Introduction
Progress around the world is generally measured by growth, and as economies grow, consumption of natural resources increases. The consumption of natural resources has dire effects on ecosystems through the impacts of extraction, pollution, deforestation, development, habitat destruction and the release of greenhouse gases that aggravate climate change. Today, the scale of environmental degradation through these means has become catastrophic. The UN estimates that fifteen of twenty four global ecosystems have either been destroyed or are in serious decline and that this could become much worse in the next fifty years. They warn that we have catastrophically undermined our ability to address hunger, poverty and healthcare and that the emergence of new diseases, the destruction of water quality and watersheds, the collapse of fisheries and food webs are imminent as well as shifts in regional and global climate (CBC, 2005). Only ten percent of large fish remain in the oceans, and thirty one percent of terrestrial species have become extinct (BBC, 2006).
This global ecosystem collapse has serious implications for the sustainability of the current global population. The destruction of ecosystems also seriously undermines the ability of nature to defend itself and human populations from the affects of natural disasters and climate instability. For instance the tsunami that hit South Asia in 2004 was caused by an earthquake in the Indian Ocean yet the tsunami was as severe as it was due to the significant destruction of coastal mangrove forests that would have mitigated its effect by absorbing some of the wave’s energy much as trees provide an important windbreak by absorbing the wind’s energy (Padma, 2004). Another example is in the Mississippi River Delta which was built up over seven thousand years of silt deposits from the Mississippi River watershed which constitutes about forty percent of the water in the mainland United States. Before the area was developed by humans there were 3.6 million acres of wetlands and an extensive community of sandy islands that surrounded the Delta, protecting the mainland from the severity of storm surges, waves and hurricanes.
Through the draining of wetlands and the building of levees and other development, more than a million acres of wetland have been destroyed since 1930, seriously impeding the Delta’s ability to absorb floodwaters and to slow the strength of approaching hurricanes. Hurricanes gather their strength over warm oceans and lose their wind strength and storm surge through friction over land, therefore the destruction of the wetlands that buffered New Orleans caused Hurricane Katrina of 2005 and its subsequent flooding to be significantly more severe (Martin, 2005). These are clear examples of how ecosystem destruction contributes to the severity of natural disasters.
by Isabel Ribe
BBC. (2006, October 24). Global Ecosystems Face Collapse. Retrieved May 3, 2008, from BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6077798.stm CBC. (2005, March 31).
Martin, G. Two-thirds of Earth’s ecosystems at risk: UN. Retrieved May 3, 2008, from CanadianBroadcastingCorporation: http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2005/03/30/UNEnvironment0330.html (2005, September 5).
Padma, T. Wetland Restoration seen as Crucial. Retrieved May 3, 2008, from San Francisco Chronical: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/ (2004, December 30).
Mangrove Forests can Reduce Impact of Tsunamis. Retrieved May 3, 2008, from Science and Development Network: http://www.scidev.net/en/news/mangrove-forests-can-reduce-impact-of-tsunamis.html
Article 1: Bioremediation and Biotechnologies
Chaney, R. L. (2004). Heavy Metal Blues: Botanical Detox Centers. In K. Ausubel, Nature’s Operating Instructions: The True Biotechnologies (pp. 50-56).San Francisco: Sierra Club Books.
Kepler, D. (2004). Nature’s Filters; From Cattails to Bureaucrats. In K. Ausubel, Nature’s Operating Instructions (pp. 57-65). San Francisco: Sierra Club Books.
Stamets, P. (2005). Mycelium Running. Berkeley: Ten Speed Press.
Wedel, R. v. (2004). Bioremediation. In K. Ausubel, Nature’s Operating Instructions;
The True Bio-technologies (pp. 42-49). San Francisco: Sierra Club Books.
Article 2: Mycoremediation
Stamets, P. (2005). Mycoremediation. Retrieved November 21, 2008 from
Miller, J. (2003, October 19). The New Toxic- Site Cleanup Agent: A Bacteria that Gobbles up Poison, New York Times.
Conclusion
By Isabel Ribe
The severity and scale of the ecological crisis means that the conservation of existing ecosystems and the cleaning and restoration of damaged and failed ecosystems is absolutely essential for the survival of life on earth. Without such efforts, food webs, fisheries and watersheds will fail or become unusable, the earth will not be able to respond to the destabilization of climates and the effects of natural disasters will be much more severe. The current rate of ecosystem collapse has already demonstrated these effects. The importance of remediation and restoration is in slowing and possibly reversing these effects, not in preventing them. The application of biotechnologies described in this paper are the important first steps to rebuilding ecosystems. They are crucial in cleaning watersheds, oceans and soil so that life can thrive there and so that the products of these ecosystems are safe for humans and other animals. Once contaminants have been removed, further work can be done to facilitate ecological succession in reforesting and revegetating land.
Discussion Questions
1. Due to the low cost and apparent effectiveness of bioremediation technology, why do you think this technology is not being more widely used?
2. In your area what potential applications for these remediation techniques seem realistic and applicable ?
3. What are some potential problems you see with widespread use of biotechnologies?
4. What are some strategies to facilitate the use of bioremediation technology?
Further Reading
Nature’s Operating Instructions; The True Biotechnologies Edited By Kenny Ausubel
Mycelium Running; How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World By Paul Stamets
Mycoremediation: Fungal Bioremediation By Harbhajan Singh.
Bioremediation: Principles and Applications by Ronald L. Crawford and Don L. Crawford
Bioremediation: Applied Microbial Solutions for Real World Environment Cleanup by Ronald M. Atlas and Jim Philp
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