Subject: [Tweeters] Population pessimism is pernicious
Date: Jul 29 09:10:25 2006
From: Ed Newbold - ednewbold1 at yahoo.com
Hi all,
Recently on tweeters the idea that rising population and/or consumption levels are connected rigidly to environmental deterioration has been aired. While rising population and consumption levels alarm me, I feel this view is fatalistic & inaccurate because it?s not complicated enough. Consider this chart:
Extinction U.S. Population at the time
Labrador Duck 44 million
Carolina Parakeet 100 million
Passenger Pigeon 122 million
Did we have too many people when the Labrador Duck went extinct? Or too many people taking potshots at Labrador Ducks?
If we had any of our extinct species back, I?d be optimistic we could manage them now. The California Condor didn?t originally go down because there were too many people, it went down because those people were using poisonous lead shot when they hunted deer. Now that we have more than 300 million people, the Condor?s chances of survival look somewhat better-- and they still depend not on the population level but on the integrity and responsibility level of the human community.
None of this is to deny there aren?t serious challenges from the numbers of people and how much energy and resources they use, just to say the subject is much too complicated to be reduced to simple equations. I?d rather have a billion people in the U.S. who loved and cared about nature and biodiversity than 100 million who were contemptuous of it.
It?s tough for me?I?m getting older & seem to be pessimistic by nature?but my challenge to myself (and others who loves birds) is to put a smile on my face and look at the bright side and think how much all these wonderful people on this green earth can do for birds.
& in this vein I apologize for the uncalled-for gloominess in some of my past posts.
Records falling in Yardbirdrace!
http://www.ednewbold.com/yardbird.htm
Tweeter by digest Ed Newbold residential Beacon Hill, Seattle, where the birds are bummed out because the Racoons keep busting up Butyl Creek. Ednewbold1 at yahoo.com
---------------------------------
Yahoo! Music Unlimited - Access over 1 million songs.Try it free.