Green | January 30, 2009 | 20 comments

Knowledge gap of how we ‘fit in’ is greatest threat to environment

source: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/01/knowledge-gap-fit-in-environment.php

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We know that trees can increase the thickness of clouds with terpenes, and lizards can drink water from wet sand with their feet, but we have very little understanding of how we fit into the environment and how the environment fits with us. The 2005 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA) found that 60% of the ecosystem services (you know those things that provide clean air, water, and food) are being degraded or used unsustainably. But an even bigger problem is that we don’t understand how these systems work, or why they are failing.

“In only a few cases are the abilities of ecosystems to provide human well-being holding steady, and in almost every case we’re seeing declines in ecosystems underpinning human well-being,” said Thomas Dietz, director of the MSU Environmental Science and Policy Program and professor in sociology and crop and soil sciences, who was involved in the original MEA.

While that is scary enough, when looking at the MEA, Dietz found that one of the biggest gaps was in “really thinking seriously about the interaction between humans and ecosystems, back and forth. How are we changing ecosystems and how are ecosystems affecting us?” Dietz stressed that these challenges can’t be tackled by one discipline, and further will require long-term funding to ensure success. We are part of nature after all, and it is becoming clear that we have the ability greatly change the world we live in. Now we just need to figure out how to fit in with the rest of the world.
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    Green,   Earth and Science,   Science
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    Green,  Earth and Science,  Environment,  Science,  2 more
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20 comments // Knowledge gap of how we ‘fit in’ is greatest threat to environment

  • zeronil
  • omshaantih
    • 0
      omshaantih  

    • God gave us a brain to think and we should be using it to keep his beautiful planet clean and spotless...
      Instead we use our brains to destroy the innocent beauty of it all..
      we need to turn this all around

    • 3 years ago
  • omshaantih
    • 0
      omshaantih  

    • I want to know why is it that I am 25 and I am just starting to learn about all of this..I am angry that my teachers, parents, or anyone did not teach me earlier in life about environmental problems..
      I feel as though there has been a cover up going on my entire life...like it has been a sham

    • 3 years ago
  • darkhorsejim
    • 0
      darkhorsejim  

    • While we're here for our short stay, through education & awareness we could be setting a far better example as caring stewards of the Earth's resources & ecosystems for future generations.

      "Going to the woods is going home." ~ John Muir

    • 3 years ago
  • mcwally
    • 0
      mcwally  

    • We are all part of nature and by that clarity can understand by sympathetic resonance..like all life here..
      The problem has always been that no one teaches you about it at school..because of the production of social cultured working Clones.
      Born into a world of misunderstanding young adult life does not really stand a chance of stating connected to their natural life cycle..but are guided towards a society based away from what is natural in the world.
      If you want to learn about a tree for example spend some time with one..each day...and share the different natures and understanding of each species..if you want to learn about the oceans and the earth..go to the sea and place one foot in the water and keep one on dry land..to learn about the ways of the planet and systems you have to want to connect to them on your own account and not by others information
      Do the work and you will begin to see and feel the results..Ok,so you may look a bit silly sometimes going against the crowds way of living..but at least you are having a Challenging life...or not?
      Remember we are not fixed like a tree or a rock or contained..we can move around the planet freely..perhaps another lost perception of our role is to distribute our unique frequencies through out the world...

    • 3 years ago
  • krush_productions
  • twodee
  • ClareW
    • 0
      ClareW  

    • isn't that kind of obvious? if humans knew their exact role in the eco system we probably wouldn't be having all these environmental problems

    • 3 years ago
  • krush_productions
    • 0
      krush_productions  

    • I look at cultures that have little to no negative impact on the ecosystems around them. They lead very simple lives. The aborigines, the tribes of the amazon, etc. We don't have to give up everything like they have, but we need to do something. Switching all power to sustainable energy, ride a bike 3 days a week, plant some trees. If you have the wonderful option of a high mountain in your area, summit it and look at what humans have created. cities look like a fucking cancer its sad. It's all most of us know though. I'd like to say there exists a balance, but in the years to come I feel a greater sacrifice of things is needed from us to stay alive.

    • 3 years ago
  • twodee
    • 0
      twodee  
    • krush_productions:

      Just back from my run and breathing in the cold air at 7,000 ft. . I was just thinking these things as well. I feel very fortunate to be breathing in the mountain air after living so long in a city of cancer. I hope more people have the chance and/or take the time to do such things.

    • 3 years ago
  • twodee
    • 0
      twodee  

    • we are the only living thing on Earth that takes from Nature and creates waste that is beyond it's ability to re-purpose. In our superior intelligence we have broken the perfect loop.

    • 3 years ago
  • Solar_Wind
    • 0
      Solar_Wind  
    • twodee:

      Genesis 1:28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."

    • 3 years ago
  • twodee
  • krush_productions
  • Solar_Wind
  • krush_productions
  • twodee
  • stephenthomson
    • 0
      stephenthomson  
    • twodee:

      I appreciate your original words, twodee. well-put. What interests me to know is how that's possible. are we just a blister in the hand of creation? are we a short blip of exagerration?

      Maybe with ever-emerging intelligence, there is also perpetual mistake-making, and perpetual reform, and let's hope for fuck's sake there's a grace period too.

    • 3 years ago
  • twodee
  • SHAWN_RITTIMAN
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