Originally posted by Omega Vision
If whales were to disappear it would be a tragedy, but life would go on and eventually another kind of animal would take their niche.I'm not saying "fvck the whales", I'm just wondering how essential they are to the ecosystem...maybe keeping krill from overpopulating?
And how essential are humans to the eco system?
Originally posted by ArchaeopteryxWhen the giant asteroid is days away from smashing Earth into space dust, I highly doubt the whales are going to be the ones stepping up to the plate to save the planet.
And how essential are humans to the eco system?
Bruce Willis alone is worth the human population's weight in whale blubber.
Originally posted by Archaeopteryx
And how essential are humans to the eco system?
Remove humans and it's a moot point. So humans are absolutely, supremely essential to the ecosystem.
Originally posted by Oliver North
we're the apex predator on like 70% of the planet's land...EDIT: where we aren't, it is due to humans not living there
Yes we are, but that doesn't mean we're essential to the eco system. The opposite in fact is true...if humans were to disappear from the earth the eco system would be much healthier.
Originally posted by Archaeopteryx
Yes we are, but that doesn't mean we're essential to the eco system. The opposite in fact is true...if humans were to disappear from the earth the eco system would be much healthier.
a different ecosystem would be different in ways you call healthier, sure
and yes, apex predators are essential to their ecosystems
Originally posted by Oliver North
a different ecosystem would be different in ways you call healthier, sureand yes, apex predators are essential to their ecosystems
Apex predators existed for hundreds of millions of years before we were here, though unlike us were not harmful to the biosphere. We do far more damage to the eco system than good.
Originally posted by Archaeopteryx
if humans were to disappear from the earth the eco system would be much healthier.
No, just different. Ecosystem "health" really just means something we consider healthy or beneficial.
Take cities for example. They are a whole new ecosystem, one that is almost totally dependent on human action. If you remove people from cities the existing ecosystem there will collapse and be replaced with a new one. Neither is "healthier".
Originally posted by Symmetric Chaos
No, just different. Ecosystem "health" really just means something we consider healthy or beneficial.Take cities for example. They are a whole new ecosystem, one that is almost totally dependent on human action. If you remove people from cities the existing ecosystem there will collapse and be replaced with a new one. Neither is "healthier".
Neither is "healthier" in and of itself, but and other top predators don't sustain themselves in ways that destroy the environment they are in without balance. That said, I don't know that humanity suddenly disappearing and leaving untreated toxic waste, spent and unspent nuclear fuel, and whatever other various processed and unprocessed chemicals lying around would be a good thing.
Originally posted by Ascendancy
Neither is "healthier" in and of itself, but and other top predators don't sustain themselves in ways that destroy the environment they are in without balance.
You can't destroy "the environment" only whatever environment there currently is.
Health is really a human-centric thing. Cyanobacter killing off so many other life forms it defined an epoch was natural. An asteroid wiping out the dinosaurs was natural.
In both cases the environment wasn't destroyed. It just changed.
Humans are no different except that, unlike cyanobacter and large pieces of rock, we are consciously self interested. If the current environment changes too much we all die. That's bad because we die not because things have changed, change is a constant.
Originally posted by Ascendancy
Neither is "healthier" in and of itself, but and other top predators don't sustain themselves in ways that destroy the environment they are in without balance. That said, I don't know that humanity suddenly disappearing and leaving untreated toxic waste, spent and unspent nuclear fuel, and whatever other various processed and unprocessed chemicals lying around would be a good thing.
Actually they can, just look what the grey squirrels did to red squirrel populations.
Originally posted by Ascendancy
That said, I don't know that humanity suddenly disappearing and leaving untreated toxic waste, spent and unspent nuclear fuel, and whatever other various processed and unprocessed chemicals lying around would be a good thing.
But that's the thing, untreated toxic waste, pent and unspent nuclear fuel and whatever other various processed and unprocessed chemicals are only bad in relation to humans.
We don't like those things cause they **** us up.
Originally posted by Oliver North
we're the apex predator on like 70% of the planet's land...EDIT: where we aren't, it is due to humans not living there
Actually, there's a small village somewhere in Asia where tigers prey on people (it's so bad that people wear masks on the back of their heads to deter the tigers). The tigers will even attack their canoes when they're in the middle of a river.
My second post in this thread about tigers, weird, didn't even intend for that to happen.
Originally posted by Insomniatric
Actually, there's a small village somewhere in Asia where tigers prey on people (it's so bad that people wear masks on the back of their heads to deter the tigers). The tigers will even attack their canoes when they're in the middle of a river.My second post in this thread about tigers, weird, didn't even intend for that to happen.
Big cats (and bears) kill people all over the world. Having said that we kill a lot more of them than the other way around.
Originally posted by Archaeopteryx
Big cats (and bears) kill people all over the world. Having said that we kill a lot more of them than the other way around.
I know that, we've driven tigers to the brink of extinction. I was just talking about this one particular village where the tigers are higher on the food chain than people.
Originally posted by Insomniatric
I know that, we've driven tigers to the brink of extinction. I was just talking about this one particular village where the tigers are higher on the food chain than people.