While most people are aware of the rapidly unfolding climate change crisis, fewer recognize the parallel crisis of biodiversity loss. I’m Tommy Serafinski, an outdoorsman, podcaster and speaker, and in this salon, we delve into the concept that both of these crises are interconnected and one can’t be solved without solving the other.
The ecosystem of the planet Earth consists of an incredibly complex network of connections. The full extent to which different factors influence and impact the functioning of the planet’s life support system is still not fully understood by science. Earth’s atmosphere and biosphere are subject to a vast number of push-pull interactions between its constituent parts. Living organisms, on an individual level, as well as on a species level, are pulling the levers of these interactions too. Some species to a larger extent than others. We are only at the beginning of our journey to fully understand the effects and consequences of these actions.
It is only recently that it has dawned on us what changes we, humans, are causing on a planetary level. The need to satisfy the requirements of the ever-growing human population has had a dramatic impact on both the atmosphere and the biosphere. We have undeniable evidence of the effects our actions cause. The most well-known is the warming of the climate due to greenhouse gas emissions, mainly from, but not limited to, burning fossil fuels. The other effect, that is not talked about nearly enough is the biodiversity loss. Some scientists call it the sixth mass extinction.
The loss of wild animals rapidly accelerated in the 18th century and is not slowing down. The rate at which species are going extinct is unprecedented bar the previous five mass extinction events. The last one being the one when the dinosaurs were wiped out by the asteroid impact. This situation, together with rising awareness of interconnectedness, through a complex network of planetary processes of all living organisms, is cause for worry about our own survival.
In this salon, we’ll discuss the fact that those two biggest threats to our survival, climate change and biodiversity loss, are only two aspects of the same crisis. One can’t be solved without solving the other. It is something that is not discussed enough, it is however the key to understanding how to secure our continuity into the future.
We’ll examine the following questions:
- How does climate change impact biodiversity?
- Does biodiversity loss influence climate change?
- What role do the atmosphere and biosphere play in storing and distributing the energy on the planet?
- What can we do to mitigate the dangers of the sixth mass extinction?
