Editor’s note: This commentary is by Bob Stannard, a former lobbyist, who is still an author and musician. This piece first appeared in the Bennington Banner.
[F]or roughly 100,000 years the Neanderthal sat around thinking about his next meal. His brain didn’t allow him to go out much further. He would contemplate the new rock or stick he found to see if it would make for an adequate tool. He didn’t really bother anyone and appeared to have little or no ambitions or big ideas. Much like an ammonite, he just existed — until he didn’t.
Every day since the origin of the Earth we know that species have come and gone. What we’ve not paid much attention to is how many. Yes, there was great fanfare when we lost the dodo bird, but once it was gone we moved on. Too bad. Oh well. What’s for dinner?
Invasive species have been the ruin of many species here on Earth. Most recently we’ve seen something called “white nose” disease. Fortunately, it only affects bats, but it affects them badly. According to the book “The Sixth Extinction” by Elizabeth Kolbert, there were once 2 million-3 million bats living in the Mount Aeolis Cave on Green Peak in Dorset. When she last went up there to do a count she found four. That’s right: FOUR.
Well, I guess we’re lucky that this new species of virus doesn’t impact Homo sapiens, right? Saying adios to the bat population may be sad, but at least it doesn’t impact us. I wonder if the same is true about the loss of the coral reefs around the world.
The ocean is getting warmer with each passing day, but much like Neanderthal we don’t seem to be paying it much mind. You can’t see it from my house. It’s not affecting me. Who cares if we lose some lame ol’ rocks under the ocean (of course, they aren’t rocks but let’s not get bogged down with facts, OK?)
Homo sapiens have charted a course to wipe out many other species that once roamed the Earth. We’ve killed them for food, for sport and for fun.
According to Kolbert, there have been five major catastrophic events that have occurred since Earth’s creation and all have resulted in significant changes for those creatures that were here at the time. The last event was responsible for the rise of Homo sapiens, which have proliferated — or perhaps more accurate to say over-proliferated — ever since.
She suggests that Neanderthals were relegated to extinction because the Homo sapiens were smarter and more ruthless. Homo sapiens showed little tolerance for the Neanderthal and not so slowly wiped them out.
Since that time Homo sapiens have charted a course to wipe out many other species that once roamed the Earth. We’ve killed them for food, for sport and for fun. Ironically, the most dangerous species on Earth is also the only species that has had the wherewithal to try to save species that are near extinction. We’ve captured near extinct creatures and worked hard and invested lots of money to save them.
It causes one to wonder just when will the time come that we start to understand that our own species is the one that needs saving. We’ve over-populated the planet, wiped out any and all competition. Nothing can stop us. We’re the strongest, brightest, most dangerous predator that’s ever existed. We possess the capability of neutralizing all threats with one exception: ourselves.
We now seem paralyzed to take the necessary actions to save Homo sapiens. We’ve conquered nearly every square mile of the planet and made it ours. We’re using up the resources faster than any other species that has ever existed. The results of our actions will, in all likelihood, be our undoing.
For 100,000 years a distant relative lived in harmony with its surroundings. For a time, so did we. Those days are over forever. If we are looking to save a species from extinction we have only to look at ourselves, and we had better get on it.
