Can the Earth's Biodiversity be Saved?
The biologist E. O. Wilson, professor emeritus at Harvard University and recipient of two Pulitzer Prizes recently published his 32nd book, a personal exhortation to conserve biodiversity titled Half-Earth: Our Planet's Fight for Life.
Dr. Wilson suggests that humans set aside roughly 50% of the planet as a permanent preserve, undisturbed by man. While some have said this new work will ruin Dr. Wilson's stellar reputation he does not go so far as to suggest birth control or family planning to slow the explosive growth of human population, he only suggests that we save what humans have yet to destroy before its too late.
Reading the book, one senses a great urgency to Wilson's words. Wilson tells the New York Times that there is an urgency, "the urgency is [is] twofold. First, it's only been within the last decade that a full picture of the crisis in biodiversity has emerged. The second factor was my age. I'm 86. I had a mild stroke a couple of years ago. I thought 'Say this now or never.'"
And what he says is that to save biodiversity humans need to set aside about half the earth's surface as a natural reserve. He does not suggest that there be one hemisphere for humans and the other for the rest of life. He's talking about allocating up to one half of the surface of the land and sea as a preserve for what flora and fauna remains after the devastating century of "economic growth" since the industrial revolution which has led to mass extinctions and climate change that threatens the entire planet, humans included.
Asked where such a reserve should be in our rapidly developing world, Dr. Wilson suggest the large parts of nature that remain intact should be protected—the Amazon region, the Congo Basin, New Guinea. There are also patches of the industrialized world where nature could be restored and strung together to create corridors for wildlife. In the oceans, Wilson says we need to stop fishing the open sea and let life there recover. If we halted those fisheries, marine life would increase rapidly.
His proposal means creating something like UNESCO's World Heritage sites that could be regarded as the priceless assets of humanity. Wilson's bold thesis offers this maxim: Do no further harm to the rest of life. If humans could agree on that, everything else would follow.
As an aside, the only World Heritage Site in North America that is in danger is Everglades National Park in Florida. Danger why? Because Republicans that run Florida government have consistently failed to stem the flow of pollutants from agricultural lands (primarily sugar) into the Everglades, they have encouraged massive growth in both Miami-Dade and Naples on both sides of the Everglades, and they have squandered restoration funds that were meant to eliminate sugar farms and restore the northern Everglades to its natural flow.
As an aside, the only World Heritage Site in North America that is in danger is Everglades National Park in Florida. Danger why? Because Republicans that run Florida government have consistently failed to stem the flow of pollutants from agricultural lands (primarily sugar) into the Everglades, they have encouraged massive growth in both Miami-Dade and Naples on both sides of the Everglades, and they have squandered restoration funds that were meant to eliminate sugar farms and restore the northern Everglades to its natural flow.
Why?
Many problems of human occupancy that we once thought of as insoluble are taking care of themselves. Demographers tell us that the human population could stabilize at about 10 or 11 billion by the end of the century. What might be left of the earth at that point? It looks bleak.
High tech is producing new products and ways of living that are congenial to setting aside more space for the rest of life. Instrumentation is getting smaller, using less material and energy.
Moreover, the international discourse is changing. The Paris Climate Accords are a prime example. Within the Paris Accords is the recommendation that we protect the forests we have and restore damaged ones. That is consistent with the "Half Earth" idea.
Asked about the happiest moments of his life, Dr. Wilson replied "exploring natural environments, especially in the tropical forests around the world, places like Vanuatu, New Caledonia, the Caribbean." Dr. Wilson did a lot of exploring when he was in his 20s and recounted that even then one could see the ravages visited upon the natural world by humans.
How Many Leaves Remain on the Tree of Life?
How many species remain on the planet? Calculating how many species exist on Earth is a tough challenge. Researchers aren't even sure how many land animals are out there, much less the numbers for plants, fungi or the most uncountable group of all: microbes.
In 1691, the scientist John Ray estimated that there were 20,000 species of insects. His numbers were a significant underestimate—at least a million insect species have been described. But he reached his conclusion the way most scientists still do, by extrapolating from the number of already known species. 300 years later, there is still no scientific consensus on the total number of species.
The most rigorous attempts at a statistical analyses of the problem have concluded that there are about 9 million species on Earth, but there could be as many as 1 trillion species, estimated by using the laws of math to make an estimate that includes both micro and macro life.
Scaling Laws (Power Laws)
Estimate Species Numbers
How do we come up with that number? Researched based on scaling laws (Power Law) which predict a proportional change linking two variables. For example, scaling laws apply to the change in metabolic rates as body size changes, and to the number of species found by geographical area. By analyzing the numerical relationship between species, genus, family and order in well-studied life-forms and using that pattern to estimate the number of species in categories of life that haven't been well studied. Some scientists argue that that almost surely understimates some lesser-known classes of life.
Only some 1.25 million species have been described in the 250+ years since Linneaus devised the method we use to name them. This means that if there are, indeed, roughly 9 - 10 million species over all, nearly 90% of the species on Earth have not yet been discovered and described.
At the rate we are losing species due to human population explosion and resultant environmental degradation, a huge number of currently alive species will have gone extinct before they are identified.
And that 9 million species? It does not include species of bacteria, which may number in the millions. No matter how much we think we know about life on Earth, we know almost nothing.
Researchers reported in 2014 in the Journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution that estimates of the number of species on the planet have "failed to converge over more than six decades of research." The estimates range from 0.5 million to 10 million and are often logically inconsistent, the authors of that 2014 study wrote: "For example, estimates of species richness for coral reefs have exceeded estimates for all marine species, and estimates for all marine species have exceeded global estimates for all realms combined."
On the other hand, a study published in the journal Science in 2013 suggested that where there's a will, there's a way: The authors said it would cost a mere $500 million to $1 billion a year for 50 years to describe most species on Earth.
The Exorcist
Freddy Versus Jason
Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Blood Brothers
Halloween: Hell Comes to Haddonfield
The Walking Dead
Krampus
Terror Tram
Jabbawockeez
The Purge
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photo: ©Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
Earth Observatory National Event Tracker
You can view the entire Earth every day from NASA;'s constellation of satellites. In addition, Worldview now features natural events from the Earth Observatory Natural Event Tracker (EONET) which makes it easy to keep up to date with imagery of current events (storms, fires, volcanoes, etc.)
What's up with Donald Trump's Effusive praise for Vladimir Putin? There are good reasons to worry about Mr. Trump's personal connections to the Putin regime (or to oligarchs close to that regime, which is effectively the same thing.) How crucial has Russian money been in sustaining Mr. Trump's ramshackle business empire? There are hints that it may have been very important indeed, but given Mr. Trump's secretiveness and his refusal to release his taxes, nobody really knows (for now).
Universal Studios Hollywood has assembled the best Halloween Horror Nights ever whose lineup reads like a who's who of modern and classic horror movies and television shows. In a decade of attending Horror Nights, I've never seen a lineup as jam-packed with hits as this.
Any one of this year's haunted mazes and scare zones could have served as a headliner in seasons past: The Exorcist, American Horror Story, Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Walking Dead and the Purge. Halloween HOrror Nights 2016 looks like a Lollapalooza mega-show of blood and gore.
Note: Halloween Horror Nights Orlando Features the same lineup
The Exorcist
I have been waiting for what seems like forever for Horror Nights to turn the 1973 supernatural thriller film into a maze. Finally, we will get to walk through Regan MacNeil’s home and witness her demon possession and eventual exorcism.
Horror Nights executives promise to faithfully render Regan’s levitating, head-spinning and projectile-vomiting scenes -- complete with authentic smells. But will we get to see her upside-down spider walk down the staircase?American Horror Story
Horror Nights will draw from three chapters in the anthology TV series for the maze.
Visitors will encounter the tortured dead who previously lived in the first season’s Murder House, flee the murderous and deformed Twisty the Clown in Season 4’s sinister Freak Show and check into Season 5’s deadly Hotel Cortez run by the Countess, the hotel owner played by Lady Gaga in the television show.
In seasons past, visitors have asked for an American Horror Story haunted maze more than any other, Universal officials say. The FX anthology horror TV series has won 13 Emmys and two Golden Globes.
Freddy Versus Jason
Universal promises twice the terror when mass killers Freddy Krueger from the “A Nightmare on Elm Street” movie franchise faces off in a battle to the death with Jason Voorhees from the “Friday the 13th” film series.
The Freddy Versus Jason haunted maze will be based on the 2003 supernatural slasher film that first pairs the horror icons in a killing spree before pitting them against each other in an epic showdown.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Blood Brothers
The new twist on the familiar horror franchise takes visitors inside the Last Chance gas station and barbecue joint where Leatherface’s brother Drayton Sawyer serves chili made with human remains. The demented chainsaw killer teams up with his deranged brother Chop Top Sawyer in an effort to expand their cannibalistic family business.
Horror Nights took on the “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” film series in 2007, 2008 and 2012.
Halloween: Hell Comes to Haddonfield
Horror Nights explored the “Halloween” film franchise in 2009 and 2015. This year, the Halloween: Hell Comes to Haddonfield maze focuses on the 1981 sequel to the original slasher film.
Expect to encounter Michael Myers dozens of times as the seemingly immortal killer stalks the Illinois town and the Haddonfield Memorial Hospital.
The Walking Dead
After staging Walking Dead mazes for four consecutive years, Universal decided to build a permanent year-round maze dedicated to the popular AMC zombie apocalypse television show.
The new indoor attraction adds special effects and 20 animatronic zombies (known as walkers on the show). The number of live scareactors will double to 24 during the Halloween season.
The year-round Walking Dead attraction replaced Universal’s House of Horrors.
Krampus
The Krampus maze, based on the 2015 holiday horror-comedy film, recounts the folk tales of the mythical demonic creature that drags disobedient children to hell.
The fabled half goat-half demon horned beast teams up with a band of dark elves and sinister gingerbread men to terrorize visitors lacking holiday spirit.
Universal staged Dark Christmas scare zones starring Krampus during the last two Horror Nights seasons.
Terror Tram
The serial killer clown Hollywood Harry takes over the Terror Tram in an original story conceived for Horror Nights by “Hostel” filmmaker Eli Roth.
The story traces the sordid history of Los Angeles resident Harold Kappowitz, who once starred in his own children’s television show as Koodles the Clown. Driven out of the entertainment industry, Kappowitz reemerges as Hollywood Harry to embark on a serial killing spree at Universal Studios Hollywood. Kappowitz recruits other outcast clowns to seek revenge on visitors riding the Studio Tour tram.
Universal has been teasing the Hollywood Harry backstory on Roth’s Crypt TV digital horror network.
Jabbawockeez
The hip-hop dance crew returns for a second season as the lone show at Horror Nights.
The masked dancers, winners of the first season of “America’s Best Dance Crew,” pose, pop and break-dance to a pounding techno beat of rap songs.
The Purge
The outdoor scare zones scattered throughout the park have often been an afterthought for Universal’s creative team.
For years, the vaguely themed scare zones have been populated with what I call the Killer Z’s: Toyz, Witchez, Klownz, Skullz, Freakz and Pigz. I could go on and on, just as Universal has done season after season: Lunaticz, Nightmarez, Scarecrowz, Corpz and Reaperz.
This year, Universal has chosen to populate all the scare zones with the sadistic vigilantes from “The Purge” trilogy of films.
As in “The Purge” movies, in which crime is legal for 12 hours during a government-sanctioned killing rampage, the knife- and chainsaw-wielding masked murderers will sow chaos and anarchy throughout Universal’s upper and lower lots.
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There are a lot of reasons to vote Democrat in 2018, but perhaps the most important is Medicare. Do we really trust Donald Trump and Republicans to preserve our healthcare system? I think not. If you need more reasons to vote for Democrats in 2018, just ask me, or read a few of these recent news stories that have listed his lies:
If the Holocaust jokes weren't enough to turn you off to these disgusting frauds, look at the photos of the Trump "boys" killing endangered species for sport. More on that revolting story at:
Photos show Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump posing with kills from endangered species hunting trips. Sickening.
