I was in third grade in 1959 and remember the day the new set of red bound Encyclopedia Britannica was rolled into the room on its wheeled cart. After an introduction, the good teacher had us move our desks into groups where we set out exploring topics of interest. This search took me far beyond the wood-lot behind my house. Here, I investigated African and Indian Elephants, enthralled by their beauty and the complexity of their communal lives. I didn't know anything about big game hunting, the selling of ivory for piano keys, the turning of elephant feet into waste paper baskets. I didn't have the words to describe it, but I knew that elephants were among the most wonderful expressions of God's imagination.
Now here we are sixty years later, and the news is bad for our paradise planet. I've asked a science teacher friend to share something of this with us here. There's a big world out there, about which the grateful, God-loving soul might want to know as much possible.
Sixty-five million years ago, a meteor struck the earth
killing off three quarters of the species living at the time including the well
known dinosaurs. This was the fifth major extinction event to have taken place
since the beginning of flourishing life. A mass extinction is defined as the
dying off of a large number of species within a relatively short period of
geological time. And scientists overwhelmingly agree that we are in the midst
of a sixth major extinction event which is claiming the lives of countless
species, even as we walk the planet today. Unlike past mass extinctions, caused
by events such as asteroid strikes, volcanic eruptions, and natural climate
shifts, the current crisis is almost entirely caused by humans. Overpopulation,
over consumption, deforestation, habitat loss, the introduction of invasive
species into new ecosystems, toxic pollution and of course, activities
that have led to global climate change are all to blame.
The numbers are staggering. Although extinction is a natural
phenomenon, it occurs at a natural “background” rate of about one to five
species per year. Scientists estimate we're now losing species at up to 1,000
times the background rate. For example, the planet should lose a bird species
only about once every 1,000 years. In actuality, at least 150 species of birds
have gone extinct in the last 500 years alone, Under current trends a mass
extinction could be reached for birds in 537 years, for amphibians in 242 years
and for mammals in about 334 years.
There are entire populations that are not yet on the brink
of extinction, but their numbers are ‘crashing’. There are 400,000 African
elephants roaming the continent today. It seems like a large number, but it is
less than half of what we had 100 years ago. The rate of decline is increasing
and if the trend continues, we won’t have any African elephants within the next
20 years. It’s distressing statistics like these that are cause for great
concern. And the African Elephant is just one example. There are 26,500 species
threatened with extinction, according to the International Union for
Conservation of Nature, a global network of some 16,000 scientists. That
includes 40 percent of amphibian species, 33 percent of reef-building corals,
25 percent of mammals, and 14 percent of birds. A third of insect species are
endangered, and the total number of bugs on Earth is dropping by 2.5 percent
every year. Insects like bees, butterflies, hoverflies, and other pollinators perform a
crucial role in fruit, vegetable, and nut production. Bugs are food sources for
many bird, fish, and mammal species, some of which humans rely on for food. There
are many ripple effect consequences. Think about it.
As we rapidly change our planet and watch food chains
diminish, one might wonder what might become of us. The global population
continues to rise, and we continue to chop down trees and burn fossil fuels. We
still have time to change our ways. Will we do it?
