We’ve Lost The War, But There Are Battles Still To Be Won
Hello. I’m Mark Campbell, an environmental journalist and activist, who has spent many years communicating the urgency of tackling the nature and climate emergencies.
I roam the vast ground between the scientific experts and the climate crisis deniers.
I leave the experts to their deep analysis and publication of papers, and thank them for their valuable work, which informs my own.
I ignore those who deny the facts. I urge you to do the same. We do not need these people on board, they are a drain on our ability to find solutions to the huge problems we are encountering.
In a recent paper published in Science Advances, a survey of 59,000 people across 63 countries found a whopping 86% believed in climate change, in the context of humans causing it, and it being a global emergency.
That’s encouraging, but common messaging still relates to taking action now, to prevent chaos in the future.
Even though we are already knee-deep in the mess we have created.
There are many species and habitats we will never get back. Millions of people are dying because of climate change, nature is being destroyed because of human activity.
Extinction Today reports on positive and negative developments across the world, offering insights and opinions along the way, while framing things within the facts - we are living in an age of extinction.
This isn’t doomerism. This is now a rescue mission to save lives.
Welcome aboard…
My journey to this point
Back in the 1990s, I could be seen standing at the entrance of furniture stores in the UK, where I am based, handing out the newsletter I had written for the local Friends of the Earth group, imploring people not to buy tables and chairs made from rainforest mahogany.
The newsletter was called ‘The O-Zone’ by the way. It worked at the time…
I campaigned for the closure of my local zoo through my own wildlife magazine. Eventually the zoo did lock its gates and was demolished. Good riddance, the poor animals were traumatised in the shadow of a giant rollercoaster.
I staged sponsored walks for people in rabbit costumes to raise money for the fight against cruel lab animal experiments.
I got arrested and thrown into a cell for a day for daring to try to interview an animal rights prisoner.
I’ve done more, much more, while also working my way up the journalism ladder, reporting for publications and then as a freelance, for newspapers, magazines, radio and TV stations, websites… always trying to inject as much environmental awareness into my work as I could. Not always an easy task.
I’m also vegan and try my very best to live a life which limits negative impact or harm on our natural world.
So, here I am launching another publication, on a platform where I believe people are open to rational debate. And where the evil algorithm doesn’t rule.
Communicating the nature and climate emergencies
Anyone who has launched a publication of their own will appreciate the difficulties of finding a title for it.
In my case, I had reached a point, through various publications and writing for others, that a new approach was required to get my opinions across.
I didn’t want to use terminology relied on all too frequently - I write about this separately but the environmental movement is not exactly awash with sexy buzzwords.
I read and listened to advice from leading sustainable marketers, and time after time I was bombarded with the message: ‘Be positive! Don’t be all gloom and doom.’
So I settled on… Extinction Today.
Extinction? Today? Really?
Yes, really.
Look, I realise a lot of people will think I’m taking a negative, doomster stance on this, but I see positives in this approach.
First of all, let’s get it straight. We ARE in an age of extinction. It’s the sixth mass extinction on our planet - the Holocene extinction - this one characterised by humans accelerating the loss of biodiversity.
This event has been going on for the past 10,000 years (largely unreported!), but the exploding human population and industrial revolutions have seen the past 150 years speed things up, creating a rapidly warming planet.
Species are now disappearing at rates 1,000 to 10,000 times higher than natural background rates, all down to us wonderful humans - destroying habitats, polluting pretty much everywhere, hunting and exploiting wildlife, and accelerating climate change.
While humans cannot survive without a thriving biodiversity, our own specific existence was brought into even sharper focus by a 2009 paper pointing to an ongoing seventh mass extinction, which could see humans wiped out completely by the year 2080.
Shall we just give up now then?
No - and this is the reason for Extinction Today. Let me talk about those positives (which might not seem to be positives, but they are)…
We Can Stop ‘Saving The Planet’
The planet will be fine. In fact, Earth (or whatever it will be called in future) will positively thrive without its infectious rash of humans.
For eco activists, vegans, anyone who gives a damn about life on Earth, it has always been overwhelming to take on the responsibility of saving it all, fixing it all, finding a new sustainable, compassionate way of living, destroying capitalism, etc, etc….
Far better to embrace where we are. Screwed.
And now focus on the slightly smaller but increasingly crucial battles. Save lives - humans and other animals - without taking on the task of repairing the entire planet.
Honestly, it will be good for your mental health.
Stop pretending we’re facing a countdown to 2030, 2035, 2050 or even 2100
We know all about 1.5 degrees. We know all about this being the most important decade to take action. But that messaging suggests that things will be fine if we can just change our ways in time.
In time for what? We are not in some sweet spot, a golden age in history, where we can make the right choices and save the world. We are deep into the damage, we have wiped out populations and habitats that can’t be returned.
It’s only by accepting this fact that we can take meaningful positive action moving forwards.
The World Wildlife Fund's Living Planet Report revealed a 73% average decline in wildlife populations over the past 50 years.
Freshwater species have suffered an 85% decrease in the same timescale. And yes, these declines are linked to human activities.
This follows on from centuries upon centuries of habitat loss. The UK used to be covered in rainforest before humans came along. Now, the UK is now one of the most nature-depleted countries on Earth.
And that’s just the UK. We lost 14 per cent of coral reefs between 2009 and 2018 - more than all the living coral in Australia.
The stats go on and on. And on. The point is, we’ve already caused too much damage. Each tenth of a degree of global warming will add to that. So the next positive is…
Don’t pin your hopes on political campaigns surrounding 1.5 degrees and net zero
And instead take positive action yourself.
However encouraging it is to hear politicians actually accept the facts about the climate and biodiversity polycrisis, political and economic systems are not set up to tackle such emergencies. Political bias appears to be twisting away from a place where all people are seen as equally important in this crisis.
A commitment to reach net zero by 2050 means next to nothing. That’s years away, and by then, we’ll no doubt be dealing with mass water shortages, millions of climate refugees and multiple conflicts as a result of the pressure on resources.
Forget following direction or ‘leadership’ from governments. We’re relying on individuals, organisations and crisis-aware businesses to take meaningful action, with empathy, understanding and compassion.
So what’s the take-away?
Life on Earth was always going to disappear (Spoiler alert: The planet is expected to be vapourised by the sun in about 7.5 billion years).
But we’ve gone and brought rapid extinctions forward into our own lifetimes.
We humans are very poor at facing up to reality. So the messaging continues - suck enough carbon out of the atmosphere by 2050 and we’ll be OK.
But of course, we won’t.
And by realising this fact, I believe it focuses the mind on what matters in the here and now - and not in the 2050 and 2100.
We are on a rescue mission. We must save as many lives as we can. All types of lives.
So let’s get on and do it.
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And there’s more…
You may have noticed a menu link to my ethical t-shirts.
I have teamed up with Teemill, the same eco-friendly circular clothing manufacturers who supply t-shirts and other garments for the likes of Greenpeace, Marine Conservation Society, BBC Earth, RSPB and many more.
I started designing my own t-shirts to further communicate the environmental message, and to encourage people not to buy clothes containing plastic (my range is 100% organic cotton).
I’d be grateful for your support. Thank you.
