The Future of Life

1. The Future of Life By: Edward O. Wilson Presented by: Jennifer Shea

2. About the Author • Edward O. Wilson • Two time Pulitzer Prize winner • On Human Nature • The Ants • One of the world’s most important scientist • Currently a Pellegrino University Research Professor • Honorary Curator in Entomology of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University

3. Letter to Henry Thoreau • Addresses the current state of the World • Walden Pond • Nature Reserve • In the same state as when Thoreau was alive • Second- growth trees • American Chestnut • No longer present due to a fungus

4. Purpose of the letter • To inform Thoreau of the current state of the World • Wilson says “the living world is dying, the natural economy is crumbling beneath our busy feet.” (xxiv) • Humans are self-absorbed • We think about the here and now not the future

5. To the Ends of the Earth • Two views of life • Scientists see the world as a biosphere • Theologians see the world as creation • Every human knows that life exists on Earth • Oceans, Rainforests, SLIMES (subsurface lithoautotrophic microbial ecosystems), etc.

6. Biodiversity • Three levels • Top Level • Ecosystems • Rainforests, coral reefs, and lakes • Middle Level • Species • Live in the ecosystems • Bottom Level • Genes • Heredity of individuals

7. The Bottleneck • Universal Environmental ethic • Environmentalist • Concerned with “unsustainable crop yields, overdrawn aquifers, and threatened ecosystems” (24) • Economist • Concerned with production and consumption

8. Nature’s Last Stand • Wealth of the world is rising • Biodiversity is decreasing • Rainforest deforestation, greenhouse gases, ozone depletion, etc. • Endangered species and extinct species

9. Growing Human Population • Humans occupy the entire habitable Earth • Lifespan is increasing • Birth rate is decreasing • Technology allows scientist to cure diseases and genetically modify organisms • Genetic diversity is increasing through interracial marriage • Why is the biodiversity continuing to decrease?

10. HIPPO • Habitat Destruction • Invasive species • Pollution • Population • Overharvesting

11. The Planetary Killer • Wilson labels Humans as the planetary killer • Extinction of species is correlated to human arrival • Example- • Sumatran Rhinos- being poached for their tusks (valuable/ profitable) • Megafauna disappeared to make homes, furniture, farmland, etc for humans

12. World Conservation Union RED LIST • Method to determine endangered species status: • The relation between the area of a habitat and the number of species it can support • To track the descent of species through the Red Lists over a period of years • To analyze the survival possibilities of the species in the different Red List categories • Population Viability Analysis

13. How Much is the Biosphere Worth? • Ecosystems are important for human existence • Humans have interfered with nature’s natural resources • Catskill Mountain

14. BIODEPTH • Productivity rises with biodiversity • “Overyielding” • Nature has ecosystem engineers • Promote harmony within ecosystems • Humans are also ecosystem engineers • Eliminate more niches than we create • “We drive species and ecosystems into extinction at a far higher rate than existed before and everywhere diminish productivity and stability.” (112)

15. Bioprospecting • “Exploration of wild biodiversity in search of useful resources” (124) • Means for discovering new products • Way of the future • Native people from the tropical rainforests contribute to the richness of biodiversity • Low technology and local knowledge

16. The Solution • Although capital wealth is rising, the natural nonrenewable resources are decreasing essentially causing decapitalization • To save the biodiversity, Wilson recommends investigating human ethics • Humans think in short term while we need to focus on the long term effects we are having on the Earth

17. Patriarch Bartholomew ● “For humans to cause a species to become extinct and to destroy the biological diversity of God’s creation, for humans to degrade the integrity of the earth by causing changes in its climate, by stripping the earth of its natural forests, or destroying its wetlands, for humans to contaminate the earth’s waters, its land, its air and its life with poisonous substances, these are sins.” (158)

18. The Solution • Global Conservation requires three agents to work together: • Private Sector • Government • Science and Technology • Create nature reserves to prevent habitat destruction and species extinction • Kyoto Climate Protocol • Reduce CO2 and other greenhouse gases

19. Nongovernmental agents are necessary for global conservation (NGO) • Conservation International • Wildlife Conservation Society • World Wide Fund for Nature • World Wildlife Fund- US • The Nature Conservancy • Devoted to humanitarian and/or environmental causes

20. Wilson’s Solution • NGOs and the government work together to save the planet • Wilson says that the planet can be saved based on ethical decisions