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Humanity has wiped out 60% of animal populations since 1970, report finds.
Humanity has wiped out 60% of mammals, birds, fish and reptiles since 1970, leading the world's foremost experts to warn that the annihilation of wildlife is now an emergency that threatens civilisation.
The new estimate of the massacre of wildlife is made in a major report produced by WWF and involving 59 scientists from across the globe. It finds that the vast and growing consumption of food and resources by the global population is destroying the web of life, billions of years in the making, upon which human society ultimately depends for clean air, water and everything else.
"We are sleepwalking towards the edge of a cliff" said Mike Barrett, executive director of science and conservation at WWF. "If there was a 60% decline in the human population, that would be equivalent to emptying North America, South America, Africa, Europe, China and Oceania. That is the scale of what we have done."
"This is far more than just being about losing the wonders of nature, desperately sad though that is," he said. "This is actually now jeopardising the future of people. Nature is not a 'nice to have' – it is our life-support system."
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Snow on Wednesday October 31 2018, @07:01PM (4 children)
Are you purposely being dense?
- Skateboards are made from dead trees, resin & tiny bit of metal vs a literal ton of metal, various plastics, glass, etc in a car. Therefore skateboard is less than a car (the default transport method).
- The convenience store would have a fridge regardless of this guys personal lifestyle. He, however does not have a fridge, meaning one less fridge was sold/powered up.
You point about the minimalists standing on the shoulders of the 'mass consumer' is misapplied. It's like saying my household water consumption doesn't matter because I am still reliant on the water grid. Apples and oranges.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 31 2018, @07:29PM (3 children)
If that guy didn't live amongst "wasteful" consumers, then there would be no convenience store. There would be no smooth roads; there would be no cheap skateboards composed of hard-won insights into designing and manufacturing fiddly bits of of plastic and meta and wheels at enormous volumes.
His "minimalism" is utterly dependent on the vast majority of people NOT following his minimalism.
Hey, guess what? You don't get a network of industrial pipes supplying potable water unless you live amongst people who want to piss into a clean toilet or lounge in a bubble bath because they're bored.
The only one being dense here is you; you fail to see the world for what it is.
(Score: 2) by Snow on Wednesday October 31 2018, @10:11PM (2 children)
>If that guy didn't live amongst "wasteful" consumers, then there would be no convenience store.
Why is that? If everyone wanted to shop at their local convenience store (over, say Walmart), then there would obviously be a market for convenience stores and the invisible hand would deliver.
>There would be no smooth roads
Sure there would. Goods still need to get to the convince store. Roads could be narrower to accommodate less traffic, and the lower impact skateboard wouldn't cause the road to wear as quickly as cars do. You could add smaller skate-paths at lower cost (like current bike paths).
Following your logic, it would make no difference if everyone just drove an 18 wheel tractor/trailer everywhere and only shopped at the Walmart 3 states over.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Thursday November 01 2018, @01:51AM (1 child)
The thing that skewers skateboards, bicycles, and all other manner of "ecologically friendly commuter transportation" is: rain, sleet, snow, blistering hot days, plagues of biting insects, and all the other times when people would just rather travel in their cocoon. Sadly, most people choose not to afford multiple commute options so they just use the three ton SUV all the time.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 01 2018, @02:14AM
I don't see why anything "skewers" human powered transport?
I bicycle when the weather is nice and use a car when it's not. As a result I save perhaps a thousand miles on my car every year, mostly short trips (which are alleged to be not so great for the car anyway). I still need all the infrastructure (roads, etc), but at least I use a bit less gasoline and my car might last a few years longer. I also get some exercise and save the cost (and the drive) to a gym...
Even though I work in the automotive industry, it's kind of fun to thumb my nose at a gas station when I ride by on a bike--you aren't getting my money today!