I heard a news report the other day about how climate change is precipitating a burst of mass wildlife extinction. That’s hardly surprisingly and not really even news any more. And those who prefer to remain in denial about any modern human contribution to this can rightfully claim that such mass extinctions have happened before.
What sticks in my mind about this particular interview was the scientist’s response to the typical newscaster’s question: “What will the loss of all these species mean to the average person?” The scientist somewhat blithely replied that the average person living in a western country wouldn’t notice anything because the bulk of thee species vanishing reside in the tropical rain forests.
I realize the scientist was just being honest, but it struck me as reflecting an attitude worthy of a society of cave-dwellers, if even that advanced. All the plant and animal species that are being and will be lost in those climates have adapted to live in warmer environments for thousands of years. That includes figuring out how to resist or over-come disease-causing micro-organisms and parasites. You know, like the ones that are migrating north as it gets warmer. For those of us getting ready for winter, knowing how they do this might seem like it’s inconsequential. But as our resident crops, animals, and humans increasingly succumb to those warmer-climate-adapted viruses, bacteria, funguses, parasites, and other pathogens in the years ahead, we will surely be affected by the loss of these animate repositories of knowledge.
Perhaps the only thought more disturbing than this is the awareness that, as a society, we’ll never know what we lost.