Natures " Survival Plan " !

For years we have been hearing of catastrophic changes to planet Earth caused by the buildup of greenhouse gases and global warming.   It has been predicted that the Great Barrier reef will be destroyed, the food chain harmed and the world's rainforests will be decimated.   It seems that this tale of destruction depends on the people of this world changing their lifestyles if annihilation is to be avoided.

Now we are starting to hear a very different story.   The climate and general living conditions on planet Earth have changed many times over the centuries, and Mother Nature has taken it all in her stride.   It seems that this is a case of Newton's law.   "  To every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. "   When change causes something to die, that change causes something else to expand and replace it.

The UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology has found that the mix in the tropical rainforests is swiftly changing.  Species that do not favour a richer mix of CO2 in the air are retreating and being rapidly replaced by species which find the new air mix to their liking.   A similar situation is happening in the world's oceans where coral reefs abound.   Some types of corals can not tolerate a more acidic ocean and will die, but that warmer and acidic ocean is promoting the growth of other species which thrive in the changed conditions.

A similar situation is happening with food stocks.   In particular, schools of Skipjack Tuna are increasing rapidly in the Pacific ocean,   These are important to the food chain and it is expected that the fish mix will adapt as ocean conditions change.    Some species will advance as others retreat and the world will need to adapt their fishing fleets to take advantage of these changes.

It has become fashionable to promote the doom and gloom model when predicting our planet's future.   The more science delves, the more we learn that our past had many changes.   We had several ice ages - and we may have more to come - but in every instance Mother Nature went into survival mode.   Plant and animal extinction is simply part of that survival technique - and we need to learn to live with it.

We humans are part of that changing process.   It seems we will face the prospect of both floods and droughts, and the future seems to include heat waves of unprecedented proportions.  We will certainly need to vary the homes we live in to protect them against these changes and we have an evolving lifestyle already fast changing the way we work and spend our leisure time.

We would be wise to adapt and try and reduce the worst effects of climate change, but it is not worth wrecking our economy and dooming the young to a less satisfying way of life if we are simply trying to avoid something that is inevitable.