Silence is spreading over the natural world

[Still Waters]

Bernie Krause has spent 40 years recording nature's sounds. But such is the rate of species and habitat loss that his tapes may become our only record of the original diversity of life.

http://www.guardian....orld-recordings

[libstaK]

What an eerie notion, last one to leave switch off the lights and shut the door on your way out.

[ThickasaBrick]

It is truly a sad state. Nature is beautiful in every way. Mankind is often destructive in our attempts to humanize the world. Humans need to get back to nature to find the beauty in all things.

[IamLegend]

Natural selection and survival of the fittest at it's finest. People don't seem to get his and try to go against it by "saving nature".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eScDfYzMEEw

[ancient astronaut]

I wonder how much invasive species have to do with this??? they tend to either wreck or completely disrupt any ecosystem they come in contact with. Just wondering.

[thewonderman]

The population is too big imo.

[JGrayshon]

Silence will fall.

[redhen]

Natural selection and survival of the fittest at it's finest. People don't seem to get his and try to go against it by "saving nature".

George Carlin is funny, (r.i.p.), but he became more bitter towards the end of his life. He talks about the planet as just the mineral kingdom, a little pale blue dot, and how we are incapable of destroying it or knocking it off its orbit. Actually, I think a thermo-nuclear holocaust could screw up the earth pretty good. So that's a straw man falllacy. Environmentalists these days don't protest over nuclear testing or proliferation.

But he doesn't talk about the loss of bioversity caused by humanity. Biodiversity is the key to our survival as a species. He doesn't seem to care that homo sapiens are on their way out too. In fact he thinks it can't come soon enough. We're all just arrogent, self-rightous leftist elites. He got that wrong too, I'm about as conservative as they come.

Anyways, here's a younger George talking about rampant consumerism, er, I mean Stuff.

[ThePhantomFlanFlinger]

One day we will tip this planet just too much...then all hell will break loose..

[Junior Chubb]

Why can't I find this 'silence'...

[schizoidwoman]

What a state state of affairs we're getting into.

[chuckey]

one day we will tip this planet just much.... then we as a race/species that in habits this earth we will die out and become nothing more than bones and future oil for the vast vast future inhabitants to excavate and ponder "what ever happened to these guys" the cycle will repeat, hopefully all the bible bashers/religeous freaks are correct and we all get to go to heaven or are reborn spiritually for a couple of goes at living on this world or the next - as some kind of explanation to how kindness and love are instintive as apposed to evilness and cruelty which is taught/bred, its way to easy to forget just how old the universe is and how many times life could of possibly flourished even on earth as simple debate - every star is a sun with a multiple chances of the jackpot of evolving life forms, sometimes playing a small part in a huge epic movie it's kind of easy to lose track of the big picture and not realise how ignisifigant we are to the overall story

[Ashotep]

What will man do when we only hear the sounds of each other.

[Rolci]

"Only when the last tree has been cut down; Only when the last river has been poisoned; Only when the last fish has been caught; Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten."

As for the "survival of the fittest" comment, let me broaden your horizon just a tiny stretch today, because repeating pseudo-truth cliches only indicates ignorance, surely not critical thinking. Fittest... for what? I'll put it more simply. We are creating a more competitive environment facilitating the survival of those that are the fittest forrr....... what kind of environment? Let me help there. Fittest in the ****ty ****ed-up environment we are creating by pollution of the atmosphere, poisoning of the rivers, cutting down rainforests, all of which are not natural states of BALANCE, only temporary man-made environments, which poisons us as well, and when we've cut down the last tree, we'll have to come up with an alternative replacement, as soon as we have that (becase we needed it so we found it or developed it) we won't need the trees, so they can grow back, the air can come clean again, etc. But by now all these species that are fittest in ****ty environment have survived, which aren't the fittest in the again-normal, natural environment, so the "old" species can come back in greater numbers again. Except that... we've sent them extinct. That's right, all we achieve by temporarily upsetting the natural balance of nature that has come to be as it is today throughout millions and billions of years, is killing a few species that could've lived just fine and evolved into stronger and fitter species. Creating a nuclear holocaust or poisoning the air to extreme extents and saying "let's see which few species will last longest" is hardly a virtue and hardly helps anything or anyone. If a diverse biosphere is what nature has evolved, then maybe that's what it needs, who are we to justify pollution by saying that we are creating a better "race" for these beasts? No, species don't need saving. Yes, they all die out eventually. But why kill them now instead of letting them be there for our grandchildren to see? Humans will be long gone before these "unfit for poisonous environment" species would normally die out. Our industrial infancy with all its harming effects are a blink of an eye in natural history, but the number of species lost in this blink is unproportionate an unnatural. Doesn't take much brains to see. When are we going to begin to take a bit of responsibility and consider more then our own selfish (monetary) interests and temporary comfort? Time for us to grow up.

[Likely Guy]

Bernie Krause has spent 40 years recording nature's sounds. But such is the rate of species and habitat loss that his tapes may become our only record of the original diversity of life.

http://www.guardian....orld-recordings

I live at the edge of humanity. We forsake the loss of 'base critters'. Where in the hell are the rabbits? Rabbits that feed coyotes and wolves? And when there aren't enough rabbits, wolves feed on Caribou.

When there aren't enough Caribou, we kill wolves. That's a screwed up system. I ask again, where are the 'base critters', and why aren't they protected?

15 years ago I could drive down a road and easily see 20-30 rabbits, on one corner on the road. Now I'm lucky to see one rabbit on the whole drive.

Edited September 6, 2012 by Likely Guy

[mysticwerewolf]

Rabbit? I haven't seen a rabbit in the wild for at least 20 years and haven't eaten one in closer to 35 years i still haven't forgotten the taste of fresh rabbit cooked over an open fire,a little salt and pepper and stuffed with some garlicand onion. and i gave it up because it was getting harder and harder to find them. Mankind needs to control it's population or we will find ourselves on that list of creatures headed towards extinction ( unlesss ET comes along and gives us warp drive so we can leave the planet to the rest of it's inhabitants we are on our way towards being on that list.)

[lightly]

It's true. I grew up in the north woods of Michigan.. on a lake, which is always an attractor for animals.

When i was a little kid ( about 50ish years ago) their was an incredible amount of wildlife running and flying around.

The woods are much much MUCH quieter now. ... One good note: many birds , like Eagles, and Cranes are becoming more plentiful once again after the banning of DDT years ago. ( which made eggshells so soft that many chicks did not survive long enough to hatch)

[rashore]

Too many places are getting quieter, and that is truly sad. We have the good blessings that where we live now is very alive. Most people visiting us for the first time expecting the peaceful quiet of the boonies are usually surprised at how noisy it is here.

[Guest Xetan]

What will man do when we only hear the sounds of each other.

What do you mean when? I hear it all the time and it's driving me batty! I can't get anyone to shut up!

[Mercury2K]

sadly the gap is being replaced by headphones and repetitive pop music

[Guest]

Silence is the sound of DOOM !!

We are already past the point of 50% biodiversity loss which will send the whole system into terminal decline. As far as I can see its just ticking the days of the calender at this point.

Br Cornelius

[Mantis914]

When you go outside and don't even hear birds singing any more, yeah, that's a scary feeling. I experienced that recently after cutting the yard in this lovely 108 degree weather that we've been having. I stopped the lawn mower once finished and there wasn't a single sound outdoors, well, maybe a distant cicada but that's about the only thing enjoying this weather: mosquitoes and cicadas.

[zenfahr]

What will man do when we only hear the sounds of each other.

unfortunatly, it seems the only sounds we hear from each other is the sound on one man trying to sell something to the other. We are blind as well as deaf.

[thewild]

I live in the middle of town now, grew up in the country. However a pair of great horned owls moved in to the treed lot next door and they are singing away every night! Plus the college kids moved out so I can hear nature again here..

[Doctor manhattan]

where i live theres heaps of different kinds of birds, which i like but there one bird that sings non stop every night like clockwork. also on a side note its magpie season and its F-ING HILARIOUS watching people getting swooped.

Edited September 13, 2012 by serial slasher