Forums › Life › Politics, Media & Current Events › INT : Two-thirds of world’s resources ‘used up’
Two-thirds of world’s resources ‘used up’
Tim Radford, science editor
Guardian
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 the almost two-thirds of the natural machinery that supports life on Earth is being degraded by human pressure.
The study contains what its authors call “a stark warning” for the entire world. The wetlands, forests, savannahs, estuaries, coastal fisheries and other habitats that recycle air, water and nutrients for all living creatures are being irretrievably damaged. In effect, one species is now a hazard to the other 10 million or so on the planet, and to itself.
“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,” it says.
The report, prepared in
· Because of human demand for food, fresh water, timber, fibre and fuel, more land has been claimed for agriculture in the last 60 years than in the 18th and 19th centuries combined.
· An estimated 24% of the Earth’s land surface is now cultivated.
· Water withdrawals from lakes and rivers has doubled in the last 40 years. Humans now use between 40% and 50% of all available freshwater running off the land.
· At least a quarter of all fish stocks are overharvested. In some areas, the catch is now less than a hundredth of that before industrial fishing.
· Since 1980, about 35% of mangroves have been lost, 20% of the world’s coral reefs have been destroyed and another 20% badly degraded.
· Deforestation and other changes could increase the risks of malaria and cholera, and open the way for new and so far unknown disease to emerge.
In 1997, a team of biologists and economists tried to put a value on the “business services” provided by nature – the free pollination of crops, the air conditioning provided by wild plants, the recycling of nutrients by the oceans. They came up with an estimate of $33 trillion, almost twice the global gross national product for that year. But after what today’s report, Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, calls “an unprecedented period of spending Earth’s natural bounty” it was time to check the accounts.
“That is what this assessment has done, and it is a sobering statement with much more red than black on the balance sheet,” the scientists warn. “In many cases, it is literally a matter of living on borrowed time. By using up supplies of fresh groundwater faster than they can be recharged, for example, we are depleting assets at the expense of our children.”
Flow from rivers has been reduced dramatically. For parts of the year, the
The
Invaders can make dramatic changes: the arrival of the American comb jellyfish in the
A growing proportion of the world lives in cities, exploiting advanced technology. But nature, the scientists warn, is not something to be enjoyed at the weekend. Conservation of natural spaces is not just a luxury.
“These are dangerous illusions that ignore the vast benefits of nature to the lives of 6 billion people on the planet. We may have distanced ourselves from nature, but we rely completely on the services it delivers.”
Amen.
I hope that people here do not feel that a vote for the Greens is a wasted one next month. Just one seat won will make a difference.
Of course non of this makes a difference till the USA sits up and takes notice, but I like to be positive 🙂
I hope that people here do not feel that a vote for the Greens is a wasted one next month. Just one seat won will make a difference.
Of course non of this makes a difference till the USA sits up and takes notice, but I like to be positive 🙂
yup, all we can take is one step at a time, i actually find this sort of report heart warming, as it make all those enviro-sceptics look stupider by the minute.
there are many small things you can do to help stop this impending catastrophy, the main one just being aware- aware of where your food comes from, that water is scarce and should never be wasted, aware that every time you use a light, there is a byproduct that has fucked up some corner of the globe for your benefit; aware of the practices of the companies you support with your custom. really think about it, and you cant go wrong.
as the parrot said, it can sometimes seem futile havin a shower instead of a bath and turnin lights out and half fillin the kettle, when companies like cocacola are tipping thousands of tonnes of raw sewage into seas and rivers every day, but if you dont, who will?
The best aspect of this report is that it has not obviously come from the progressive/green movement (although it clearly supports many of their arguments!)
It has come from a think tank of scientists and corporate types, it has been produced in Washington of all places – and yet it shows everyone whatever their views the stark truth, even in bald financial terms.
BTW in finance, drawing off large amounts of resources from the balance sheet without any thought of how to replace them is known as asset-stripping, and is not a sustainable form of doing business. Very soon, that organisation will be insolvent.
Over the past few months i have started to become more aware of the consiquencies of my actions.
Our local council finally pulled it’s finger out and provided our town with recycling bins. This gave me the kick up the arse that I needed to start being a bit more enviromentally friendly.
I watched the McLiable case on TV http://www.mcspotlight.org and have since most deffinately stopped eating the vile products that McDonalds sell and all other Junk Food companies.
I also watched ‘Slaughter House’ and have since stopped eating meet and feel so much better for it!
I would like to be a lot more ‘greener’, can anyone recomend some good sources of information on ways to live a greener life?
its funny, a mate of mine recently started going out with this finnish girl, so ive had all her finnish mates to chat to, and one of the main things that weirded them out is how wasteful the UK is. they say that the UK is held up as some kind of pinnacle of progressive values in a lot of places, but our actual practices are way behind the times. we are only just getting reycling from our homes in this country, where as germany has had three different wheelie bins to get rid of waste and recycling for over a decade now!
also working in pubs – all the glass just gets thrown out over here! glas is one material that can be infinitely recyclable, and loses virtually no qualities. you could melt down and remake a bottle a million times and it would still be a perfectly usable bottle! so why do we ever throw it away, and why do massive chainpubs, that throw out thousands of tonnes of glass each year, no recycle? surely they would benefit from selling the glass to a recycling plant to sell to the beer companies to sell back to them?
there are a lot of companies stating the importance of sustainable methods, but very few companies actually being a working example of how its done.
sorry, that was just a moan, wasn’t it? whoops. heres summat useful
the freinds of the earth seem to know where its at in terms of living within our means.
and if you wanna do summat usefull on top of that, theres always greenpeace, who have always shown that caring about the environment doesnt make you a wuss.
its well simple really, its just remembering when you are in shops or sorting out the rubbish, just to think about the environment as well as all the other considerations. it takes a bit of getting used to, but once youre in the habit, its no hassle at all.
Hello there,
I’ve been having quite a nice morning, so I thought I’d start ranting about this *very* emotive topic…
What annoys quite a lot is how a lot of larger companies imply that they are doing good work for the planet, when they are so evidently not.
An example:
You know when you go to Tesco’s and buy some organic veg? The veg may have been grown organically; but the seeds themselves are not necessarilly organic; many of them have been sliced and prepared, often discarding the outer skins of veg which are sometimes the most nutritous part; the plastic packaging that it comes in is not recycled; the selophane surrounding the packet is not recyclable; the shop where you bought it was built on a large area of green land (which is now a car park and concrete); the small independant retailers who serve and supply better quality foods have had to close down, putting the people whose entire livelihood depended on their trade into financial hardship, all for the sake of an extra 0.5% of Tesco’s already huge profits; the route you took to the shop can’t be done on a bycicle anymore as they have put barriers up to stop people stealing trolleys, unless you can lift your bike over them (which admittedly I can, but there are many who are unable); nearly ALL the litter in the surrounding area comes from their packaging as they have supplied virtually no bins on the paths which serve them and them alone.
This is not looking after the planet. It may be a little further to go to a smaller, better shop, it may be a little more expensive too, but surely it would be better to spend a couple of extra pounds now rather than to help the proliferation of such a monster.
If you want to eat veg, grow it. If you can’t grow it, buy it from someone who can.
I think I need to point out that it is not just Tesco’s but the vast majority of high street chains benefit from grossly unethical, unenvironmental and, to be honest, uncivilised actions.
(and another thing – diesel vehicles can be run on vegetable oil – there’s talk that this creates more carbon in the atmosphere, but the carbon has already been released when the oil is produced, and the emissions are much less than Diesel. Cheaper, greener, better.)
Peace.
If you want to eat veg, grow it. If you can’t grow it, buy it from someone who can.
AFAIK there’s an organic farm in Pangbourne, and the True Food Collective (which you may already be using),
if you must use supermarkets the co-op group of stores are fairly good (look on their website, as they are not always co-op branded, but they often buy out smaller chains but let them keep their names to keep small post offices going)
also Asian-owned grocers tend to source fruit and vegetables from local sources and use less packaging. The Budgens group also tends to use local producers (transport has far worse impact on thre environment than packaging!)
the packaging is often a problem due to the dysfunctional world we live in. most of it is only there to prevent theft or deliberate contamination, and the worse a store is the worse these risk become – a vicious circle..
the problem is that not every one has access to, or can afford an organic box scheme, or to shop locally. when i was protesting outside asda a lot of people were pissed off because they shopped there because its what they could afford, and i was trying to make them feel guilty. it was crap.
the only way out of this is for the people who can afford the time and money to shop locally and think globally to do so. the reason organic foods are more expensive is because they are still a specialist market- decades of government subsidised land poisoning has seen to that. but if the current trend of more demand for organic and local produce continues, then the prices will go down, opening the market to the less well off and prepetuating its success.
thats why shopping ethically is so important, because the more you do it, the easier it is for everyone else.
also, i dunno about anyone else, but supermarkets freak me out. i much prefer spending a little more time, visiting a variety of local shops, and getting some interesting and changing choices to buy. i love going into my local grocers and chatting to the bloke, getting a recommendation of him, maybe some free fruit or whatever, proper lush compared to slogging round co-op like some kind of gameshow on heroin.
the other thing you can do if you can be arsed, is put pressure on your council by writing them letters. it may seem unlikely, but a lot of councils do actually give a shit what their constituants think, and it all adds up.
I’m lucky as I actually live on the suburbs of Reading and our local shops try to get organic stuff and there are organic farms nearby. Even so although I can afford the cash I can’t afford the time in many cases, I often work long or odd hours (ironically, on computer systems that are used to give out grants for environmental protection activities!) and need to use shops which open late….
the only way out of this is for the people who can afford the time and money to shop locally and think globally to do so. the reason organic foods are more expensive is because they are still a specialist market- decades of government subsidised land poisoning has seen to that. but if the current trend of more demand for organic and local produce continues, then the prices will go down, opening the market to the less well off and prepetuating its success.
a lot of the subsidies for over-production ended this year (the farmers are really whinging and moaning about this and have been replaced by organic farming subsidies (although with far less money). it will be painful for the farmers who have lived off greed but good in the long run.
Thanks for the info guys…
USE hehehe, i have the same problem with Supermarkets too…… damn awfull places. I much prefer going to the market on a saturday morning to buy our veg. It’s all really fresh and makes you feel like your putting your money in someones pocket that needs it. We’ve also just found a stall at our local car boot that sells organic products…
In a strange way it feels quite liberating not using Supermarkets
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Forums › Life › Politics, Media & Current Events › INT : Two-thirds of world’s resources ‘used up’
