"The current rate of species extinctions far exceeds anything in the fossil record....It is the mass extinction currently underway, caused by overexploitation of natural resources, that needs to worry us... never before has a single species driven such profound changes to the habitats, composition and climate of the planet…." Biologists Magurran and Dornelas said in a Royal Society scientific report.Jeremy Jackson, director of the Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, states that "There is an urgent need for immediate and decisive conservation action. Otherwise, another great mass extinction affecting all ocean ecosystems and comparable to the upheavals of the geological past appears inevitable"
There are predictions of "...ocean dead zones “devoid of fish and seafood” that are poised to expand and “remain for thousands of years”.
Oceans are acidifying 10 times faster today than 55 million years ago when a mass extinction of marine species occurred and the Geological Society explain acidifying oceans spell marine biological meltdown “by end of century”
Global warming is blamed for 40% decline in the ocean’s phytoplankton. Microscopic life crucial to the marine food chain is dying out. The consequences could be catastrophic. Seth Borenstein explains, “plant plankton found in the world’s oceans are crucial to much of life on Earth. They are the foundation of the bountiful marine food web, produce half the world’s oxygen and suck up harmful carbon dioxide.”
This is all part of the the mounting evidence that the planet is now under threat of a worsening, dangerous environment for human and other forms of life. The motor of capitalism is profit for the minority capitalist class to add to their capital, or capital accumulation. Environmental concerns always come a poor second. Some will claim that the proper use of market forces will solve the problem, but as time goes on the emerging facts of what is happening serve only to contradict those voices.
Business as usual makes multiple catastrophes likely. If we want things to stay as they are, everything must change! Earth Summits over the last few decades show a consistent record of failure - unjustifiably high hopes and pitifully poor results. The change required must be based on the socialist principles of common ownership and production solely for needs, and also the environmental principles of conserving - not destroying - the wealth of the planet. It is the waste of human and other resources used in the market system which adds to the problem and stands in the way of their solution.
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In many aspects the write and activist Derk Wall shares the WSM thoughts on the environment.
“The myth of growth has failed us”, says Derek Wall. “It has failed the 2 billion people who still live on less than $2 a day. It has failed the fragile ecological systems we depend upon for survival. It has failed spectacularly, in its own terms, to provide economic stability and secure people's livelihoods. Capitalism and its need to constantly grow have produced a litany of disasters, from greenhouse gases to acidic seas, deforestation and huge floating islands of plastic in the oceans. Corporations have hijacked climate change summits from the start and locked them “into a logic of profit seeking”.
The viable alternative, says Wall, is ecosocialism. "The commons overcomes many of the problems with traditional state socialism because it tends to be flexible and decentralised”, says Wall. "It has an inbuilt ecological principle based on the concept of usufruct, that is, access to a resource is granted only if the resource is left in as good a form as it was when first found. By extending this concept of usufruct, we can provide the basis of an ecological economy. By providing access, the commons enables prosperity without growth; if we have access to the resources we need, we can reduce wasteful duplication."
Wall notes that the working class and indigenous peoples are in a strong position to achieve change since they are most involved in the production and reproduction of the forces that shape the environment. "Unless trade unionists are involved in ecosocialist politics, transformation will be impossible."
Also agreeing with the SPGB on the caution of making decisions for the majority. "There will never be a convincing blueprint for survival and socialism, of whatever shade, should not be constructed by a committee."
http://www.plutobooks.com/display.asp?K=9780745330365&
http://links.org.au/node/2035
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