Friday, April 19, 2024
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Are We Ready to Head Off the Extinction Trend?

After stealing some time to read the Fall 2009 issue of ‘Endangered Earth’  (newsletter from the Center for Biological Diversity) that I received earlier this week, I figuratively walked away knowing that the current state of wildlife management will be unable to cope with near-future extinction trends.  And it was the following USGS graph contained within the newsletter that I found quite worrisome.  Plus, it also gives me yet another opportunity to share my mantra that formulated and tucked away after taking a Fish and Wildlife Conservation course…and with a booming population this statement is unbelievably relevant:

“In other words, to successfully conserve natural resources, you must be a biologist, psychologist, anthropologist, sociologist, economist, and a philosopher all at once.” 

Thus, I thought I’d let the graph speak for itself and encourage some reader participation.  Any thoughts?  Can we reverse the trend?

Extinction v. Population by USGS

Scott Artishttp://www.journowl.com
Scott serves as Director of Development & Communications for Audubon Canyon Ranch (focusing on preservation, education and conservation science) and has almost fifteen years of experience spanning for-profit and nonprofit sectors in biotech, wildlife conservation and management, communications, and philanthropy. In addition to a strong track record in organizational growth and leadership, he is the founder of Urban Bird Foundation and Burrowing Owl Conservation Network, and presided over ECHO Fund, a coastal protection and restoration organization, as President for four years. Scott holds an M.A. in Environmental Studies with a concentration in Sustainable Development and Policy, degrees in Micro & Molecular Biology and Environmental Sciences, and has complemented his studies with a Master's certificate in Environmental Resource Management.
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4 COMMENTS

  1. Pretty scary stuff Scott. It looks like the bad news took off with the baby boomers after WWII, looking at that graph. My suggestions are (1) Zero population growth and (2) More environmental safeguards. Hopefully with our new administration, and more cooperation worldwide, we can stem this tide of disaster and get back to building things that last and turning away from a consumer based economy.
    .-= Larry Jordan´s last blog ..Comment on White-throated Sparrow Migrates To My Friend’s Feeder by Amber Coakley =-.

  2. With what appears to be an in evitable population increase, the need to sustain it will require a lot of resources. And as a consuming society/economy as you indicate that will be no easy task. I have a yet unread copy of the Nov. 2009 Scientific American sitting at my house as it must have gotten lost in the shuffle. Well I perused through it yesterday and notice an article entitled- “Growing Skyscrapers: The Rise of Vertical Farms”

    Perhaps this is the type of thinking that will conserve resources and prevent loss of valuable habitat…but before I make any additional comments I need to give it a read first.

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