Our Precarious Earth and its Biosphere

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Our Precarious Earth and its Biosphere

• Part 1. Human Impact
• on the Environment

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Changes in the Earth due to Humans
desertification
Our Land

• Each year 23,500 square miles of productive land
  are turned to desert.
• Half the worlds tropical forests have been
  cleared. Within 50 years there may be little
  forests left.
• 70 of grasslands have been degraded, overgrazed
  converted to desert or built upon.
• Loss of natural habitat leads to 15,000 species
  exticntion per year.

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Our water (the worlds trash dump)

• 50 of the worlds wetlands have been drained,
  built upon or destroyed.
• 1/3 of our coral reefs are dead, 1/3 are dying.
• 1000s of lakes are too acidic for fish. 1000s
  are depleated of oxygen.
• Our drinking water exceeds contamiation standards.

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Our air

• Temperature rise due to Gobal warming.
• Depleation of Ozone sheild.
• SMOG!

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World Population

• Today 6,500,000,000 (6.5 billion people)
• Current Growth rate 1.3 per year
• Projected population in 2100 11 - 15 billion
  people
• Carrying capacity of the Earth 200 million - 5
  billion (depending on life style)
• Carrying capacity of the Earth if lifestyle is
  that of an average American 200 million
• Carrying capacity of the Earth if lifestyle is
  that of an average African 5 billion

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Food and Water Availability
1. gt100 million people worldwide are
currently starving.
2. 800 million people worldwide are
currently undernourished.
3. By 2025, 50 of the world
populations will lack adequate water supplies.
4. By 2050, 50 of the world
populations may be starving.
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Agricultural Productivity
Agricultural productivity peaked in 1980 and has
been declining ever since.
Why?
1. Ground waters are exhausted.
2. The use of irrigation techniques have
increased the soil salt content.
To feed the human population, natural wetlands
and forests are being destroyed at alarming rates.
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Human Population
1. Currently 6.5 billion
2. The age of the Earth 4.5 billion
years
3. Humans have been here lt1 million years
4. Projected human population 10
billion
5. Current chimpanzee population
100,000
6. There are 1010/105 100,000 times
more humans than our closest primate relative
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The United States
1. The U.S. has 5 of the worlds population.
2. However, it consumes 30 of the worlds
resources.
3. It contributes 25 of the manmade
atmospheric CO2.
4. The U.S. recently withdrew from the
Kyoto Accord on Global Warming.
5. The U.S. refused representation at the
U.N. Earth Summit in Johannesburg.
Conclusion
The U.S and many of its citizens are
environmentally ignorant and socially
irresponsible.
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The Bush Administration
1. eliminated funds for international
birth control.
2. introduced new loopholes in the Clean
Air Act allowing large corporations to increase
air pollution (endangering human health).
3. introduced new rules allowing logging
in 155 national forests (with devastating
impacts on wildlife).
4. removed the U.S. from the Kyoto Treaty.
5. refused representation at the
Johannesburg Earth Summit.
6. now intends to dismantle our framework
of environmental protection altogether. These
will devastate (a) the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge (b) the
Alaskan Rainforest (c) the Greater
Yellowstone Ecosystem
Conclusion
Bushs primary concern is for big corporate
campaign contributors, not the U.S. people and
their interests.
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Life and Death
1. To abort a fertilized human egg is
considered by some to be equivalent to
murder.
2. To assist a suffering, terminally ill
person to die is illegal in most states.
Yet
1. The euthanization of 15,000 kangaroos
was authorized because of the fear of foliage
loss in Australia.
2. Thousands of dogs and cats are put
to sleep by our humane societies every
day.
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Life and Death
A Catholic priest, a Protestant minister, and a
Jewish rabbi were walking down a street in New
York City debating the beginnings of life. The
priest says, Life begins with conception.
No, the minister replies, life begins with
birth. Youre both wrong. retorts the rabbi.
Life begins when the kids leave home and the dog
dies!
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Human life is protected by
1. the law
2. social convention
3. religious dogma
but we dont protect
4. animal life
5. our forests
6. our oceans
7. our environment
We need a new value system!
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Our Precarious Earth and its Biosphere

• Part 2. The Human Predicament

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Galileo
Galileo (1632) was tried for grave suspicion of
heresy and found guilty by the inquisition. He
was sentenced to life imprisonment, and his
published works were ordered burned.
Why? He claimed the Earth was round, and not at
the center of the universe.
Consequences The Bible was merely rewritten.
Nowhere in the Revised King James or the Revised
Standard versions of the Bible can the original
claims that the world was flat and at the center
of the universe be found.
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Pope John Paul II
Fresh knowledge leads to recognition of the
theory of evolution as more than just a
hypothesis.
While man may have developed through an
evolutionary process, only God can create a human
soul.
Thus, creation and evolution can work together.
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Profoundly religious people have felt justified
in
1. slaughtering other cultures.
2. enslaving other peoples.
3. burning members of their own society
as witches, heretics, etc.
4. waging holy wars
5. robbing other countries of their
land and sources of livelihood.
6. denouncing responsible social action
(i.e., birth control)
Why? Because they did not identify with the
enemy (our fellow human)
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S. Jon Singer Irrationality Gallup Poll (1980)
1. 50 of Americans believe that God
created man within the past 10,000 years.
2. 41 believe God created man before
this time.
3. Only 9 believe the scientific
evidence that man appeared in an evolutionary
process.
4. The theory of evolution (biology) is
as well established as the atomic theory
(chemistry) or the wave/particle theory of
electromagnetic radiation (physics).
5. Thus, less than 10 of the American
population can be considered to be
rationalists.    
6. These percentages are more favorable
elsewhere.

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S. Jon Singer Irrationality
1.      Primitive peoples pre-scientific views
of the world are represented by over 100,000
different mythological treatises and religions.
2. These religions conflict regarding a.   
the origins of the world, the biosphere and
man. b.   the existence of multiple gods, one
god or no god. c.    reincarnation, a heaven and
hell, or an elevated spirit. d.   the nature and
existence of spirits, devils and ghosts.
Conclusion Religious writings represent
mythological or fairytale views of the world.
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S. Jon Singer Rationality
1. Rationality is a vital and
exhilarating part of life that is too little
appreciated in society at large.
2. Unfortunately rationalists must cope
with a decidedly irrational world. 
3. Rationalists should reveal their
identities and come out of the closet.
4. As our most competent leaders, they
must strive to reveal the truth and the way,
even if the world around them disparages their
powers of reason.
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S. Jon Singer

• Ones life is not an isolated mystery, with no
  bonds to a past or a future. Nor is it beholden
  to some mythical deity. On the contrary, each
  human life no less than a stars is an
  integral part of a real and gloriously complex
  universe, with near infinities of time and space
  surrounding and connected to it.

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Humanism (1)(American Humanist Association)
1. Humanism is a progressive life stance
that, without supernaturalism, affirms our
ability and responsibility to lead meaningful,
ethical lives for the greater good of humanity.
2. It is a rational philosophy, informed by
science, inspired by art, and motivated by
compassion.
3. It supports the maximization of
individual liberty consonant with social and
planetary responsibility.
4. It recognizes humans as a part of nature
and asserts that humanity must take
responsibility for its destiny.
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Humanism (2)
1. Humanism is not theistic and does not
accept supernatural views of reality.
2. It is a joyous alternative to religions
and attests there is only one life of which we
have certain knowledge.
3. The doctrine of humanism maintains that
through the use of reason and knowledge, people
are best able to solve the worlds problems.
4. Humanists take responsibility for their
lives and enjoy the quest of discovery without
seeking solace in prefabricated, irrational
answers to the great questions of life.
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Humanism (3)
1. Humanism is a philosophy that seeks to
understand the universe by using science and its
methods of critical inquiry and logical
reasoning to obtain reliable knowledge.
2. It requires the use of pragmatic ethics
based on reason, experience and knowledge to
judge the consequences of human actions on the
well being of all life on Earth.
3. It focuses on the needs of this world,
considering the welfare of the biosphere rather
than the welfare of a supposed God or gods.
4. It considers the universe to be the
result of a complex evolutionary process that
offers limitless opportunity for explanation,
fascination, creativity, companionship and joy.
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Humanism (4)
1. Humanism recognizes that science cannot
explain all there is to know, but only trusts
in information available through deductive
reasoning.
2. The lack of valid evidence for an
afterlife infers that this life should be lived
as though it is the only one we have.
3. However, the lack of definite answers
leaves room for rational people to hypothesize
about the origin of the universe and hope for
life beyond the ones we know.
4. In sum, humanism is a philosophy for
those in love with life who assume
responsibility for their actions.
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Levels of Effort
Individuals
Communities
States
Nations
The International Community
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Changing the Rules
Procedure
1. Research
2. Education
3. Propaganda
4. Political Pressure
5. Laws are changed