Human Dependence on Nature: How to Help Solve the Environmental Crisis

185 Pages·2012·2.998 MB·English

by  Haydn Washington

Human Dependence on Nature
How to help solve the environmental crisis
Haydn Washington
With a foreword by Professor Paul R. Ehrlich
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Human Dependence on Nature
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3111 Humanity is dependent on Nature to survive, yet our society largely acts as
4 if this is not the case. The energy that powers our very cells, the nutrients
5 that make up our bodies, the ecosystem services that clean our water and
6 air; these are all provided by the Nature from which we have evolved and
7 of which we are a part. This book examines why we deny or ignore this
8 dependence and what we can do differently to help solve the environmental
9 crisis.
20111 Written in an accessible and engaging style, Washington provides an
1 excellent overview of humanity’s relationship with Nature. The book looks
2 at energy flow, nutrient cycling, ecosystem services, ecosystem collapse as
3 well as exploring our psychological and spiritual dependency on nature.
4 It also examines anthropocentrism and denial as causes of our unwillingness
5 to respect our inherent dependence on the natural environment. The book
6 concludes by bringing these issues together and providing a framework for
7 solutions to the environmental crisis.
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9 Haydn Washington is an environmental scientist and writer with 35 years’
30111 experience. He has worked as a plant ecologist, a CSIRO scientist, an
1 environmental consultant, and is currently a Visiting Fellow at the Institute
2 of Environmental Studies at the University of New South Wales, Australia.
3 This is his fifth book on environmental issues and he is also the lead author
4 of Climate Change Denial: Heads in the Sand (Earthscan from Routledge
35 2011).
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1111 Human Dependence on
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Nature
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How to help solve the
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environmental crisis
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Haydn Washington
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With a foreword by
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6 Professor Paul R. Ehrlich
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First published 2013
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2013 Haydn Washington
The right of Haydn Washington to be identified as author of this work
has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78
of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying
and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification
and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Human dependence on nature: how to help solve the environmental
crisis/Haydn Washington.
p. cm.
“Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada” – T.p. verso.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Nature – Effect of human beings on. 2. Human ecology.
3. Dependency (Psychology) – Social aspects. 4. Environmental
degradation. 5. Environmental protection. 6. Environmental
responsibility. 7. Climatic changes – Environmental aspects.
8. Climatic changes – Social aspects. I. Title.
GF75.W37 2013
304.2 – dc23
2012015737
ISBN: 978-0-415-63257-7 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-415-63258-4 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-203-09556-0 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by Florence Production Ltd, Stoodleigh, Devon
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3111 Dedication
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For Henry David Thoreau and Thomas Berry, two champions of Nature
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who lived centuries apart, yet so elegantly put into words whyour roots lie
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in the Earth.
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‘Our characteristics trace back to the forces that created the earliest simple
organisms, and the physical features of our planet and other life forms have
shaped the processes and traits that eventually produced modern human
beings. But we biologists tend to be even more impressed by our utter
dependence on the world that gave us evolutionary birth – on Nature, which
nurtures us and to which we are tightly bound. When you’ve finished Human
Dependence on Nature you’ll be impressed too – and want to give a copy
to everyone you know.’
Professor Paul R. Ehrlich, President of the Center
for Conservation Biology, Department of Biology,
Stanford University, California
‘Endowed with unprecedented numbers, technological prowess, consumpt-
ive demand and a globalized economy, human beings are now undermining
the very life support systems of Earth. The environmental movement has
successfully raised concerns over issues like pesticides, acid rain, ozone
depletion, toxic pollution, clear-cut logging and global warming, but has
fundamentally failed in indicating that these problems are driven by deep
underlying beliefs and values that shape the way we behave. A paradigm
shift happens when we move from the centre of everything to being a
creature embedded in and utterly dependent on Nature for our well being
and survival. Haydn Washington’s book provides the unassailable evidence
that we are in an eco-crisis of our own making, making a strong case for
an urgent need to change direction and seek ways to live in balance with
the factors that sustain us in the biosphere.’
Professor David Suzuki, University of Columbia,
author of The Sacred Balance, USA
‘We are all indebted to Haydn Washington for helping us to understand in
more detail the complexity of our dependence on nature.’
Lester R. Brown, President of Earth Policy Institute,
author of World on the Edge
‘This book’s stern and detailed message about humanity’s multifaceted
involvement in Earth’s biosphere is vital. Are you among the many who have
been reluctant to recognize how today’s industrialized human load
profoundly damages Earth’s ecological basis for our descendants’ lives?
Inability to face that reality has obstructed essential change. Were we to
overcome habitual denial, we might commit to protecting rather than
undermining the physical, chemical, and biological qualities of this planet
essential for future human life. Read this book! Enable posterity to respect
us, their ancestors, for our wisdom, instead of loathing us for our obstinate
fantasies.’
Professor William R. Catton, Jr.,
Washington State University, USA
1111 ‘We are entering the Anthropocene Epoch – so we are told these days.
2 Humans will increasingly manage the planet. Haydn Washington provides
3 a daunting account of how humans still need a biosphere enveloping their
4 technosphere, a life support system they increasingly place in jeopardy.
5 His respect for the biosphere is inclusive, necessary for our human pros-
6 perity on landscapes we love, and enlarging into respect for the intrinsic value
7 in nature. Enter the Anthropocene if we must, but life remains basically
8 natural, and we should enter carefully, full of cares for ourselves and our
9 wonderland Earth. Washington is a thoughtful, spirited guide, persuasively
1011 blending science and conscience.’
1 Professor Holmes Rolston (III),
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Colorado State University, USA
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‘This is a brave book that shows that unless we stop acting “like gods” who
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assume that we constitute the whole purpose of creation and recover the
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humility to respect nature, we are doomed. It articulates the ultimate
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questions that confront us with courage and points to solutions.’
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Dr Paul Collins, author of Judgment Day
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‘Humans not only depend on nature – we are nature. Haydn Washington
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documents why. Not only does he bestow us with explanations of the
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scientific underpinnings, but he also helps us spell out the implications. If
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high-schoolers could not graduate without having read this book, our
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chances of survival would be greatly enhanced.’
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Dr Mathis Wackernagel, President,
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Global Footprint Network
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‘An illuminating and necessary discussion of humanity’s absolute depend-
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ence on nature and our reluctance to accept that reality.’
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Professor Donald Spady, Adjunct Associate Professor of
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Pediatrics and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine
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and Dentistry, and the School of Public Health,
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University of Alberta, Canada
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6 ‘Nowadays the majority of people are city dwellers and most have no
7 idea that we humans are totally dependent upon nature for our survival.
8 Until now scientists have been remiss in explaining this to the public and
9 even to university students. In this book Dr Haydn Washington explains
40111 clearly the physical, biological, ecological, psychological and spiritual ways
1 we depend on Nature and critiques the attempts by some to deny it.’
2 Professor Mark Diesendorf, Deputy Director
3 of the Institute of Environmental Studies,
4 University of New South Wales,
45111 Australia
‘Haydn Washington is among those who appreciate that if present trends
in human activity continue unabated the ecological collapse of society is
inevitable. Climate change is at present the most critical issue; but this is
just one symptom humankind’s gross over-exploitation of the Earth’s natural
resources and general insensitivity to the needs of the processes of life that
underpin our existence. This thoughtful and thought-provoking book is a
unique contribution to the growing literature on the gross excesses of modern
society and the urgent need for a transition to a society that is truly in tune
with and respectful of Nature.’
Professor Stephen Boyden, Fenner School of
Environment and Society, ANU, author
of The Biology of Civilisation, Australia
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Contents
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4 Foreword by Professor Paul R. Ehrlich xv
5 Acknowledgements xvii
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Introduction 1
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1 Energy is life 5
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1 Productivity and food webs 6
2 Keystone species 8
3 Diversity, stability, resilience and ecosystem services 10
4 How much is humanity’s fair share? 12
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6 2 The great cycles 15
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The water cycle 15
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The nitrogen cycle 17
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30111 The sulphur cycle 19
1 The phosphorus cycle 21
2 The carbon cycle 23
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4 3 Ecosystem services – essential but overlooked 27
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Ecosystem services listed by Millennium Ecosystem
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Assessment 30
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Ecosystem services and ‘TEEB’ 33
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State of play of ecosystem services 34
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Valuing ecosystem services 37
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4 Collapse 43
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3 Examples of ecosystem collapse 46
4 Causes of ecosystem collapse 50
45111 Holding off collapse 52