Species Disappearance a Threat to Humanity: Peter Raven
Tainan, Taiwan, March 28th, 2011
For so long we have been depending on other organisms for the functioning of the earth and our lives, but very few take the threat of their disappearance seriously. Species are disappearing at the rate of about 1,000 per year, and more than half of them may disappear within the present century.
“Our food and medicine mostly come from plants that provide the air we breathe, protect topsoil, regulate the flow of water and absorb toxic materials, but factors such as global climate change and habitat destruction have resulted in a rapid disappearance of species,” said world-renowned botanist and environmentalist Dr. Peter Hamilton Raven in his talk of “Conservation for the Future: What Should We Do?” after receiving a honorary doctorate degree from President Hwung-Hweng Hwung of National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), Tainan, Taiwan, on March 28th.
“Regarded by Time Magazine as a ‘Hero for the Planet,’ Dr. Peter Hamilton Raven is a leading botanist and also an internationally well-known advocator for nature conservation and biodiversity, the fields National Cheng Kung University is reinforcing and promoting in general education curricula today,” said NCKU President Hwung-Hweng Hwung in the conferring ceremony.
The honorary doctorate degree, the highest distinction granted by the University, was awarded to Dr. Peter Hamilton Raven in recognition of his valuable contribution to the study of plants and biodiversity.
Dr. Peter Hamilton Raven, born in Shanghai in 1936, is one of the most prominent botanists in the world, devoting his life to environment conservation and focusing his career on the study of biodiversity. Due to his enormous influence, Dr. Raven was Home Secretary for the US National Academy of Sciences and is a member of many academies of science in different countries.
According to Dr. Peter Hamilton Raven, humans have driven the rate of biological extinction, so the world is losing 1,000 species each year and will most likely be threatened by the extinction of more than half of all species by the end of the 21st century.
Dr. Raven added, “Human activities, driven by population, consumption levels and technology, have resulted in global climate change, the spread of invasive alien species, pests and pathogens, and the over-gathering of certain kinds of plants and animals in nature worldwide, factors which are also important in Taiwan.”
He pointed out, “Taiwan is a highly populated country, where the rate of consumption per person is rising rapidly and the island’s demand for resources exceeds its production, leading to its incapacity to shelter everybody. The process of industrialization has polluted the island and the consequence is the apparent disappearance of species which we highly rely on for survival.”
The solutions to the problems Dr. Raven raised include a manageable level of global population, a reduced consumption level, and more environmental-friendly technologies. By reaching a level of global population at a level where people can live as they wish, finding acceptable levels of consumption per individual and maintaining them and developing new technologies for the sake of global sustainability, we can protect species from disappearing and thus lead a better life.
The economic development of industrialized countries destroys sustainability far beyond our borders and imaginations and ultimately threatens our own quality of life. Thus, the quality of the future in Taiwan and the world will depend on how soon we attain sustainability.
For so long we have been depending on other organisms for the functioning of the earth and our lives, but very few take the threat of their disappearance seriously. Species are disappearing at the rate of about 1,000 per year, and more than half of them may disappear within the present century.
“Our food and medicine mostly come from plants that provide the air we breathe, protect topsoil, regulate the flow of water and absorb toxic materials, but factors such as global climate change and habitat destruction have resulted in a rapid disappearance of species,” said world-renowned botanist and environmentalist Dr. Peter Hamilton Raven in his talk of “Conservation for the Future: What Should We Do?” after receiving a honorary doctorate degree from President Hwung-Hweng Hwung of National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), Tainan, Taiwan, on March 28th.
“Regarded by Time Magazine as a ‘Hero for the Planet,’ Dr. Peter Hamilton Raven is a leading botanist and also an internationally well-known advocator for nature conservation and biodiversity, the fields National Cheng Kung University is reinforcing and promoting in general education curricula today,” said NCKU President Hwung-Hweng Hwung in the conferring ceremony.
The honorary doctorate degree, the highest distinction granted by the University, was awarded to Dr. Peter Hamilton Raven in recognition of his valuable contribution to the study of plants and biodiversity.
Dr. Peter Hamilton Raven, born in Shanghai in 1936, is one of the most prominent botanists in the world, devoting his life to environment conservation and focusing his career on the study of biodiversity. Due to his enormous influence, Dr. Raven was Home Secretary for the US National Academy of Sciences and is a member of many academies of science in different countries.
According to Dr. Peter Hamilton Raven, humans have driven the rate of biological extinction, so the world is losing 1,000 species each year and will most likely be threatened by the extinction of more than half of all species by the end of the 21st century.
Dr. Raven added, “Human activities, driven by population, consumption levels and technology, have resulted in global climate change, the spread of invasive alien species, pests and pathogens, and the over-gathering of certain kinds of plants and animals in nature worldwide, factors which are also important in Taiwan.”
He pointed out, “Taiwan is a highly populated country, where the rate of consumption per person is rising rapidly and the island’s demand for resources exceeds its production, leading to its incapacity to shelter everybody. The process of industrialization has polluted the island and the consequence is the apparent disappearance of species which we highly rely on for survival.”
The solutions to the problems Dr. Raven raised include a manageable level of global population, a reduced consumption level, and more environmental-friendly technologies. By reaching a level of global population at a level where people can live as they wish, finding acceptable levels of consumption per individual and maintaining them and developing new technologies for the sake of global sustainability, we can protect species from disappearing and thus lead a better life.
The economic development of industrialized countries destroys sustainability far beyond our borders and imaginations and ultimately threatens our own quality of life. Thus, the quality of the future in Taiwan and the world will depend on how soon we attain sustainability.
Provider:
新聞中心
Date:
100-03-29
