Transcript The Future of Life

The Future of Life
By: Edward O. Wilson
Presented by: Jennifer Shea
About the Author
• Edward O. Wilson
– Two time Pulitzer Prize winner
• On Human Nature
• The Ants
– One of the world’s most important scientist
– Currently a Pellegrino University Research Professor
– Honorary Curator in Entomology of the Museum of
Comparative Zoology at Harvard University
Letter to Henry Thoreau
• Addresses the current state of the World
• Walden Pond
– Nature Reserve
– In the same state as when Thoreau was alive
• Second- growth trees
– American Chestnut
 No longer present due to a fungus
Purpose of the letter
• To inform Thoreau of the current state of
the World
• Wilson says “the living world is dying, the
natural economy is crumbling beneath our
busy feet.” (xxiv)
• Humans are self-absorbed
– We think about the here and now not the
future
To the Ends of the Earth
• Two views of life
– Scientists see the world as a biosphere
– Theologians see the world as creation
• Every human knows that life exists on
Earth
– Oceans, Rainforests, SLIMES (subsurface
lithoautotrophic microbial ecosystems), etc.
Biodiversity
• Three levels
– Top Level
• Ecosystems
– Rainforests, coral reefs, and lakes
– Middle Level
• Species
– Live in the ecosystems
– Bottom Level
• Genes
– Heredity of individuals
The Bottleneck
• Universal Environmental ethic
• Environmentalist
– Concerned with “unsustainable crop yields,
overdrawn aquifers, and threatened
ecosystems” (24)
• Economist
– Concerned with production and consumption
Nature’s Last Stand
• Wealth of the world is rising
• Biodiversity is decreasing
– Rainforest deforestation, greenhouse gases,
ozone depletion, etc.
– Endangered species and extinct species
Growing Human Population
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Humans occupy the entire habitable Earth
Lifespan is increasing
Birth rate is decreasing
Technology allows scientist to cure diseases and
genetically modify organisms
Genetic diversity is increasing through interracial
marriage
Why is the biodiversity continuing to decrease?
HIPPO
• Habitat Destruction
• Invasive species
• Pollution
• Population
• Overharvesting
The Planetary Killer
• Wilson labels Humans as the planetary
killer
– Extinction of species is correlated to human
arrival
• Example– Sumatran Rhinos- being poached for their tusks
(valuable/ profitable)
– Megafauna disappeared to make homes, furniture,
farmland, etc for humans
World Conservation Union RED
LIST
• Method to determine endangered species
status:
– The relation between the area of a habitat
and the number of species it can support
– To track the descent of species through the
Red Lists over a period of years
– To analyze the survival possibilities of the
species in the different Red List categories
• Population Viability Analysis
How Much is the Biosphere Worth?
• Ecosystems are important for human
existence
• Humans have interfered with nature’s
natural resources
– Catskill Mountain
BIODEPTH
• Productivity rises with biodiversity
• “Overyielding”
• Nature has ecosystem engineers
– Promote harmony within ecosystems
• Humans are also ecosystem engineers
– Eliminate more niches than we create
– “We drive species and ecosystems into extinction at a
far higher rate than existed before and everywhere
diminish productivity and stability.” (112)
Bioprospecting
• “Exploration of wild biodiversity in search
of useful resources” (124)
• Means for discovering new products
• Way of the future
• Native people from the tropical rainforests
contribute to the richness of biodiversity
– Low technology and local knowledge
The Solution
• Although capital wealth is rising, the
natural nonrenewable resources are
decreasing essentially causing
decapitalization
• To save the biodiversity, Wilson
recommends investigating human ethics
– Humans think in short term while we need to
focus on the long term effects we are having
on the Earth
Patriarch Bartholomew
● “For humans to cause a species to become
extinct and to destroy the biological diversity of
God’s creation, for humans to degrade the
integrity of the earth by causing changes in its
climate, by stripping the earth of its natural
forests, or destroying its wetlands, for humans
to contaminate the earth’s waters, its land, its
air and its life with poisonous substances, these
are sins.” (158)
The Solution
• Global Conservation requires three agents to
work together:
– Private Sector
– Government
– Science and Technology
• Create nature reserves to prevent habitat destruction
and species extinction
• Kyoto Climate Protocol
• Reduce CO2 and other greenhouse gases
Nongovernmental agents are necessary
for global conservation (NGO)
• Conservation International
• Wildlife Conservation Society
• World Wide Fund for Nature
• World Wildlife Fund- US
• The Nature Conservancy
– Devoted to humanitarian and/or
environmental causes
Wilson’s Solution
• NGOs and the government work together
to save the planet
• Wilson says that the planet can be saved
based on ethical decisions