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https://theconversation.com/have-we-reached-the-end-of-nature-our-relationship-with-the-environment-is-in-crisis-206278>
"Recently, I encountered the thought-provoking expression “God is dead, Marx is
dead and I don’t feel so well myself.” I wonder if it is now the time to update
this by adding “Nature is dead”?
Has Nature, framed as being separate to humanity, lost its relevance? Does
humanity’s exceptionalist mindset, as famed biologist E.O. Wilson suggests,
leave us “contemptuous towards lower forms of life”?
Globally, we have entered the Anthropocene, with humans the dominant force
driving change in all ecosystems. Through our overwhelming influence on the
atmosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere, no ecosystem anywhere is sheltered from
our influence.
Whether it be through colonial redistribution of species, habitat loss, the
diverse forces of climate change, overextraction or pollution by plastics,
forever chemicals, and reactive nitrogen and phosphorus, there is no unaltered
ecosystem. As some of these forces of change combine, ecosystems are being
pushed past tipping points of collapse at a faster rate.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, incidences of reverse zoonosis, in which humans
became the reservoir and source of infection for domesticated and wild animals,
emphasized how the fate of humanity and all creatures sharing the biosphere is
linked."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
