To Err on the Side of Caution

To err on the side of caution are words often heard today especially when globally we are concerned about human caused global warming that appears to be already causing problems that will be long lasting and probably irreversible. Given our current knowledge and technology there are some who believe we can slow down some of these effects, especially if the governments of the major polluting countries like the U.S. and China would act now.

However, there are others who believe that human caused global warming is not enough of a problem yet that we should take measures that would affect the growth of our current global economies. Economic growth is the mantra of the industrialized world, even at the expense of the biological world, and it is difficult for individual citizens to argue against this concept.

I, like many people worldwide probably, would like to have the intellectual ability, and time alive, to understand the profound and intricate complexity of ecosystems. This study would include an understanding of all of the scientific knowledge about the complex environmental factors that support the changing life forms on earth. I believe that this knowledge would certainly make us want to make different decisions about our economic growth and the future than we are today.

We would probably be much more cautious about how we affect the ecosystems that we humans and other species depend on.

As I write this I found an article in Forbes.com written on March 8, 2007 that notes that there is an ongoing effort to catalog every living species on earth and by 2011 it is expected to reach 1.75 million species. This is approximately 750,000 more species than has been catalogued to date. The article titled "Effort to Catalog Species Tops 1 Million" by Randolph E. Schmid.

I will add more of my ideas about related issues in future blog posts.