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Hello EcoIsomniac readers! I have volunteered to relieve Jason of posting responsibilities for a day. He will be able to focus on taking a day off. Everyone needs one at some point.
Normally I am the primary content writer over at Big Ben Patton’s Place. While I do cover some green topics I will forewarn you its a site mostly about blogging effectively. I like to think that I can live up to the very large shoes which Jason has left empty for me today, so if you like what you read please stop by and say hello.
Everyday Extinct Species Take Potential Medical Miracles To The Grave
An interesting and thought provoking book was released recently named: Sustaining Life: How Human Health Depends on Biodiversity. Some amazing statistics that could make anyone cringe were published inside the covers of this wake up call to the next generation of environmentalist.
Eighty percent of the 150 top selling drugs in the United States–including essential medicines such as Aspirin, penicillin, and the chemotherapy drug Taxol–come from substances derived from plants, animals or microorganisms. However, as humans continue to drive species towards extinction and degrade critical habitats, we are losing the life-giving services they provide and the potential for countless new medical discoveries.
The new book, “Sustaining Life” examines what humans stand to lose when biodiversity is irreversibly destroyed, providing a compelling new case to conserve nature.
The “Sixth Great Extinction Event”
At the now current rate of species extinction rate we stand to lose hundreds to even thousands times greater than historical levels, leading many scientist to conclude that we may be entering the “sixth great extinction event” in Earth’s history (the fifth occurred 65 million years ago when the dinosaurs disappeared). This stunning loss of biodiversity is a result of habitat loss, destruction and degradation of ecosystems, pollution, over-exploitation and climate change, among other human drivers.
Recent research included inside the covers of this potentially life changing book has highlighted the worldwide decline of vital ecosystem services, provided for free by nature, which are estimated to have a global economic value of $33 trillion per year. These include water regulation and supply, flood and storm protection, nutrient cycling, recreation, and countless others. “Sustaining Life” focuses on just one benefit of nature: new avenues of medial research, treatments and pharmaceuticals.
A Potential New Medical Treatment Lost
Lets consider an example highlighted by the book’s author:
The southern gastric brooding frog was discovered in the undisturbed rain forests of Australia in the 1980s. The females of this unique species do something found nowhere else in nature: they raise their young in their stomachs. This bizarre upbringing is only possible because the baby frogs produce a substance that inhibits acid and enzyme secretions, thus preventing them from being digested. Scientists immediately recognized that research on these frogs could lead to new insights into preventing and treating human peptic ulcers, which affect at least 25 million people in the U.S. alone.
Before researchers could make any medical discoveries, however, the southern gastric brooding frog went extinct. In fact, nearly of the approximately 6,000 known amphibian species (frogs, toads, news, salamanders) are now threatened with extinction every day.
“Sustaining Life” called on the expertise of over 100 scientists from around the world to explore seven threatened groups of organisms valuable to medicine: amphibians, bears, cone snails, sharks, nonhuman primates, gymnosperms, and horseshoe crabs. According to co-author Jeffrey McNeely, it “offers dozens of dramatic examples of both why and how citizens can act in ways that will conserve, rather than destroy, the species that enrich our lives.”
This book will indeed distress many who read it, but to uncover what nature does for mankind is important. Raising awareness and taking actions to remedy this every day should rank high on everyones priority list as the cure for your ailments may be waiting to be discovered. Lets take action before its to late. For many discoveries it already is. Lets not use this as an excuse to stand by apathetically and do nothing. Better living through responsible living and interaction with natural habitats should be the highest concern of every resident of this planet.
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Jason
May 9th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Hey! Thanks for all the great info. I was browsing through a bunch of green websites and blogs and I came across yours and found it very interesting. There are a bunch of others I like too, like the daily green, ecorazzi and earthlab.com. I especially like EarthLab.com’s carbon calculator (http://www.earthlab.com/signupprofile/). I find it really easy to use (it doesn’t make me feel guilty after I take it). Are there any others you would recommend? Can you drop me a link to your favorites (let me know if they are the same as mine).
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alex: Thanks for sharing Alex I really like EarthLab.com as well they’ve got a wealth of information and some great tools. I really like Grist.com and TreeHugger.com.
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