At Sidebar
Biodiversity Revisited: A World on the Brink of Change for the Better? By Bruce A. McKenna
In July 2012, my At Sidebar contribution to The Federal Lawyer was titled “Biodiversity: It Is the Law of Nature and We’d Better Take Heed!”1 Climate change was only one of the five categories of concern addressed at that time, but it was an essential contributing factor to the following conclusion: Bruce A. McKenna is admitted to practice in Oklahoma, New York, various federal district courts and circuit courts, and the U.S. Supreme Court. His practice consists primarily of professional negligence defense.
[T]he trends from available indicators suggest that the state of biodiversity is declining, the pressures upon it are increasing, and the benefits derived by humans from biodiversity are diminishing. The overall message from these indicators is that, despite the many efforts taken around the world to conserve biodiversity and use it sustainably, the efforts to date have been inadequate to address the scale of biodiversity loss or to reduce the pressure on affected ecosystems.2 Science and technology continue to provide us with warnings from Mother Nature that our planet is suffering from the abuse inflicted by humanity in failing to take good care of its only home. We do not seem to have taken heed in the nine years since my previous At Sidebar. So, as I did before, I will attempt to summarize what I have heard and read—not intending to be “gloom and doom” but, rather, as a reminder that we, as a society, can do more to fend off the effects of climate change and the predicted ramifications of either continuing to do too little to bring about change or striving to achieve change and ensure that our legacies are not legacies of gloom and doom.3
The Predominant Causes of Climate Change Global warming is an ever-present term in today’s vernacular. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, global greenhouse gas emissions attributed to human activities increased 26 percent from 1990 to 2005. By 2014, the United States accounted for approximately 15 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. In 2019, the annual EPA Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Emissions and Sinks showed that U.S. greenhouse gas emissions had dropped by 13 percent from the 2005 levels. But, as good as that sounds, it 6 • THE FEDERAL LAWYER • November/December 2021
requires some context to appreciate that the level of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere by U.S. economic activity was 6,558 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents.4 Maybe the reduction was false hope, because in 2020, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration testing found that both carbon dioxide and methane gas levels were at their all-time highest. Although it is the subject of much debate, the effects of global warming on the planet and the human population are frightening and appear to be mostly self-inflicted. The EPA estimates that, in 2019, the broadly defined sources of greenhouse gas emissions were transportation (accounting for 29 percent of emissions), coal-fired electric power plants (25 percent), industrial activities (23 percent), commercial and residential activities (13 percent), and agriculture (10 percent).
Effects of Climate Change on the Environment It is entirely understandable to draw a direct correlation between increases in global temperature and climate change. It is widely recognized (again, but not without some debate) that human-induced climate change is a process that is being felt throughout the world. For example, in the United States, Glacier National Park is losing its glaciers; in 1910 it had more than 100, but now, fewer than two dozen remain. The Everglades National Park (a World Heritage site) is experiencing saltwater intrusion resulting from sea level rise and a corresponding loss of marine habitat and species. Other World Heritage sites endangered by the effects of climate change and man-made activities include the following: • E gypt’s Christian city of Abu Mena (significant rise in the surrounding water table). • Four national parks and wildlife reserves in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Garamba National Park (poaching and the absence of a national plan for corrective measures). Kahuzi-Biega National Park (deforestation and civil strife).
