(November 5, 2015 at 5:57 am)robvalue Wrote: To me we are worse, due to our ability to completely destroy the habitat of other animals and to cause them to go extinct overnight, relatively speaking. That's unique to us.
No, it isn't. Elephants routinely destroy entire swathes of forest in their dining; the only reason why they haven't caused more desertification (and concomitant extinction) is because 1) they tend to roam, allowing some recovery time for the stands they've ruined, and 2) we've hunted them to near-extinction.
A major reason the Great Barrier Reef is shrinking and dying is the crown-of-thorns starfish, which feeds on coral polyps. Once the reef is gone, say goodbye to an entire ecosystem.
Invasive species destroy the habitat of native species regularly.
It's true that we have more power to effect more destruction more efficiently -- but it's also true that we have the foresight to see when our behavior will be destructive, and in the memo from the Better-Late-Than-Never Department, we're finally starting to think of the environmental consequences of our actions. But the power to alter habitat is not at all unique to us.
