As I have mentioned in previous posts, I serve on the Green Party of the United States EcoAction Committee.
Over the last couple of weeks this committee has been working on its “State of the Earth Report”, which is being released today:
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The Green Party of the United States EcoAction Committee marks Earth Day
2006 with its State of the Earth Report.
Human life relies entirely on the Earth’s complex and resilient Biosphere and the Ecosystems that sustain it. The oxygen we breathe is replenished by plants, which also help to create the soil in which we grow our food to feed our children. Our wastes are cleansed and our water is purified through
wetland ecosystems. Much of the building materials for our homes are derived from the forests we love or from the rock we stand upon. The air, food, water, and shelter that benefits us as a species; all of these are supplied by the Earth’s ecosystems.
While the Biosphere of the Earth is inherently resilient it not impervious to harm. The diversity of the Earth?s species enables this inherent resilience and leads to an ever evolving yet subtle equilibrium. Existing niches are filled and re-filled leading to new and more specialized species which, in
the face of environmental change, respond to produce highly functional and elegant adaptations. The resiliency of Ecosystems can be measured by the level of species diversity, and thus, are threatened when ever-expanding resource depletion and environmental degradation exceed the replenishment capacity of
the Biosphere. Human induced environmental changes that exceed the natural pace of specie adaptation leads to mass extinction, weakened ecosystems and a reduced Biosphere.
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Deanna Dee-Dee Taylor 