
[/indent]
The human mind can accomplish these goals in cultivating one's own honesty and non-harmful conduct.
The alternative is to understand what children and grandchildren, other sentients, are likely to experience, even returning oneself to suffering conditions and what is happening already in resource-depleting/warring areas (some of which my tax dollars are causing).
A tall, worthwhile order, but that's life
****Competing financial interests: The authors declare no competing financial interests.
Authors:
Affiliations
Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
Anthony D. Barnosky, Charles Marshall & Nicholas Matzke
Museum of Paleontology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
Anthony D. Barnosky & Charles Marshall
Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
Anthony D. Barnosky
Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA
Elizabeth A. Hadly
Integrative Ecology Group, Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC, Calle Américo Vespucio s/n, E-41092 Sevilla, Spain
Jordi Bascompte
TRU NORTH Labs, Berkeley, California 94705, USA
Eric L. Berlow
Department of Biology, The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131, USA
James H. Brown
Department of Geosciences and Geography and Finnish Museum of Natural History, PO Box 64, University of Helsinki, FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland
Mikael Fortelius
Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
Wayne M. Getz, John Harte, Rosemary Gillespie & Justin Kitzes
Energy and Resources Group, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
John Harte
Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California, One Shields Avenue, Davis, California 95616, USA
Alan Hastings
Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Alameda 340, Santiago, Chile
Pablo A. Marquet
Instituto de Ecología y Biodiversidad, Casilla 653, Santiago, Chile
Pablo A. Marquet
The Santa Fe Institute, 1399 Hyde Park Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501, USA
Pablo A. Marquet
Facultad de Ciencias Biologicas, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Alameda 340, Santiago, Chile
Pablo A. Marquet
Pacific Ecoinformatics and Computational Ecology Lab, 1604 McGee Avenue, Berkeley, California 94703, USA
Neo D. Martinez
Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, British Columbia V5A 1S6, Canada
Arne Mooers
California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Drive, San Francisco, California 94118, USA
Peter Roopnarine
Department of Geology, University of California, One Shields Avenue, Davis, California 95616, USA
Geerat Vermeij
Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA
John W. Williams
Department of Biophysics and Biochemistry, University of California, San Francisco, California 94102, USA
David P. Mindell
Department of Conservation Biology, Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC, Calle Américo Vespucio s/n, E-41092 Sevilla, Spain
Eloy Revilla
Center for Conservation and Sustainable Development, Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, Saint Louis, Missouri 63110, USA
Adam B. Smith
editx1
