With a debt of gratitude to a personal hero, Edward O. Wilson….


The Real Challenge of Global Warming….

Mny Americans have been misled to believe by their government and others that Global Warming is ‘no big deal”—that it is really nothing more than the ‘ebb and flow’ and natural change and that the pendulum will swing back at some future time. These people of parochial vision even try to suggest that the worst thing that might happen is that the temperature will rise by a few degrees….

Informed scientists seem generally opposed to such a view; that it is an attempt to put a happy face on something that could change our lives and our futures in significant ways; that global warming is a disaster in the making…

There are a host of different perspectives on the issues chronicling everything from rising tides to an marked increase in tropical diseases.

One very informed point of view is that of Edward O. Wilson, who sits among the seniors in my own personal pantheon of great scientists who have influenced our times, who sees global warming from a very different perspective: The loss of ecostructure and species.
Dr. Wilson sees as much as 25% of all species lost to us if global warming persists over the next five decades.

To put such percentages into a tangible perspective, consider that over the last 200 years, we have identified and classified a mere 1.8 million species of plant, animal and microorganism species out of what is projected at 10 to 100 million unclassified species to date.

That means that over the next fifty years, we could lose anywhere from 2.5 to 25 million species forever. Imagine what we stand to lose not only intellectually but also from the perspective of science. What we might stand to gain from such knowledge—including innumerable cures for disease, new medicines, new crops, new defenses against common maladies, new products for virtually every purpose and application that could be lost to science and humanity for all time. What a waste that would be.

What most of us fail to recognize that today most of our medicines are derived from natural products and species classified only within the last fifty to seventy five years….
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Unfortunately, few understand or appreciate that each species is a unique study in complexity evolved over millions of years and each species not only contains unique information but also provides special insights as to how all of the human species fit together and how just the absence of a few species could affect or drastically affect the health or even survival of other species vital to our own survival.

In a few instances, the losses could be catastrophic.

Consider these words from “That’s Life” an essay by Edward O. Wilson:
“Normal classes of pharmaceuticals and future crops will be thrown away, ecological service likewater purification, soil renewal and pollination—which are approximately equal to the world gross domestic product, and given away by natural ecosystems—will be diminished. Environmental stability will be harder to maintain.”

Edward O. Wilson is trying to do something about it.

With the assistance of Harvard and a consortium of institutions, the Smithsonian to the Atlas of Living Australia, they hope to complete an electronic database of known species that will be available to all.


It is Doctor Wilson’s intent to promote the larg scale funding and support of such a prospect that aims to complete its goals within ten years.

It is also hoped that the new methods along with an increased commitment will speed up the discovery and analysis of all remaining species within a single generation which would not only be an amazing boon to science but a blessing to mankind.

It is a worthy goal to shoot for considering that much more is at stake with global warming’s threat than we are lead to believe by a government that is staunchly anti-science in its views.


Les Aaron

The Armchair Curmudgeon
Mr. Aaron is the author of Final Warning, an environmental thriller published in January by Lulu.com