NASA
I get a fair amount of money requests in the mail to help endangered creatures. The organizations that do this provide a valuable service. However, I think these organizations are going about it all wrong. Alongside the posting of pictures of cute otters or majestic whales, there should be pictures of humans. WE live in the same fragile ecosystem. Boosting biodiversity across the globe is aiding in OUR survival. Ever heard of the Anthropocene? It is the name of the 6th extinction on our planet (see Wiki link above). All other mass annihilation of species can be attributed to events like the ice age and other natural earthly events. What is causing our current extinction pattern? You guessed it, it is US. The current rate of extinction is 10 to 100 times higher than in any of the previous mass extinctions in the history of Earth. (wiki). Will it be the wiping out of the photosynthetic creatures in our oceans? Could be- they produce 1/2 of the oxygen we breathe. Will it be running out of food? Global warming is threatening our food supply. Preserving and enhancing our ecosystems (not just individual animals) is vital to keeping the Earth livable. To save the snow leopard, and all that supports that leopard (food sources, territory, clean air) is the way to think about it. Ok, maybe it's hard to think that the loss of a snow leopard would affect us in any way. Think of it this way - we humans live in the same ecosystems. We have food sources, places to live, and we breathe the very same air. We just don't live on a mountainside in Tibet. It IS the same ecosystem. The earth is the ultimate ecosystem. Saving the earth for the creatures is the same as saving the earth for us.
I'm kinda done with trying to explain things to the naysayers. The yea-sayers among us need to do the heavy lifting - but that's just the way it is.
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