Has Man's Dominion been good for the Planet?

[Soph0571]

Genesis 1:28.
And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

The religious right would suggest that God did give us the planet. That we oversee all things in nature, to do with it what we will. That man has been given permission by God to use the planet in whatever way we see fit. That we have dominion because we are more intelligent than any other species. Well I would suggest that that is debatable based on how we treat this planet of ours.

Economic prosperity is decimating the world’s wild life. In Britain, 60 % of our animal species have declined over the last 50 years. Across the planet, the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has reached 400 parts per million for the first time in human history. Globally, we are seeing animal extinctions at a level not seen since the time of the dinosaurs.

97% of scientists agree that recent climate changes have been caused by the actions of man.

Man, and women kind is collectively taking out 140% of the world’s ability to replenish the world’s environmental capital. We are running down our environmental capital at a rate that is entirely unsustainable. Nature is the source of our economic welfare and the more we destroy nature the more we imperil future generation’s abilities to have a decent lifestyle.

The tapestry of life forms on the Planet is what sustains the biosphere is which we all live. Our economy is based upon this. We are as much a part of nature as the animals that are going extinct. The more we unravel that tapestry of nature, the more we imperil mankind.

Surely, we are the caretakers of this earth? However, it is man’s hands that wreaks havoc on the earth, isn’t it? Has man’s dominion been good for the planet? Not looking good from over here.

[MineralMan]

1. No. Not at all.

Mankind has despoiled the planet, driven many species to extinction, and doesn't seem to care about any of it.

Clearly, Mankind has not benefited the planet at all. Instead, it has exploited with with no conscience. In the end, our species will pay dearly for that, I'm quite certain. That is why I decided in 1965 not to reproduce.

[Cattledog]

2. Of course not.

[marylandblue]

3. The earth will be fine, we will not be.

On the timescale of the earth, we are merely a case of the flu. A million years after our civilization is gone, nature will be back to normal. If any of our descendants survive, they will live very differently than we do, and learned to be more in harmony with nature.

[Duppers]

4. Not quite back to "normal."

We'll be killing off most all other species which will be replaced by different ones. Yes, it'll take a million yrs.

We're self-destructing parasites.

[Igel]

5. And in a billion years they'll all be so long gone that it won't matter.

And a few billion years after that whatever we did to stuff on Earth will be dust and cinder blasted into space. Whether we made dioxin or Delft, killed all the animals or helped teach them Bach, it doesn't matter because it's all just matter, with the final state to be decided not by us, now, but by rather large, energetic processes later.

In the end, it will be the Sun that destroys the Earth. Everything else is rearranging the fruit in a drink on a deck chair on the Titanic.

[Act_of_Reparation]

6. "Harmony with nature"

Protecting ourselves against the natural forces that want us dead without damaging the natural forces keeping us alive.

It's a conundrum.

[MineralMan]

7. Maybe we should hold the next choir rehearsal outdoors.