Species extinction rate speeding up: 50,000 species a year

Minnesota Public Radio ^ | .... | Dan Olson,

[wolfcreek]

“most of them unidentified. Each year as many as 50,000 species disappear.”

Stopped reading right there.

LOOK, THERE GOES ANOTHER ONE!

[SteveMcKing]

Um. That too, I guess.

[the final gentleman]

No one I know wants any species to die off.
Unless...
The species’ mere being is antithetical to mankind’s purpose.

Like microbes that kill and maim people.
Or species that get in the way of mankind’s continuance.

The comet and Ice Age one day surely cometh; who you gonna call to save the planet? Bugs? Birds? Trees? Ghostbusters?

[Right Brother]

If you haven't identified it how do you know it went extinct?

It's extinct because it perished before it could be found and indentified. Obviously, because you do not have the keen intellect of a liberal environmental scientist, you cannot possibly understand this.

[Cinnamon]

this is major bullshit. where do they get this numbers? we want the names of these 50000 species, and their habitats.

[gcruse]

You know how it is. When a beaver builds a dam, it’s natural and admirable. When a human builds a dam, it’s destructive and unnatural.

The global warming hysteria is a similar expression of the idea that things must not be allowed to change. The assumption that we live in the best of all possible worlds belies nature’s propensity to upset the order from time to time.

Somalia’s loss is Greenland’s gain. Who’s to say the Greenlanders won’t do a better job with a decent climate than Somalia has done with theirs?

[Gorzaloon]

One of the speakers was University of Minnesota ecology professor David Tilman. He's known around the world for his research showing the effects of human activity on the environment.

Only because he concludes the Party Line.

What I am starting to wonder is...What EXACTLY does it take to major in "Ecology".

Do they take Physics, Calculus, and Chemistry?

I mean, in addition to Political "Science", "Womens' Issues", and "Sayings of Chairman Gore".

[Zon]

Clearly Homo sapiens caused the caveman extinction. Who do I make out the reparations check to?

[Bringbackthedraft]

50,000 years from now humans may be extinct too. Better get your stuff in order now before its too late.

[Gorzaloon]

this is major bullshit. where do they get this numbers? we want the names of these 50000 species, and their habitats.

We cannot have them, because they have not been identified yet.

Possibly Professor Doctor Climate Whore could cite examples as proof.

Unicorns, Gryphons, and Basilisks.

There. Now he has only 499,997 to identify. Where's my funding check?

[TheDon]

Save the environment,
kill an environmentalist.

[Sacajaweau]

Nailing where these losses are is the key and the reality of of what their population should be is the other key. It is a man made scale with no REAL knowledge...just a simple perspective.

My first comment to an environmentalist in training was: How many pairs of shoes do you have? How many feet do you have? She got the message real quick.

[TheDon]

They use computer models to simulate the extinction rates...

[Redcloak]

It’s all part of an alien conspiracy!

(Unreasonable claims deserve unreasonable responses.)

[KenHorse]

Scientists estimate there are 10 to 30 million plant and animal species on the planet, most of them unidentified. Each year as many as 50,000 species disappear.

Liberal "logic" at its finest. We haven't identified 'most' yet we know 50K of 'em are going extinct. Riiiiiggghhttt...

Just like we know there are 12 to 15 million of 'undocumented' aliens in the country. We have no tracking of them yet we know how many they are.

Riiiiighhhttt......

[rcofdayton]

I don’t believe this garbage. It’s just like the phony 3 million homeless people; it’s made up.

[ridesthemiles]

Don’t mess with Mother Nature...

[DPMD]

“He says the next phase of his research will attempt to show ways for finding a balance.”

Why do we have to wait years to hear him conclude that higher taxes and more laws criminalizing the possession of material things will be the only solution to saving the planet? Say it now.

Of course, once the democrat party takes over in 2008, we won’t have to wait on any pesky studies; we can just ram the solutions down everyone’s throat, and if they don’t like it they can extinct themselves.

[ridesthemiles]

this is major bullshit. where do they get this numbers? we want the names of these 50000 species, and their habitats.”

Since I am a life-long bookkeeper, my brain snaps at the sound of numbers...

A week or so ago, someone was pontificating on the fact that a MILLION people a day are dying in AFRICA, particularly Darfur.

While I do believe that there are alot of people dying every day in Africa, I think we die every day in every part of the world. There also births in Africa every day, as well as every other part of the world.
IF a MILLION deaths a day in AFRICA are preventable, etc, and IF they are really happening, that is 365 MILLION dead every year. Unless the dead are being replaced at a 1-1 basis, then someone is lying. 365 million is more than the USA population. Wouldn’t you think someone would notice such large burial problems???

[LiteKeeper]

YEC INTREP