As our planet faces unprecedented challenges, the loss of biodiversity has become a critical concern, with far-reaching consequences for ecosystems and human well-being. These articles delve into factors contributing to biodevastation, which is the loss of biodiversity and life. The articles explore the causes, consequences, and potential solutions shedding light on the profound impacts of biodevastation on ecosystems, wildlife, and the delicate balance of our planet.
Articles range from habitat destruction and pollution to the role of human activities in exacerbating the loss of biodiversity. We bring you expert perspectives and actionable steps to address and mitigate the challenges posed by the loss of biodiversity.
Together, let’s explore ways to protect and preserve the richness of life on Earth for current and future generations.
Each article serves as a stepping stone towards a deeper understanding of biodiversity loss and environmental destruction and the urgency to adopt better practices.
Paper Straws are not Enough
Robert Hunziker
As the UK suffered its hottest-ever temperatures only recently, Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now, interviewed Britain’s erudite environmental journalist George Monbiot July 21, 2022 about his most recent article in The Guardian: This Heatwave Has Eviscerated The Idea That Small Changes Can Tackle Extreme Weather, July 18, 2022. According to Monbiot: “Paper straws are not enough. Only System Change can halt the climate crisis.” Of course, System Change can only mean throwing out the neoliberal brand of capitalism in favor of almost anything else. Adam Smith would be spinning in his grave with today’s crony capitalism. Interestingly, “the term […]
Mass Death of Sequoias Is the Harbinger of Earth Systems Collapse
Bruce Melton
Climate change is killing giant sequoias in numbers that portend ecological disaster unless radical action is taken to reverse the impacts of the climate crisis. Sequoias, once deemed “unburnable,” began to be widely destroyed by fire in 2015, and then in 2020 and 2021, California fires tripled in area covered. A climate change threshold has been crossed. We have warmed beyond the evolutionary boundaries of our Earth’s systems. “Starting in 2015, higher-severity fires have killed mature giant sequoias (those 4 feet or greater in diameter) in much greater numbers than has ever been recorded,” the National Park Service reports. “We have reached […]
Breakdown of the Marine Food Web
Robert Hunziker
For the first time, a significant loss at the base of the marine food web has been detected. The Scottish research vessel Capepod reported the findings in equatorial waters of the Atlantic Ocean. It’s a disturbing discovery, but first a look at the marine food web, starting with the lowest organisms: (1) phytoplankton — plant-like plankton (green algae, diatoms, and dinoflagellates) eaten by (2) zooplankton – microorganisms (crustaceans, rotifers, insect larvae and mites) eaten by (3) small fish (anchovies, sardines, shrimp, squid, krill) eaten by (4) bigger fish (sturgeon, sunfish, sharks, manta rays) eaten by (5) mammals — seals, dolphins, […]
Greenland Threatens
Robert Hunziker
Greenland is sending signals to coastal metropolises around the world that it’s never too early to start building seawalls. These are not mixed signals from the big ice island. Rather, they are straightforward signals indicative of rapid breakdown of average ice thickness of 5,000 feet sooner than ever thought possible. Stating the obvious, it’s horrible news. In conjunction with freakish rain at the top of Greenland, the response to global warming has increasingly exposed humans as farcically trapped behind the biggest eight ball of all time by not taking global warming seriously. Now, there may be no way around it. […]
Will Egypt Drain the World’s Second Largest Wetland?
Robert Hunziker
“With 35% loss globally since 1970, wetlands are our most threatened ecosystem, disappearing three times faster than forests. Wetlands’ services for climate mitigation, adaptation biodiversity, and human health outweigh all other terrestrial ecosystems.” (Source: Wetlands are Being Lost at Alarming Rates, Global Wetland Outlook, 2021) Sudd is Africa’s largest freshwater wetland at roughly 3,500 square miles in an otherwise dry region of South Sudan. It’s under threat by a megaproject named Jonglei Canal that has the potential to devastate this ecological gem. According to conservationists: “Even a partial loss of the Sudd would be an ecological disaster, desiccating the […]
Nationalize or Neutralize: How to End the Fossil Fuel Industry
Heny Robertson
Most talk about the climate crisis comes at it from the “demand side” — how to reduce demand for fossil fuels (FF) by replacing them with renewable electricity or becoming more efficient in the use of FF. We need to look at it from the “supply side” too. Ongoing extraction of oil, methane (natural gas) and coal will eventually blow through the safe limits on greenhouse gas pollution. What’s less often acknowledged is that the FF industry’s planned investments in new projects would extend their dominance for decades into the future. The infrastructure they build now will need to keep […]
India – Birds Drop out of the Sky, People Die
Robert Hunziker
In case you have lingering doubts about the reality of human-caused global warming, hop on an airplane to parts of India or Pakistan and spend a few days. And, as long as you’re there, maybe be a good citizen and pick up a few of the dehydrated birds that drop out of the sky. Then, use the syringe you brought along to feed it some water before it dies in your hands. And, maybe do the same for some of the people sprawled out on the roadside before they die right before your eyes. After all, people are already dying […]
World Drought Gets Worse, Cities Ration
Robert Hunziker
The planet is wheezing, coughing and sputtering because of vicious attacks by worldwide droughts aided and abetted by global warming at only 1.2C above baseline. Some major metropolises are rationing water. What’ll happen at 1.5C? It’s not as if droughts are not a normal feature of the climate system. They are, but the problem nowadays is highlighted by reports from NASA and NOAA stating that earth is trapping nearly twice as much heat is it did in 2005 described as an “unprecedented increase amid the climate crisis.” This trend is described as “quite alarming.” The planet trapping heat at double […]
Climate Change is Killing Trees
Robert Hunziker
A long time ago in the Milky Way galaxy on a planet named Earth the trees died. It only happened once in the planet’s history. It was during the Permian-Triassic 252 million years ago. Henk Visscher, PhD, Department of Earth Sciences, Utrecht University, makes a living studying exposed fossil beds of the transitional period of the Permian to Triassic era, “The Great Dying.” Layers of fossils prior to the great extinction event contain lots of pollen, typical of a healthy conifer forest. But, in the Permo-Triassic boundary the pollen is replaced by strands of fossilized fungi, representing an exploding population […]