Friday, September 5, 2014

Where has all the Nature Gone?

A sobering statistic:
Invertebrate numbers–not species, but total numbers–have fallen 45% in the last 35 years.
Combine that with news like this and it's enough to drive you to drink (not that I need a reason):
A new study just published shows that—using more accurate measurements than ever before—Greenland and Antarctica are together losing ice at incredible rates: Together, over 500 (±107) cubic kilometers of ice are melting from them every year.
That means 450 billion tons of ice are lost every year, melted away into the oceans. 
It's hard to not let facts like this demoralize and overwhelm you, especially when confronted with the willful ignorance of some that it's even existing and the utter lack of ability to change things by most of us. The effects of all of my recycling and composting is put into harsh relief every time I travel to a state where recycling isn't mandatory, or even a conference where everyone tosses their plastic bottles and plates into the garbage.

But something is happening, and we do know what it is. It's time to be mindful about the damage that we're doing and take any steps - no matter how small! - to fix the situation.

“…have the courage to assume that you can solve tomorrow’s problems tomorrow” - Scott Ambler


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