Christian Leftist

Every time we displace, decimate, destroy a living organism that otherwise would have survived in the wild had we not interfered, we mess with one or more ecosystems. The balance will correct itself in fast, sometimes violent, and nearly universally negative ways. Contrary to popular belief, we do not ‘own’ this planet. We are renters. We are guests who sometimes overstay our welcome. And when we pass on the bill to the next customer, nature keeps a tab open on us anyway, just counting, watching. Waiting.

One of these days, the collective stupidity of the human race will affect an ecosystem that we can’t legislate away, dismiss or ignore, because that ecosystem will include us in it. We’ve already moved dangerously close to that reality with global warming.

Just look at the state of Vermont, which could see its staple product, maple syrup, all but disappear in the next few decades because the seasons are erratic and the winters are shorter. It’s not cold enough for long enough for the maple trees to make sap. Real maple syrup is already a luxury. Soon it may be a memory.

And I like my pancakes sweet, thanks.

Perhaps an even better example is the plight of the honeybees. Colony collapse has already decimated the US honeybee population, and scientists have recently. Without bees, we don’t have most fruits, seeds, nuts, and vegetables. Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV) was probably responsible for 44 percent of the North American honeybee population dying off in 2006. Yes, 44 percent. Now you know why some food prices are going up regardless of the economic roller-coaster. It’s true that farmers have not seen an irreversible, devastating impact on crops as of yet, but many beekeepers have gone out of business. There are several other factors besides IAPV cited as suspects for Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) in various studies, including pesticides — specifically insecticides, air pollution, other pathogens including microorganisms, antibiotics, and global warming interference with plant bloom seasons. Simultaneously, the number of honeybee-dependent crops have increased.

In other words, our dependence on honeybees for everything from almonds to zucchini goes up constantly, and honeybees are hypersensitive to more environmental factors than almost any other part of our food chains. See a good Op-Ed piece by Jonathan David Farley, “Bee by Bee.”

Global warming as climate change may have already reached the tipping point; we don’t know for sure, but the indicator will be if the North Pole continues to see a complete ice melt over the next few years to a point that the exposed warming water heats up more than the ice can stay cool. That’s pretty much a guarantee; even if we switched off every polluting machine in the world, it would take anywhere from ninety to 189 years for the current warming to stop.

This hard reality doesn’t mean we can’t do something to lessen the damage, though. Think about how more catastrophic the damage will be if we don’t cut emissions drastically over the next twenty years. Do not give up: it’s the difference between terrible and catastrophic.

The tipping point for each ecosystem is different. We can’t wait to take action, or it will be too late for our current way of life.

Much of what we do will have to change, anyway. There’s no need to kill off thousands of species and much of our food supply while we do it.