Interconnections

The world is holistic. There is an interconnectedness amongst all the systems that operate within it regardless of whether the system in question is natural or man-made. Changes in one area have often large repercussions in other areas that on the outside seem unrelated. An example of this is the current problem of the invasion of non-native species in many areas. Plants and animals introduced into ecosystems in order to control a problem or for aesthetic reasons have become major pests which require expensive and laborious methods to control. The problem is that we tend to treat each system as being isolated with little if any connections to other systems. Doing this simplification has generally served us well in a narrow sense otherwise the problem of analysis, design, construction and operation of said system otherwise doing so becomes too complicated.

Over time, we are slowly realizing the complications that arise from the interconnected nature of the world. Consider some examples. DDT was touted as a miracle pesticide when it was introduced. Its ability to kill off vermin was remarkable. Unfortunately, its ability to kill off other species, specially birds, was also remarkable. The slow disappearance of these species started having knock on effects that multiplied over time. Solving one narrow problem to the exclusion of other effects led to the creation of new problems that required solutions. Another example. CFCs were the solution to the problem of finding a stable refrigerant for use in fridges and freezers. Ultimately it was realized that these molecules were responsible for the thinning of the earth's protective ozone layer and in fact created the ozone hole over the Antarctic. Again not having a holistic view led to severe problems later on.

Consider a man-made repercussion. Why have a large number of Mexicans flocked into the US in recent times? Part of the answer is that these people were displaced from their farms where they used to grow corn. Why did this happen? Subsidized corn from the US flooded the Mexican market after NAFTA dropped trade barriers between Canada, US and Mexico. The price was so low that the Mexican farmer could not compete. Notice the connections. Farming subsidies in the US are evaluated on the basis of their effects on American farmers. NAFTA was supposed to bring the benefits of trade to all the signatory countries. The farming subsidies and NAFTA ended up displacing poor Mexican farmers from their lands. This led to an immigration problem in the US.

These are just some examples amongst many such. These were grand experiments that were carried out in real time. Even today, such experiments are still being carried out. Genetically modified (GM) crops are all the rage today. They have definite benefits. The seeds produce better crop that resists pests more effectively. What is unknown right now is what effect the interaction of these new crops with the rest of the natural world will have. Do not believe reassurances that there will be no effect. There will be an effect or (more likely) effects. What is unknown at this point is precisely what these will be like.

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Environmental Responsibility

For far too long, we, as a species, have treated our natural environment in a most cavalier fashion. It is now acknowledged that humans are responsible for the death of mega fauna that used to roam in both the American continents and in other places like Australia and New Zealand. the initial assumption of people in first entering a new land and discovering a rich and seemingly inexhaustible menageries of animals was to assume that the numbers were infact inexhaustible. The discovery that they were not would come when species were driven to extinction and this would inevitably be followed by a crash in population numbers. However, hunter gatherer societies would subsequently adjust themselves in rough harmony with the resources subsequently available.

This calculus started to change with the development of agriculture. Farming allowed a sharp increase in population numbers which in turn allowed some members of the community to start specializing in non farm activities and this eventually led to the development of urban civilization. Pre-industrial farmers were not able to control many variables that affected them. Mortality rates remained at a high level. The development of areas under centralized rule (aka empires) would result in stable conditions conducive to population growth. The population level would slowly increase until some external or internal shock disrupted the system at which point the level would fall often dramatically. Think of the fall of the Roman empire and the Black Plague. Recovery would then restart from this lower level. Pre-industrial societies were also not capable of truly intensive utilization of resources. So a low level of utilization and periodic shocks to the system would allow the natural world to recover. This is not to say that things would return to the state they were in before humans came in. Enough of a respite would be given so that resources, specially animals, were not in real danger of being driven to extinction by human activities.

Several things changed this state of affairs. One was the development of gun powder. Guns allowed for far greater efficiencies in killing both humans and animals. While the earliest guns were cumbersome machines prone to difficulties, these were soon improved upon and the 19th century saw rapid improvement in the quality and capabilities of guns. A second element was improved means of transport. This enabled large number of people to move from one area and settle in another. These settlers came equipped with guns which enabled them to fight off the challenge posed by more primitive societies. Guns also enabled them to harvest animal resources more efficiently. Concurrently with technological developments was the development of a mind set which saw the world as subservient to humans. This viewpoint viewed anything not in the service of the community to be a waste. All of these changes combined with the ancient mind set that viewed natural resources as inexhaustible.

Industrial development resulted in vastly enhancing the impact that humans have on the planet. Since the mind set did not change, this resulted in a dramatic increase in the extinction rate of species and hugely intensified harvesting of natural resources; this resulted in extraction without regard for the environment and resulted in huge losses of forest cover (to cite one example). The net result is that our activities threaten the health of the planet and therefore threatens our continued existence. At the very least, the civilization that we have built cannot continue as before. We are dependent on the biosphere. No one has yet figured out how to survive independently of the natural world.

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