81–90 of 318 posts
The same thing is happening in Barcelona but with boars coming from the forests outside the city, seems to have no correlation with the lock-down/quarantine that is happening (streets of Barcelona are basically empty right now, except for ambulances, police and delivery services) https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/04/wild-boar-sigh...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JMaFfAxq0o
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What if humans are special, and help hold ecosystems together? We know of some, like the great plains and the redwood forests, where lack of human management leads to ecosystem breakdown.
That doesn't make humans special. Ecosystems are defined by the interrelations of many actors. The fact that humans are huge, impactful actors matters, but doesn't make them unique. Also recall that humans, as an invasive species, can be adept at destroying ecosystems. There's a big, interlocking series of forests in South America, for instance, that gets a lot of attention, but that's hardly the only example.
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Coyotes have already done an excellent job of coexisting with humans. They are one of the most successful species at adapting to human civilization. Pigeons, rats, roaches, etc. also quite successful.
> Coyotes have already done an excellent job of coexisting with humans I have only seen them being 'successful' if are large tracts of land around the cities that they can live at. Would they be able to live in, say, Manhattan? If not, as we expand the urban sprawl, they might become less successful... And coyotes are not the only species we should be worried about.
The "earth is healing, we are the virus" narrative is overblown (and ecofascistic), but it's good to remember that humans are not special. We push other life forms out of our spaces, but many of those life forms continue a marginal existence. The end of humanity would not be the end of life and being reminded of that is a useful check on our tendency to put ourselves at the center of "the" world (instead of just the…
I don't think any ecofacist exists outside of 4chan
Plenty of raccoons too. For some reason those are more comfortable around people. One night I met one walking towards me on the sidewalk. First I thought it was a fat cat. I stepped aside as he strolled by me, he stopped, gave me a greeting stare and proceeded on his business.
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Major extinction events have historically paved the way for new and interesting forms of life, including humans.
But easy access to energy is gone. This is Earth’s last chance to bootstrap to the stars.
I agree though, we should get out on some new space vessels soon to buy some insurance and project ourselves into the far future.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
That doesn't make humans special. Ecosystems are defined by the interrelations of many actors. The fact that humans are huge, impactful actors matters, but doesn't make them unique. Also recall that humans, as an invasive species, can be adept at destroying ecosystems. There's a big, interlocking series of forests in South America, for instance, that gets a lot of attention, but that's hardly the only example.
If humans hold our ecosystems together, then elimination of humans will also result in the rest of animals dying off.
The "earth is healing, we are the virus" narrative is overblown (and ecofascistic), but it's good to remember that humans are not special. We push other life forms out of our spaces, but many of those life forms continue a marginal existence. The end of humanity would not be the end of life and being reminded of that is a useful check on our tendency to put ourselves at the center of "the" world (instead of just the…
Taking comfort in the potential extinction of humanity because at least there would be some non-sapient critters still around strikes me as an odd value system. Couldn't you make the analogous argument that the extinction of all life on Earth would be fine since it would have absolutely no effect on the vast majority of the universe?
even leaving out monkeys and apes, i think other animals like for example racoons can make it to the "sapient" level with time if humans would "release" the space back to the Nature. And i think we have only very slightest idea about birds and insects. Cro-Magnon has been i'd say a version 0.7 of sapience with major bugs and broken&missing features, and i'd not be surprised if the Nature had other versions in the works.
So this isn’t new although perhaps more are venturing out for longer periods of time due to the streets being emptier.