Labels

Perhaps Not So Cuddly But Oh So Needed

 They may look ugly and have unusual eating habits, but India needs the Vulture!

Not So Cuddly But Oh so Needed. They may look ugly and have unusual eating habits, but India needs the Vulture! "The authors estimated that between 2000 and 2005, the loss of vultures caused around 100,000 additional human deaths annually, resulting in more than $69bn (£53bn) per year in mortality damages or the economic costs associated with premature deaths. These deaths were due to the spread of disease and bacteria that vultures would have otherwise removed from the environment. For example, without vultures, the stray dog population increased, bringing rabies to humans. Rabies vaccine sales rose during that time but were insufficient. Unlike vultures, dogs were ineffective at cleaning rotting remains, leading to bacteria and pathogens spreading into drinking water through runoff and poor disposal methods. Faecal bacteria in the water more than doubled. “The vulture collapse in India provides a particularly stark example of the type of hard-to-reverse and unpredictable costs to humans that can come from the loss of a species,” says Mr Sudarshan, an associate professor at the University of Warwick and co-author of the study."(BBC) _________________ O.W. had it right, if aliens attack, we're pretty much guaranteed to lose. But unless they totally eliminate all life, the microbes will get them. Microbes don't kill off humanity because we have lived with them since there were us, and we have developed immunity. Interconnected, interdependent is the essence of life. Since the Age of Reason mainstream western civilization has treated our Mother like a lab rat. Tweaking and modifying a system that has run pretty well for a very long time. Yes, there were mass extinctions in the past. They were needed to correct an imbalance that had developed. Come to think about it for a moment... you could say that there is a sixth mass extinction event happening right now. A quick question, what do you think is causing the imbalance causing this new extinction event? Did you guess 'we are'? if you did go to the front of the class and take your seat. The Bottom Line We can change our ways, or our way will follow the path of every balance destroying creature. We will die off because we will have destroyed the environment that we developed within. Your choice! Brian
Perhaps not the cuddliest of creatures?

"The authors estimated that between 2000 and 2005, the loss of vultures caused around 100,000 additional human deaths annually, resulting in more than $69bn (£53bn) per year in mortality damages or the economic costs associated with premature deaths.

These deaths were due to the spread of disease and bacteria that vultures would have otherwise removed from the environment.

For example, without vultures, the stray dog population increased, bringing rabies to humans.

Rabies vaccine sales rose during that time but were insufficient. Unlike vultures, dogs were ineffective at cleaning rotting remains, leading to bacteria and pathogens spreading into drinking water through runoff and poor disposal methods. Faecal bacteria in the water more than doubled.

“The vulture collapse in India provides a particularly stark example of the type of hard-to-reverse and unpredictable costs to humans that can come from the loss of a species,” says Mr Sudarshan, an associate professor at the University of Warwick and co-author of the study."(BBC)
_________________

O.W. had it right, if aliens attack, we're pretty much guaranteed to lose. But unless they totally eliminate all life, the microbes will get them. Microbes don't kill off humanity because we have lived with them since there were us, and we have developed immunity.

Interconnected, interdependent is the essence of life. Since the Age of Reason mainstream western civilization has treated our Mother like a lab rat. Tweaking and modifying a system that has run pretty well for a very long time. 

Yes, there were mass extinctions in the past. They were needed to correct an imbalance that had developed. Come to think about it for a moment... you could say that there is a sixth mass extinction event happening right now. A quick question, what do you think is causing the imbalance causing this new extinction event? Did you guess 'we are'? if you did go to the front of the class and take your seat. 

The Bottom Line

We can change our ways, or our way will follow the path of every balance destroying creature. We will die off because we will have destroyed the environment that we developed within. Your choice!

Brian
Email Post
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment