If the Globe Warms Up, So Do We

A grade school study of the biological, geological and evolutionary history of the Earth reveals that many different phases in the changing surface conditions of this planet resulted in the development and domination of that environment by lifeforms ranging from insects, invertebrates, amphibians and fish to mammals, reptiles and birds. Many of us can go out our back door to verify the variety of life that exists in our own time frame and the vast differences in each of them. Each creature may be vastly different in composition and function than the others, but all are subject to the same area (environment) and time frame.

The environment (the area) and what is in it are key to the survival and continued survival and development of any given species. This is also somewhat easy to follow as we, as a species, do not live well in areas where there is no food or water, for example, without major shifts in how we treat or react to that environment. So environmental factors combined with species interaction seem to be key to species survival, at least in terms of human survival.

It is in the interactions with the environment that species can run into trouble. Some species thrive and some do not. Some species are victims of catastrophic events (i.e., disease, meteor impacts, flooding) which make it impossible for those species to survive in that area. This is evidenced by the mass extinctions widely spoken of by all paleontology experts in the claim that mass extinctions have taken place throughout the history of life on Earth.

Some of those catastrophic events can even be caused by dominant species at the time, such as the effects of overgrazing, overpopulation and even over-hunting. Each type of overage causing an imbalance in the natural order at the time. Some species continuing to survive others able to take advantage and thrive more than previously, others wane into non-existence and extinction. This natural order itself shifts its key niche holders all of the time if we consider the totality of time that life has had to develop and take advantage or suffer from disadvantages in any given environment along the way.