Tons, Hectares, or Dollars? Measuring the Pressure Exerted by the Economy on the Biosphere
Like a doctor measuring a patient’s vital signs, environmental scientists use various indicators to assess the health of the global ecosystem.
biodiversity loss
The Amazon Is Dying and Bolsonaro Is Fanning the Flames
And now, the Amazon is on fire. Wildfires are incinerating the rainforest at a record pace, according to Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE as it is commonly referenced). INPE recently stated that there has been an 80 percent increase in wildfires in the Amazon, compared to the same period from last year.
If the Insects Go, We All Go
Buzz, Sting, Bite is a breezy read with a sobering message: insects are so deeply woven into the web of life that the worldwide drop in insect populations threatens every other species.
Who, or What, Will Stop the Battle against Biodiversity?
You can’t read the UN’s recent biodiversity report on the imminent destruction of one million creatures by human economies and not conclude that the environmental movement has failed, and spectacularly so.
The Wild Way to Rapid Transition – How Rewilding can Slow Climate Breakdown, Protect from its Worst Effects and Improve Biodiversity
Rewilding demands a cultural shift and this will be closely related to the shift needed for rapid transition in other areas. Sharing space with messy, complex nature and predators with large teeth is something to which we can and must adapt.
‘Revolutionary Change’ Needed to Stop Unprecedented Global Extinction Crisis
We are also undermining the capacity of the Earth to sustain thriving human societies. We have the power to change this – but we need to act now.
Climate Change is Killing off Earth’s Little Creatures
The bottom line is: we’re changing our world in many different ways at once. And the myriad little creatures that play so many critical roles in the fabric of life are struggling to survive the onslaught.
What Will it Feel Like to Be Left Behind?
Chris Martenson’s recent article about collapse and the plummeting of biodiversity made me think about what it feels like to be left behind. Few people living in affluent countries or communities understand what this means.
Extinction is a Natural Process, But it’s Happening at 1,000 Times the Normal Speed
Extinction is, after all, inevitable in the natural world – some have even called it the “engine of evolution”. So should extinction matter to us?
Hope and Mourning in the Anthropocene: Understanding Ecological Grief
We do not see ecological grief as submitting to despair, and neither does it justify ‘switching off’ from the many environmental problems that confront humanity. Instead, we find great hope in the responses ecological grief is likely to invoke.
The Death of the Last Male Northern White Rhino: Father and Daughter Reflect
On a typical school night, I was relaxing in the living room in front of the TV when my mom told me the last male northern white rhino had died. The news didn’t officially register until I started talking to my dad. When I told him what had happened, I just started crying.
Major Study Shows Species Loss Destroys Essential Ecosystems
How serious is the loss of species globally? Are material cycles in an ecosystem with few species changed? In order to find this out, the “Jena Experiment” was established in 2002, one of the largest biodiversity experiments worldwide.