Reply #78: I don't know that North America will ever be quite as bad as Europe. [View All]

[Xithras]

Of course, "ever" is a really long time, and humans have ane annoying habit of slowly grinding away at nature until there is nothing left.

Personally, I think the greatest hope for North American nature is Canada. In spite of logging, most of the Canadian north is still largely unspoiled and is a haven for wildlife. One of the upsides to global warming and the Arctic thaw is the fact that many of the species being squeezed out of the southern half of the continent will find the post-warming north to be a fairly hospitable place to live. If Canada can resist the temptation to carve the north up and "develop" it, the region could end up becoming the last great home for North American wildlife.

I think that most of North America will end up much like Europe, however. Most people don't understand how environmentally sterile Western Europe is. Virtually all of the original forest is gone, and the forests that exist today have all been cut at least twice (though there are areas where the forests have been cut and regrown dozens of times over the last few thousand years), and they bear little resemblance to the natural forests that once covered the continent. The natural forests, and the wildlife they once harbored, were wiped out centuries ago. The forests that exist today are "useful forests", planted and managed by humans for profit and recreation.

I would really like to visit the Białowieża Forest the next time I'm in Europe. I've seen Białowieża in photos a number of times, and it's absolutely beautiful. It's the last vestige of the original European Plains forest that's actually large enough to support a diverse and reasonably comprehensive ecosystem.

I really hope that we North American's take a lesson from Europe. Not a lesson to emulate, but an example to avoid. Nature should not be limited to a handful of parks.