Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Less to worry about ...

... than you might think: Invasion of the Invasive Species!

... Davis argues that the good news from biology is that the “globalization of the Earth’s biota will not lead to a world composed of zebra mussels, kudzu, and starlings.” Instead, while in the future different regions of the world will be more similar in their floras and faunas, Davis concludes, “At the same time, they will become more diverse, in some cases much more diverse.”

3 comments:

  1. Yes, but will we still be here to participate in the diversity? We've been absent before when the world flourished, and we'll be absent again.

    Consider the perspective offered in Gerard Manley Hopkins's "God's Grandeur." As he sees it, we are destroyers of the world, and we will possibly destroy ourselves, but--because of the Holy Spirit--the world--with us or without us--will somehow survive and thrive.

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  2. Well, I am sure -- as I'm sure you are, too, R.T. -- that the Holy Spirit can be counted on to do a better job of it. But, as I have said before, I grew up in a house that was for many years in the middle of woods. I got to know the the birds and the trees and the flowers by name. The first thing I wrote that was of any consequence -- I was 13 -- was an essay about the microscopic life in a pond near where I lived. The essay won a prize from Philadelphia's Academy of Natural Sciences. But our devout evolutionists on the one hand tell us that nature is a self-regulating free market in species and on the other wring their hands over what one product of that market -- us -- is somehow obligated to manage the whole thing. Makes no sense to me, at least from the strict evolutionist viewpoint. The English sparrows in my backyard are a very successful species. I applaud them, and I trust the Holy Spirit.

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  3. Here's the reason to preserve biodiversity that you've been looking for:

    Without a diverse ecosystem to support us as a species, we die out, too.

    Period.

    I mean, unless we WANT to spend the rest of our existence as a species using more and more with less and less variation. Personally, I find it the opposite of life-affirming to be forced to eat the same thing every day, because nothing else is available. Go camping for a week strict vegetarians and you might agree.

    If only for the sake of our selfish interests, it's still in our best interest to keep our planet alive and diverse.

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