Data: Wrong; Sustainability: Don't care; Robert Wintner: Aquarium trade should stop!

[Reef Pilot]

Originally Posted by gobytron

To be honest, it's because I feel at this point, anything is going to be too little too late.

At the end of the day, I firmly believe we won't have much in the way of marine aquatic life sometime in the next 50 years.

I have a little more faith in our planet and the ability of life to adapt. Species evolve and some go extinct. And sometimes there is a major reset which can be caused by an asteroid, or maybe a nuclear winter in the future.... All it would take is a pandemic to reduce our impact.... We are just a mere microscopic blip in the history of this planet.

When I was a kid, I was told that most of the world's O2 was produced (and CO2 was absorbed) in the Amazon, and if we don't stop deforestation there, the planet will die. Well, they have not stopped, and we're still here, plus I don't hear much about that anymore. More recently, I watched a show on Oasis that claimed that some forest in Siberia was producing most of the world's O2. And of course, the marine biologists would like us to believe that the ocean's kelp and other algae produce most of our O2. I honestly don't know what to believe now.

And what happened to the ozone scare. I thought the holes were opening up in the south and north, and we are all going to be fried with UV and get cancer. Don't hear much about that anymore either.

Now it's all about global warning, and how we have to stop burning carbon. I wonder what we will be talking about 20 years from now. I am sure there will be something else.

Having said all that, I do believe we need to continue to our efforts with reducing pollution on land and water, and be better at managing and conserving our resources. I think technology will help us with that, including solar power, carbon storage, and more efficient manufacturing.

On that front, I think we are already winning in some parts of the world, including the US and Canada. One example is LA. It is still bad there, but not as bad as it was 40 years ago. China needs to clean up its air, but I think they know that, and are working at it. So, I don't think the outlook is all bad.

I do wish the media (and Hollywood) would be a little less dramatic, and a little more honest with their reporting and documentaries. Sometimes, I think they make things worse, despite their apparently good intent, which misleads the public and prompts the politicians to make bad decisions.

But whatever happens, I think we all owe it to ourselves and everyone else to live a happy life. I think reefing (and other hobbies) are an important part of that. And the more we can share and help others, the better. Sure beats fighting/killing each other, doing drugs, or just watching TV.