Philobiblon: Homo destructis and a new mammal

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Homo destructis and a new mammal

Perhaps Homo sapiens should be renamed Homo destructis - the species that will destroy itself and its world:

In 2003, the biologist Jeffrey Dukes calculated that the fossil fuels we burn in one year were made from organic matter "containing 44 x 1018 grams of carbon, which is more than 400 times the net primary productivity of the planet's current biota". In plain English, this means that every year we use four centuries' worth of plants and animals.

Of course we do also think about this, and study, so maybe it should be H. destructis sapiens - so we've just found what may be a new mammal on Borneo. But of course it is endangered - in large part by new palm oil plantation that the article above exposes.
*****
And - surprise, surprise - Condoleezza Rice's statement about all those mysterious US flights containing "non-people" doesn't mean much at all.

2 Comments:

Blogger la peregrina said...

My husband is always saying that the problem with the world is man is too successful as a species.

And I don't think Condoleezza Rice means much at all either. Her theme song is I'm Your Puppet.

Pull them little strings and I'll sing you a song,
I'm your puppet
Make me do right or make me do wrong,
I'm your puppet


We all know who the puppet master is, don't we?

12/06/2005 06:40:00 pm  
Blogger Natalie Bennett said...

Indeed, and in that very success could well lay the seeds of our own destruction ...

12/08/2005 06:19:00 pm  

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