76
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
this post was submitted on 01 Nov 2023
76 points (98.7% liked)
Science
12995 readers
54 users here now
Studies, research findings, and interesting tidbits from the ever-expanding scientific world.
Subcommunities on Beehaw:
Be sure to also check out these other Fediverse science communities:
This community's icon was made by Aaron Schneider, under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
Well, a beaver dam helps the natural environment by creating water habitats for other creatures. Humans create chemicals that don't break down forever, plastics that break down over centuries that include microplastics that are now in our bloodstreams and in in whales stomachs. Does any of that human stuff sound like it is natural?
Beaver dams are only helpful because other organisms have learned to make use of that niche. There are already bacteria which have learned how to consume plastics, and others which have been shown to break down oil spills. Nature can fix anything we throw at it, given enough time. Humans may go extinct because we can't adapt fast enough to the changing conditions, but something else will always come along eventually that can make use of the waste we create.
rats and many birds are prime examples of species that have already adapted to human cities, and would you look at that they're EXTREMELY successful and have colonized the entire earth along with us.
I'm not saying every part of humanity is bad. Certain parts definitely are and while nature will adapt to some of it, but we are on pace to drive many species to extinction. For all the successful adaptation to our actions the are hundreds and hundreds that don't and if we do that to enough keystone species then the ecosystem could collapse.