Two-thirds of world's resources 'used up'

The Guardian ^ | March 30, 2005 | Tim Radford

[jmaroneps37]

Two-thirds of world's resources 'used up'

Tim Radford, science editor Wednesday March 30, 2005 The Guardian

The human race is living beyond its means. A report backed by 1,360 scientists from 95 countries - some of them world leaders in their fields - today warns that the almost two-thirds of the natural machinery that supports life on Earth is being degraded by human pressure. The study contains what its authors call "a stark warning" for the entire world. The wetlands, forests, savannahs, estuaries, coastal fisheries and other habitats that recycle air, water and nutrients for all living creatures are being irretrievably damaged. In effect, one species is now a hazard to the other 10 million or so on the planet, and to itself.

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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Human activity is putting such a strain on the natural functions of Earth that the ability of the planet's ecosystems to sustain future generations can no longer be taken for granted," it says. The report, prepared in Washington under the supervision of a board chaired by Robert Watson, the British-born chief scientist at the World Bank and a former scientific adviser to the White House, will be launched today at the Royal Society in London. It warns that:

· Because of human demand for food, fresh water, timber, fibre and fuel, more land has been claimed for agriculture in the last 60 years than in the 18th and 19th centuries combined.

· An estimated 24% of the Earth's land surface is now cultivated.

· Water withdrawals from lakes and rivers has doubled in the last 40 years. Humans now use between 40% and 50% of all available freshwater running off the land.

· At least a quarter of all fish stocks are overharvested. In some areas, the catch is now less than a hundredth of that before industrial fishing.

· Since 1980, about 35% of mangroves have been lost, 20% of the world's coral reefs have been destroyed and another 20% badly degraded.

· Deforestation and other changes could increase the risks of malaria and cholera, and open the way for new and so far unknown disease to emerge.

In 1997, a team of biologists and economists tried to put a value on the "business services" provided by nature - the free pollination of crops, the air conditioning provided by wild plants, the recycling of nutrients by the oceans. They came up with an estimate of $33 trillion, almost twice the global gross national product for that year. But after what today's report, Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, calls "an unprecedented period of spending Earth's natural bounty" it was time to check the accounts.

"That is what this assessment has done, and it is a sobering statement with much more red than black on the balance sheet," the scientists warn. "In many cases, it is literally a matter of living on borrowed time. By using up supplies of fresh groundwater faster than they can be recharged, for example, we are depleting assets at the expense of our children."

Flow from rivers has been reduced dramatically. For parts of the year, the Yellow River in China, the Nile in Africa and the Colorado in North America dry up before they reach the ocean. An estimated 90% of the total weight of the ocean's large predators - tuna, swordfish and sharks - has disappeared in recent years. An estimated 12% of bird species, 25% of mammals and more than 30% of all amphibians are threatened with extinction within the next century. Some of them are threatened by invaders.

The Baltic Sea is now home to 100 creatures from other parts of the world, a third of them native to the Great Lakes of America. Conversely, a third of the 170 alien species in the Great Lakes are originally from the Baltic.

Invaders can make dramatic changes: the arrival of the American comb jellyfish in the Black Sea led to the destruction of 26 commercially important stocks of fish. Global warming and climate change, could make it increasingly difficult for surviving species to adapt.

A growing proportion of the world lives in cities, exploiting advanced technology. But nature, the scientists warn, is not something to be enjoyed at the weekend. Conservation of natural spaces is not just a luxury.

"These are dangerous illusions that ignore the vast benefits of nature to the lives of 6 billion people on the planet. We may have distanced ourselves from nature, but we rely completely on the services it delivers."

[Publius6961]

Two-thirds of world's resources 'used up'

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

Can't make up stuff this funny!

[Publius6961]

· An estimated 24% of the Earth's land surface is now cultivated.

How does this translate into 2/3 used up?

For example how does having wheat and other grains growing in the great plains differ from the same area growing wild grasses?

· Water withdrawals from lakes and rivers has doubled in the last 40 years. Humans now use between 40% and 50% of all available freshwater running off the land.

And after use, all that water is teleported to another galaxy? The hydrologic (renewal) cycle no longer exists?

[Publius6961]

I am not a enviro-wacko, but I have heard stories about the silt build up and the pollution of the Mississippi lately...

Ummm... yes.
If it's a river, two things are certain: erosion and siltation.

For about 6 Billion years, now.

[RightWhale]

The water in the oceans is recycled frequently. 20 years, 20 million years, something like that. How much has been part of a plant or animal at one time or another?

[conserv13]

I know that, duh...

There are ways that human activity can affect that though, both positive and negative.

[N. Theknow]

"Humans now use between 40% and 50% of all available freshwater running off the land. "

And how did the water become fresh in the first place?

Ever stop and wonder how many times, in the millenia that water has been on the planet, that a single drop of tap water from our kitchen faucet has been a drop of sweat, or urine, or sea water, rain water, steam, fog, spit, drool, any or all of the Great Lakes, any or all of the rivers of the world?

[unkus]

EARTH FIRST!!! We'll mine the other planets later.

[Publius6961]

There are ways that human activity can affect that though, both positive and negative.

...and minuscule.

[America's Resolve]

Conversely, a third of the 170 alien species in the Great Lakes are originally from the Baltic.

Friggin illegal aliens!

8^)

[Osage Orange]

And how did the water become fresh in the first place?

What is algore..? Alex...

[SierraWasp]

You don't have to be anything at all!!! Any old Freakazoid with a big mouth will do!!!

[Windsong]

"When it does that, it will eventually engulf the earth, which pretty much will ruin all the tourist spots on the planet.

Right, but Pluto will offer one helluva view..right?

[Dog Gone]

Pluto would be a safe distance. We've only got about five billion years to evacuate the planet we're currently on, and I say let's get cracking!

[GRRRRR]

Oh and what a 2.25 Billion years they will be! I can't wait.

These people are nuts. Don't they know anything?

Water is used and recycled, except for some astronaut pee floating out in space, we got the same amount of water on the planet that we started off with some jillion years ago, right after that big flood...

Animals live and die, some die and get barbeque sauce on them!

Trees are a renewable resource, a crop, just like corn etc. It just takes trees a little longer than one summer to grow to harvest size. Heck it takes pineapples 3 years to produce one stinking fruit for some fruity drink garnish!

Next then you know they will be saying we should all be driving electric cars...where are we gonna get the juice to fill them batteries???

G

[antceecee]

Here's a good place to go for an elementary geology lesson for all on the water cycle...
http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/watercyclesummary.html

[editor-surveyor]

"I used up 2/3rds of my underwear."

That's not good news for your fashion future Arthur, since you've not used up 2/3 of your life. Do you plan to spend your later years with levi-burn? :o)

[UCANSEE2]

Actually, we are losing water

I disagree. See my earlier posts. Maybe you and I are both wrong, and it is exactly the same, because of your reasons, and mine?

[UCANSEE2]

Pure Unadulterated Bull Scat!!

PUBS?

Yep, England has plenty of those.

[UCANSEE2]

So, we would have Freepers Against BREEZE!

FABREEZE !!!

[HitmanLV]

What about the resoruces we don't know about yet?