What if it had to happen again today?  Will asteroids be the reason again?  Or will mankind caused the destruction of Earth and eventually wipe out all living things on Earth, including the human race.

A recent UN report Global Biodiversity Outlook 2 from the secretariat of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, says: "The direct causes of biodiversity loss - habitat change, over-exploitation, the introduction of invasive alien species, nutrient loading and climate change - are projected to either remain constant or to increase in the near future. Inertia in natural and human systems can result in a time lag of years, decades, or even centuries before the impacts of actions taken become apparent on biodiversity and ecosystems." It is bleaker than a first UN review of the diversity of life, issued in 2001, and says the 2010 goal can only be attained with "unprecedented additional efforts".

'Biological diversity' (biodiversity) is defined by the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) as the variability among living organisms from all sources including, among others, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems.

The report paints a grim picture of life on Earth, with declining numbers of plants, animals, insects and birds across the globe.  The UN report warns that the current extinction rate is up to 1,000 times faster than in the past. Some 844 animals and plants are known to have disappeared in the last 500 years.  Let me repeat that - 1,000 times faster than in the past.

Virtually all of Earth's ecosystems have now been dramatically transformed through human actions, and this has resulted in threats to species and habitats. The 2005 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) reports analyzed trends in relation to biodiversity around the world. Of the 24 ecosystem services assessed by the MA, 15 were found to be in decline.

Humanity continues to use resources at an unsustainable level. According to a report published in 2005 measuring the ecological footprint of the EU-25, the 25 nations hold seven per cent of the world's population, but use 17 per cent of the world's supply of 'regenerative capacity'.  The 2004 assessment of the global footprint shows that humanity has moved from using, in net terms, about half the planet's biocapacity in 1961 to over 1.2 times the biocapacity of the Earth in 2002.

The Earth is our home.  All of us, including me have been guilty in abusing what the world has to offer.  We all have been enjoying mankind's technological advantage without considering what damage it could do to our Mother Earth.  What have we done to preserve our natural resources? 

The Earth is our home and we should treat it like the same way we are treating our house - the place we live in.  We clean it regularly, removing all the dust, cleaning the dishes, putting our clothes in the closet, trying to be organized as much as possible.  How come we can be organized in our own homes but is neglectful outside? 

With the UN report, I believed all of us have a part to play to avert what can happen in the future.  We owe it to ourselves, we owe it to our children and we owe it to our children's children.  God has given us a place to live in.  We are given the responsibility to take care of it.  The question now is:  Have we done our part of the deal? 

In Genesis 1:28, "God said, 'Rule over the fish of the sea, and the birds of the air, and over every living creature that moves on the ground.'"

Am logging off.  Stay cool and God Bless us all!

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