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| History of World Population |
| Ending the Explosion |
| Time for Change David Suzuki |
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Paul H. Raven was an intellectual child prodigy sort of like Paul Ehrlich. He became interested in the science of botany. He gave a famous speech at a meeting of International Botanical Congress. He is thinking in terms of a 2/3 loss in biodiversity for mammals, butterflies, birds, fish and plants. He concentrates his interest on plants, of which there just may be more species than animal species. He is also in tight with the entomologists. Although some plants may have phototactic or chemotactic capability, they can't actually move about. The DouButsu can move about. Plants can spread their seeds a little bit. But plants don't move as animals do, so they can't move out of the way of the Juggernaut.
The Japanese word for animal is dou-butsu, literally, "move-thing." Kind of an interesting little side note. Move thing. Plants are shoku-butsu, plant thing. Rush, the fellow who blessed humanity with at least 35 indisputable truths, places him in the same category as those long-haired, maggot-infested, liberals. Looks like he took it personally and cut his hair. And he's got his necktie snugged up tight to keep the maggots from getting out. Wouldn't that be a disgusting sight? http://www.buddycom.com/ecol/Ecology.html Peter Raven, President of the International
Botanical Congress at its 16th worldwide conference, August 2, 1999
announced:
Dr. Peter Raven today received the 1995 United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Sasakawa Environment Prize for outstanding contributions to protection and management of the world environment. At a ceremony in St. Louis, Dr. Raven, Director of the Missouri Botanical Garden, was presented with the certificate and $50,000 award by Joanne Fox-Przeworski, Director of the UNEP Regional Office for North America, on behalf of UNEP Executive Director Elizabeth Dowdeswell. "The UNEP Sasakawa Environment Prize is not just a commendation . . . it is also an encouragement for these initiatives to continue, to be intensified," Ms. Fox-Przeworski said in making the presentation. "We are indebted to you for what you have done for the conservation of the global environment. In honoring you, we seek inspiration for our own work." Dr. Raven and Dr. Norman Myers of the UK shared one half of the $200,000 UNEP Sasakawa Prize for their work over nearly three decades to investigate, document and analyze the scientific background to two major environmental problems: the decline of tropical forests and the worldwide loss of biodiversity. Both are areas in which UNEP has a particular concern and responsibility. UNEP works in partnership with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization to address the problem of tropical forest depletion and is administrator of the Convention on Biological Diversity, an international agreement opened for signature at the Rio Earth Summit in Brazil in 1992 and which today involves 138 countries. The other winner of the 1995 UNEP Sasakawa Prize is renowned scientist Professor Canaganayagan Suriyakumaran of Sri Lanka, a pioneer in the environmental field whose work in fostering concepts of multi-sectoralism has helped shape the nature of our responses to environmental challenges. Drs. Suriyakumaran and Myers received their awards this week at a ceremony in Bangkok. Beginning his career in the 1960s, Dr. Peter Raven has established a preeminent record as professional scientist and environmental activist and has been recognized widely for his professional accomplishments. With Dr. Myers, he has collaborated widely in projects with organizations such as the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society of London; with the Global Environment Facility and the MacArthur Foundation. Drs. Raven and Myers first started to make common cause in the late 1960's when Dr. Myers was working as an independent scientist based in Kenya and Dr. Raven was a Professor at Stanford University. In the early 1970s, they undertook detailed research to demonstrate that humankind was witnessing the opening phase of a mass extinction of species. Over the next decade, they worked together under the auspices of the U.S. National Research Council on a project entitled "Research Priorities in the Humid Tropics", Dr. Raven chairing the committee in question and Dr. Myers being the principal investigator. They demonstrated that the overall deforestation rate was twice what had been conventionally supposed and, since tropical forests contained the majority of the Earth's species, identified this ecosystem as the main place within which mass extinction was underway. They publicized their findings widely, together with a set of action recommendations, and took them to scientific and environmental leaders of major governments in developed and developing countries, as well as to a host of international agencies and the media. As a result, the two problems became firmly established on policy agendas in organizations such as UNEP, the United Nations Development Programme, the World Bank, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the International Council of Scientific Unions. To many, they were responsible for alerting the global community to the two emergent crises of tropical deforestation and mass extinction. Over the years, they have also broadened the scope of their activities to include population, poverty, desertification, global warming, consumption patterns, environmental economics and the North/South dialogue
Some info for Dr. Peter Raven: PETER RAVEN Director, Missouri Botanical Garden and Professor, Washington University, St. Louis Home Secretary, NAS, Washington, D.C. Member, President's Committee of Advisers on Science & Technology http://www.the-scientist.com/yr1996/dec/leaders_961209.html Another article in The Scientist “A
Conversation With Peter Raven” He says he likes The Scientist Magazine. Specifically, he said,"While I read a lot of news and scientific journals, THE SCIENTIST gives me a comprehensive overview and keeps me up to date on science policy, news, and issues. This is very important to me because of the various committees on which I serve." We like them both.
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Paul Ehrlich Books by Paul R. Ehrlichhttp://www.stanford.edu/group/CCB/Staff/books.htm#top Paul Ehrlich quotes: Here are some catchy little 3D picture frames to use for Paul or Peter images.
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Some science sites
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Here are some more interesting science sites.
You can use a search engine like Lycos too find out more about interesting famous people
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