Life+in+the+Balance,+Humanity+and+the+Biodiversity+Crisis

Book Review for __Life in the Balance, Humanity and the Biodiversity Crisis,__ __ by Niles Eldredge __ submitted by Ms. Voth Author- Niles Eldredge, Harvard Professor Emeritus of Paleontology, and curator with scientific staff of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City since 1969. This book was written to coincide with and accompany readers who visit the 11,000 square foot exhibit entitled “Life in the Balance” that opened at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City in1998. This exhibit was the first of its kind as it not only captures the essence of the biodiversity of life with attention to accuracy and detail of various ecosystems and biomes throughout the world, but the exhibit includes the disturbing effects that 10,000 years of modern human history are playing on biodiversity on this planet. My family and I had the good fortune to visit this New York museum and this extensive and amazing exhibit last April vacation. I wish I had read this book before I tried to take in all that the exhibit offers on this crucial topic. Here’s why. This author is skillful, intelligent and passionate. It is clear that once he started typing this book, he could barely stop. The book is chock-full of examples and descriptions of current ecosystems, human cultures, and staggering biodiversity all struggling to survive all over the planet. Niles Eldredge has lots to say, and his words sound earnest – as though the participants and the locations he describes in his journals are running out of time… One of my favorite sections opens with the “closest thing to Eden on this planet” – the Okavango Delta in Botswana South Africa. I can see the delta in my mind, recall the physical differences between springbok and water buffalo vividly, and I see the waterfalls and the marshes after the rainy season. There are not pages for the ecological webs he has surveyed and admired. This place serves as his introduction and his case study for habitat loss and threats to biodiversity. Throughout the book, Eldredge moves from one ecosystem to another – to the prairies of North America, to the Galapagos Islands, to the highest mountain on earth, near the equator. He has travelled widely, observes with the keen eye of a scientist and artist, and works hard to draw you into their lives and their plight. The more you know, the more connections you will make with the species who cannot speak for themselves. Connected, informed people are moved to act. And act quickly. That’s thepintof his book. Eldredge wants all readers to experience and savor the current biodiversity he has witnessed, so that you will miss if it disappears. He is a man on a mission. He does not want it to disappear. The book is organized around 4 driving questions, and overarching themes that are present in each section of the museum presentations. 1. What is biodiversity? The Tree of Life with its 10million or so species (give or take an unknown million) is discussed. He covers the 6 kingdoms skillfully, and then some. His discussion about life forms is meant to inform the average citizen, prokaryotes right on up to tigers, get the spotlight. His writing is not a mere list of life forms, but a casting call for players. All critters have a place, a role, niche in their ecosystem. All ecosystems are connected. All life matters or it would have been selected against. 2. Why should humans care about biodiversity? The globe has been redefined as our own “mega-ecosystem”. We are part of the web, not external controllers of the web. The planet is losing an average of 27,000 species/year… extinction is happening to organisms we haven’t even discovered yet. 3. What precisely threatens biodiversity? Bottom line --too many people, most of whom lack of exposure to local natural habitats, no connection to a world outside of the one created by human culture – we see, unwittingly, everything around us as tools for our growth and satisfaction; there is a disconnect between want we want from the planet and how we can help ecosystems sustainably take care of all life forms – including us. As a species, we are // estranged // from the natural world. Agriculture, the Industrial Revolution, modern medicine, just sped up the rate of abuse of the planet. 4. What can we do to stem the tide of the “Sixth Extinction”, which is our fault? Great discussion of the building of the Panana Canal – pros and cons – like all great moments in human history/with ecological disasters attached. Humans must QUCKLY learn to  a. Acknowledge the problem of disappearing biodiversity ( that’s the role of the museum exhibit and this book) b. Stabilize the human population – and fast. c. Force the teaching of economics in schools, but first rewrite the texts so they indicate global impacts of resource depletion. d. Fine – tune the notion of sustainability --- sustainability on a planet with 7 billion people… what does it really mean on a day-to-day basis in all countries, for all cultures? e. Allow those best trained in conservation techniques to be heard politically and internationally. Give them power to make change and decisions. f. Believe on an individual level that less really is more… balance human economic needs with the needs of ecosystems and the species that inhabit them. The US, for example, has 4.5 % of the world’s population, but we produce 25 – 30 % of the world’s pollution and ecological damage. g. Develop a political will and agenda that works on the premise that saving biodiversity is morally and esthetically the right to do. It is a moral imperative that we preserve ecosystems and its inhabitants and resources. h. Develop a political will and agenda that works on the premise that humans are chipping away at a web of life on which they depend. Destroy the global ecosystems, and ultimately destroy yourself. Problem is– destruction not visible to most consumers. It is “down the road…” temporally and geographically. i. Educate – strike a balance. j. Niles Eldredge is not a radical environmentalist; he is reasonable, well-informed, and looks for long-term solutions. strike a balance is all he pleads for… this is not the most depressing book I have read, but, again for me, it served as a reminder that there is much work to be done… that must be done.