Saturday, April 02, 2005

Study highlights global decline

The most comprehensive survey ever into the state of the planet concludes that human activities threaten the Earth's ability to sustain future generations.

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) was drawn up by 1,300 researchers from 95 nations over four years. I wonder how many were Black and/or from African Countries?

The way society has sourced its food, fresh water, timber, fibre and fuel over the past 50 years has seriously degraded the environment, the assessment concludes. That's obvious, but of course, it is the world's poor that will suffer. There is an old saying - only the strong will survive.

According to the Independent Online edition - The academics found that two-thirds of the delicately-balanced ecosystems they studied have suffered badly at the hands of man over the past 50 years. In summary, the scientists concluded that the planet had been substantially "re-engineered" in the latter half of the 20th century because of the pressure placed on the earth's natural resources by the growing demands of a larger human population.

The Guardian Unlimited reports, the human race is living beyond its means. A report backed by 1,360 scientists from 95 countries - some of them world leaders in their fields - today warns that almost two-thirds of the natural machinery that supports life on Earth is being degraded by human pressure. Human activity is putting such a strain on the natural functions of Earth that the ability of the planet's ecosystems to sustain future generations can no longer be taken for granted.

Are they implying here that the world's population needs to be decreased so that industrialized nations can remained comfortable for the limited time they have left to deplete the rest of the world's resources? The bottom line, it is the industrialized countries that have squandered the world's resources without any consideration for future generations. We all know that this is the reality of the situation and some people are not surprised by this report. It is the natural outcome of a society that is built on a non-sustainable model (economy). Although, the first world countries represent a relatively small minority of the earth’s population, they have squandered more resources than what have been used by all the other peoples combined. So how can this report say it is the human population as a whole that is putting a strain on the world's resources because it has grown too rapidly? I smell a rat.

posted by Cynthia   Permalink| Comments(0)|

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