Originally published June 6 2008
World's Species Going Extinct Faster than Scientists Thought
by Richard Stossel
(NaturalNews) According to the latest research, species around the world are going extinct faster that previously thought, at a rate not seen since the extinction of the dinosaurs. The Living Planet index which was released today shows that due to destructive human activity, the diversity of all life on earth has decreased by over 30%, nearly a third in fact in the past thirty-five years.
The Zoological Society of London and the Global Footprint Network also gave the following statistics: land species have declined by 25%, marine life by 28% and freshwater species by 29%. The reports editor Jonathan Loh stated that to see such a sharp fall off in the species of the planet was "completely unprecedented in terms of human history". "You'd have to go back to the extinction of the dinosaurs to see a decline as rapid as this... In terms of human lifespan we may be seeing things change relatively slowly, but in terms of the world's history this is very rapid."
To us, the extinction rate may seem slow or almost non-existent, but in terms of life on a historical time line, the rate is 10,000 times faster than the rate at which the planet normally loses species. The nations of world who set to make so called "significant reductions" in species loss by 2010 will be virtually useless. So much loss has already occurred due to lack of concentrated and focused effort and inaction that it is no longer possible to make any significant reductions in such a short time frame.
Ben Collen, who is an extinctions researcher at the Zoological Society of London: "Between 1960 and 2000, the human population of the world has doubled. Yet during the same period, the animal populations have declined by 30 per cent. It's beyond doubt that this decline has been caused by humans." The study pinpointed five major factors in the rapid decline of nearly 4000 species between 1960 and 2000; they are the human behavior of: climate change, pollution, the destruction of animals' natural habitat, the spread of invasive species, and the overexploitation of species.
A case in point can be seen in the Yangtze River dolphin that scientists have been searching for and have been unable to locate any of the species, they now believe it is extinct. Some of the reasons for its rapid decline are; collisions with boats, habitat loss and pollution. All of these factors are man made in origin.
James Leape, who is the director of WWF (World Wide Footprint) said; "Reduced biodiversity means millions of people face a future where food supplies are more vulnerable to pests and disease and where water is in irregular or short supply... No one can escape the impact of biodiversity loss because reduced global diversity translates quite clearly into fewer new medicines, greater vulnerability to natural disasters and greater effects from global warming. The industrialized world needs to be supporting the global effort to achieve these targets, not just in their own territories where a lot of biodiversity has already been lost, but also globally."
Unfortunately there is coming a time in the not so distant future when the very survival of life on earth will be at stake. If we continue to overuse all of our resources like a virus consumes its host until its very source of survival is gone, we will eventually be destroyed right along with the very planet that is the true source of our substance and life force. According to the Tao (The Way of Nature and the Universe), we can not continue to abuse, overuse and rip the earth of her elements and natural resources faster than earth can replace them and expect all things to remain in balance. This is common sense logic and also the universal laws of balance, yin and yang, light and shadow, male and female, etc.
The power of earth's magnetic field has decreased significantly in the past 100 years or so. Much of this can again be blamed on mans' activities. You would not normally think it, but the laying of world wide power lines, the explosion of wireless communication devices including satellites beaming information to and from orbit are all affecting the earth's magnetic field, including it's very power.
All our foods get part of their energies, their life sustaining chi from a combination of earth (yin/water) and the sun (yang/fire). If we weaken one, the other is thrown out of balance. We already know that due to acid rain, overuse of the land, pesticides and other factors that the mineral content of the soil is dangerously low. I've written before that approximately 2/3 of the earth's tillable soil is completely devoid of Selenium, a vital trace element and power mineral required not only for the production of SOD (Superoxide Dismutase) but also one that is a powerful immune booster, cancer fighter and longevity mineral too, that most people have virtually no selenium in their diet which is another great reason to make sure that you're taking the true RDA of 200mcg per day. Eating just three Brazil nuts a day gives approximately 200mcg, or you can take a supplement of Selenium daily.
No matter the mineral content of any food, what gives all foods their true power to heal and sustain life is not their pure vitamin, mineral or chemical compounds or make up themselves, it is the specific type and amount of chi (life force) in those elements and foods that are their real power to sustain life and heal. That is why chemical drugs can and never will be equal to the medicines that God's earth provides, because science has no belief in or ability to manipulate or use chi. Science doesn't even acknowledge that it exists as the Chinese and other Asian and ancient cultures have stated for millennia, but it surely does exist.
The more we allow and contribute to the destruction of life's incredibly diverse life forms, the more we are killing ourselves in a very slow way. We are tied to the earth in an unbreakable way, but mankind with his technological know how thinks that "I know better than nature itself"... never! Even a great many of the drugs that man thinks that he "invented", up to nearly half of them he learned how to make by chemically synthesizing the active ingredients from various plants, herbs and other natural compounds. Herbs and other life saving medicines are constantly being destroyed, all in the name of the greed of a worldwide collection of billionaires who can't wait to get richer and richer so they can beat their friends' yearly and lifetime earnings, and corporations who only care about their stock prices on the world market and more. They truly believe and live by the motto: "The person who dies with the most toys, wins!" That is their religion, their mantra and money is their god. How sad for the world and all the rest of us who live on this planet. These people are truly insane and drunk with power and greed and it seems as though they could care less if the entire earth is destroyed and all human and animal life on it is eradicated, as long as they die with the most money and toys to beat their other billionaire friends, that's all that seems to matter at all to them.
Many prophecies, including those found in the Bible, mention a time when the earth will be ravaged by so much wars, death, disease, greed, destruction and mans' inhumanity against man and his very environment itself that he will be brought to the very brink of annihilation unless God Himself steps in to stop it. Here it is starting right before our eyes, but everyone is just so busy having their fun, making their money and going on with their lives that most people, especially those in power and responsible, could care less to stop it or change their high flying, jet setting lifestyles for something that to them is a long way off or likely will never even happen, at least not in their lifetimes.
The destruction of earth's environment, our food supply as well as the weakening of earth's magnetic field or chi are reasons why practicing energy medicine and learning to cultivate one's own chi through the breathing and meditative practices of Chi-gung are so important today, probably more so than at any other time in human history. To learn to increase our own protective chi field called Wei Chi that surrounds our body, as well as increase our overall chi levels and flow within the body will greatly help us to recover and make up for the chi and energy that we're not getting from our foods or even the earth itself. Organic food has more nutrients and chi than conventional food and that's one thing we all need to eat much more of. Organic foods also help slow down the rate of destruction of the earth's ecosystem as does eating more locally grown foods too. Taking supplements is another way to help keep ourselves healthy since we have to make up for the nutrients that our diets can no longer supply.
But even these are secondary actions compared to the most vital and important source of our life, the primary source of all life, our chi. It is only through breathing and meditation that we can truly build up and extract many times the chi that we used to be able to get just by eating natural foods and breathing in times past. Even the oxygen content of the air is about 25% less than it was just 200 years ago. Due to the destruction of plankton in the earth's oceans which makes up about 60% of the oxygen on earth, deforestation as well as all of mans' pollution has contributed to lessen the amount of oxygen and sunlight available to us (and our crops) with each breath that we take. This is why practicing deep breathing techniques such as the 8 Pieces of Brocade, Tai chi, and other energy work exercises and learning to use our minds through true meditation to build up and extract even more chi from the earth and universe, has never been more important than at this most critical time in earth's history.
In time through these ancient and powerful techniques we can greatly increase the amount, the flow, the balance and the strength of our life force flowing through and around our bodies, thus helping to protect our health and stave off illness and disease in a powerful way. They take work, but in order to remain healthy, vibrant and strong in these times they are very necessary and effective. Proven through thousands of years of practice by the fighting monks, martial artists and traditional doctors of China, practicing chi-gung and careful attention to diet and nutrition are becoming ever more necessary in today's ever more polluted environment.
With the abysmal failures of the western slash and burn methods of surgery and drugs to prevent illness, learning to cultivate and use the true source of one's own life force via the vehicle of various chi-gung techniques and exercises to increase your own store of chi within the body, is really one of the best methods and options that exist in the world today. The Chinese have given mankind a great gift in the form of its incredible repertoire of Chi-gung techniques and understanding of the human energy systems through Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). They are only proving themselves over and over again in this modern age as they continue to succeed in restoring and maintaining people's health time and time again where western medicine has repeatedly failed.
This is especially true as we see the rate of both the destruction of the earth itself and its tens of millions of species occurring at an ever increasing rate. If you can, learn all that you are able to about chi, Chinese and natural medicine, energy work, meditation, nutrition and natural health and healing, since they are our best bet to restore and protect our health and those of our loved ones as the world gets more and more polluted. Moreover, the energy that they teach you to use is all provided free of charge by the very universe and earth itself with no hidden fees and no side effects... other than good health and long life that is.
Recommended reading:
"Harnessing the Power of the Universe" by Daniel Reid
"The Complete Book of Chinese Health and Healing" By Daniel Reid
"The Root of Chinese Qigong" by Dr. Yang Jwing-Ming
"Awaken Healthing Energy Through The Tao" by Mantak Chia
Source Article: (http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nat...)
About the author
Richard is a network engineer and longtime practitioner of Chinese martial arts, medicine and chi-gung for over twenty six years. Having learned many Chinese health and healing arts from old world gung-fu and healing masters and practitioners, he has helped many people to overcome their health issues and achieve their fitness goals. Through diligent study and experience he has taken this knowledge even further over the years including reading scores of books on Chinese medicine, health, chi theory, science, physics, nutrition, supplements, meditation, martial arts, and many other subjects. Utilizing the web, health and fitness videos, newsletters, articles, teachings and lectures, Rich is passionate about spreading the true knowledge of health, healing, fitness and spiritual truths. I'm proud to be writing articles for NaturalNews.com You can read many articles, hear audio interviews, and learn more about the highly praised Chinese Health and Fitness video by visiting Chinese Health and Fitness.com
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