At 04:33 PM 4/10/2007, gerhaush wrote:
>I think it's plausible that species with small ranges (and mostly also >small physical sizes) might become extinct due to rapid climate >change. I am rather less convinced that climate change would be much >of a factor for large species (like polar bears), and also I am rather >skeptical of the idea that species loss per se has much of an economic >effect on human welfare (as opposed to the effect exerted by people >knowing that species have been lost). > >I am, however, ready to concede that this is something requiring the >kind of judgment where I think reasonable people can disagree. I just >don't see the mechanism by which species loss whould negatively impact >humanity. On the other hand, maybe I am overlooking something. Ummm.... Do you really believe that humans exist outside of the natural environment? That the only value of a variety of animal (and plant) species is to provide amusement for humans if they take a walk in the forest? Maybe you are overlooking something, e.g., that some species are a source of food for humans. For example: http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/070329_shark_decline.html Alarming Decline of Sharks Causing Other Species to Vanish Jim --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Global Change ("globalchange") newsgroup. Global Change is a public, moderated venue for discussion of science, technology, economics and policy dimensions of global environmental change. Posts will be admitted to the list if and only if any moderator finds the submission to be constructive and/or interesting, on topic, and not gratuitously rude. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/globalchange -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
