industrial agriculture – Green Social Thought https://www.greensocialthought.org Produce less. Distribute it fairly. Create a greener world for all. Thu, 22 Feb 2024 04:47:04 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://www.greensocialthought.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/cropped-ggef_logo_small-1-32x32.png industrial agriculture – Green Social Thought https://www.greensocialthought.org 32 32 Endangered Species Act: A Failure Worth Fighting For? https://www.greensocialthought.org/biodiversity-biodevastation/endangered-species-act-failure-worth-fighting/ Sat, 09 Nov 2019 16:46:42 +0000 https://gst.riz-om.network/reprint/endangered-species-act-failure-worth-fighting/ by Craig Collins

Everyone who gives a damn about the planet is denouncing Trump’s latest attack on the Endangered Species Act. But little is being said about this law’s actual impact on the fate of endangered species. In theory, the collapse of global biodiversity was supposed to be prevented by the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the Convention on International Trade of Endangered (CITES). But in reality this has amounted to trying to stop a raging wildfire with a squirt gun. Today, some biologists estimate the rate of extinction at 100,000 species a year and climbing! At this rate, preserving biodiversity has gone […]]]> by Craig Collins

Everyone who gives a damn about the planet is denouncing Trump’s latest attack on the Endangered Species Act. But little is being said about this law’s actual impact on the fate of endangered species. In theory, the collapse of global biodiversity was supposed to be prevented by the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the Convention on International Trade of Endangered (CITES). But in reality this has amounted to trying to stop a raging wildfire with a squirt gun.

Today, some biologists estimate the rate of extinction at 100,000 species a year and climbing! At this rate, preserving biodiversity has gone from an altruistic enterprise to a matter of human survival. Vital species and the ecosystems they call home are under assault by the relentless incursion of human civilization.

]]> Nitrogen glut: Too much of a good thing is deadly for the biosphere https://www.greensocialthought.org/biodiversity-biodevastation/nitrogen-glut-too-much-good-thing-deadly-biosphere/ Tue, 30 Apr 2019 11:43:11 +0000 https://gst.riz-om.network/reprint/nitrogen-glut-too-much-good-thing-deadly-biosphere/ by Ian Angus

The nitrogen glut (and the uneven distribution that causes shortages in some places, particularly sub-Saharan Africa) is damaging the biosphere in many ways. Recent studies show that its harmful effects will be intensified by climate change.  It is painfully clear that any serious effort to prevent ecological catastrophes in this century must include reining in the overproduction of reactive nitrogen.   To determine how that can be done, we need to understand how and why the glut occurred. How did the metabolic rift in 19th century agriculture, characterized by the depletion and waste of essential nutrients, lead in the 20th century […]]]> by Ian Angus

The nitrogen glut (and the uneven distribution that causes shortages in some places, particularly sub-Saharan Africa) is damaging the biosphere in many ways. Recent studies show that its harmful effects will be intensified by climate change.  It is painfully clear that any serious effort to prevent ecological catastrophes in this century must include reining in the overproduction of reactive nitrogen.   To determine how that can be done, we need to understand how and why the glut occurred. How did the metabolic rift in 19th century agriculture, characterized by the depletion and waste of essential nutrients, lead in the 20th century to planetary rifts caused by massive oversupply and overuse of the same elements? Part Three will address that question.

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