Not much to celebrate for Earth Day 2019
YESTERDAY, Easter Monday, was Earth Day. Each year, April 22nd is celebrated as Earth Day to mark the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970.
The movement started in America following the publication in 1962 of a book called Silent Spring written by the Pennsylvanian nature writer, marine biologist and ocean scientist Rachel Carson (1907-1964), an inspirational woman who challenged the notion that humans could obtain mastery over nature by using more and more chemicals.
In a nutshell, Carson predicted that springtime in the not too distant future would be silent of birdsong if we continued to poison the planet with more and more chemical pesticides. Her bestseller book, Silent Spring, captured the public imagination, sold more than 500,000 copies in 24 countries, and is credited with initiating the contemporary environmental movement.
Life on Earth exists in a state of delicate balance. Unfortunately, human beings have irrevocably upset the balance of nature and, as a result, the world is facing the greatest rate of extinction since we lost the dinosaurs more than 60 million years ago. But unlike the fate of the dinosaurs, the rapid extinction of species in our world today is the result of human activities: climate change, deforestation, habitat loss, trafficking and poaching, unsustainable agriculture, pollution and pesticides to name but a few.
The statistics make bleak reading. Normally, between one and five species go extinct annually. However, scientists estimate that we are now losing species at 1,000 to 10,000 times the normal rate, with multiple extinctions daily. Multiple species will disappear before we learn about them or the benefits they bring to our planet.
Primates, our closest animal relatives, are under extraordinary threat. Close to 60% of the world’s 504 primate species are threatened with extinction, and 75% of our primate species are in severe population decline.
So, there wasn’t really much to celebrate on Earth Day 2019. We live in a dysfunctional world in which many turn a blind eye to the findings of earth, climate and life scientists. That said, all is not doom and gloom; we are very capable of change.
All living things have an intrinsic value, and each plays a unique role in the complex web of life. The good news is that the rate of extinctions can still be slowed, and many of our declining, threatened and endangered species can still recover if people can work together now to build a new relationship with nature.