Humans do pollute the environment. Is there anything humans do regarding the environment that helps preserve it. What about firefighters putting out forest fires that were sparked by lightning? Some animals have been saved from extinction.

What are some things that each of us could do to improve the environment?

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Humans could best improve the environment by ceasing to exist.

OK, lets be like lemmings. You go first. Show us the way.

Unfortunately, Rich is rather right on with what he is saying.

The human population has grown at an astonishing rate. More humans mean more housing, more cars, more traffic, more energy, more food needed, etc. etc. etc.

More housing means less land for wildlife, less trees. More cars/traffic/energy usage means more pollutants.

Sure, we make some subtle changes to try and help. Create cars that get better emissions, increase standards for industry. But still, these methods don't eliminate pollutants.

Sure, we may have managed to get a few species off the endangered species list, but chances are, we're the cause for them being on it in the first place.

We do create subtle change. But subtle doesn't cut it. I agree with rich.

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I’m sorry but I just can’t get on board with this whole extermination of mankind thing. I realize that we have done a great deal of damage in our time, but you are talking about wiping out an entire species. You have to remember that humans are a part of nature, so say otherwise is a form of vanity (not humility).

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a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself,
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a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. -- Albert Einstein

In regard to forest fire fighers, had man not meddled, it wouldn't be necessary. Nature caused forest fires are a way of renewing the forest. But man stepped in, thinking that he knew better than mother earth, and allowed the accumulation of deadfall, bushes, and leaf litter, so when fires now occur, if man doesn't do something, they'll go crazy. (For 30 years, my brother was one of those people that fought forest fires, in a supervisory capacity in the last 15 of those years.)

Yes, animals have been saved from extinction, but nearly all of those have been animals that wouldn't have been endangered were it not for man. Some species have been 'saved' for a long time that shouldn't have been, too, but it is almost impossible to tell if they should or should not. Animals have always gone extinct. But when man sticks his nose it, it is no longer apparent which ones are endangered BECAUSE of man.

All that said, man does do some good, and man is part of nature. If mankind was removed from the picture, it would create an enormous imballance. Man simply needs to recognize his place in nature and act accordingly. It isn't that difficult, and more and more people are doing this, at least in little ways. But it needs to go further.

The earth has gone through more changes than can be easily conceived of. Most of the *kinds* of life on earth, let alone the simple population counts, have been exterminated from the planet at one time or another (the disappearance of the dinosaurs was a comparatively minor event.)

Humanity has the capacity, needs to develop the capacity, of consciousness. Understanding our place in the scheme of things is necessary, for our own sakes, because of what we are. Eleminating humanity from the face of the planet would of necessity exterminate other species - but overall life would continue just as it has and another "mankind" would arise.

But it has been seen that mankind managed forest fires in times passed, and managed them in such wise as to keep an ecology in a balance without overall change over long periods.

I am most certainly not advocating mass suicide or extinction of the human race. I am merely pointing out that humans are by far the primary cause of pollution among living creatures. That is not because we are more evil than other creatures. It is because we have more power to affect the environment and are too innately selfish (as are all living creatures) to do anything about it. Are we going to sacrifice electricity, cars, etc.? I think not. Therefore, pollution will continue to increase, not decrease. If humans were to disappear from the Earth, the air and water would eventually grow cleaner, and other living creatures would exist in a more natural balance, because they lack the technology to significantly distort that balance.