Perhaps Greta should be offered a post that has teeth at the United Nations. We need someone who has a sense of urgency when it comes to the health for all the world’s inhabitants.
Both biomass and biodiversity have been taking some big hits due to habitat loss caused by agriculture and over building. Hazardous chemicals from pesticides, fertilizer runoff, and petrochemicals have adversely affected species that may not seem to have direct impact to us. However, since nature is basically one big food chain, any link of that chain dying off affects other species next to it and in turn affects those next to them. The apparent mass die off of insects, birds, and amphibians on a global scale is an indication we are facing a true global emergency. As a truck driver, I know a bit about bugs. And windshields. I used to dread certain times of year in certain locations because of the cleaning I would have to do on my big windshield. Nowadays, even driving through the flood affected states this Summer, I could go a couple of days without cleaning my windshield instead of twice a day in the past.
Nature may be able to handle a little global warming or it may now be yet another stressor. One thing is for certain, nature is losing to habitat destruction, pollution, and over harvesting and there is no indication that current trends are changing. What happens when many of the species we rely on directly or indirectly go extinct? Cows, chickens, corn, and cockroaches will be what’s left of the world. For a little while, anyway, before humans end up choking like a mass of fish on a drying up pond.
A reasonable solution would be for all countries to empower a third party with the authority to enact laws that all countries would have to abide by. Obviously that third party is the United Nations. However, many powerful business leaders feel the United Nations has a political agenda that is contrary to the interests of the United States. That may be, but we are watching our planet die before our eyes and there are significant inefficient and unnecessary industry practices that are harmful to our environment. Although there may be areas that may lend themselves to some compromise between industry and the inhabitants of the planet, we must remember the stakes and the nearly free reign industry had for last few centuries.
