Nobody is coming to save us. Why Fermi’s Paradox is an argument for wildlife conservation.

Have you listened to This American Life episode, “Fermi’s Paradox”? The show followed David Kestenbaum, a producer with a PhD in particle physics, as he unpacked his sadness about the interstellar mystery. However, where the conversation ended up isn’t quite so far, far away.

Here’s a bit of background.

Ira Glass

This question became known as the Fermi Paradox, which goes like this. If it’s so likely that intelligent life exists elsewhere, where is it? Why hasn’t anybody shown up? And of course, the simple answer to that would be, well, nobody else exists.

David Kestenbaum

Like, there have been billions of years, where civilizations could have developed and become way more advanced than we are and traveled from star to star, sent signals or something. Where are they?

After setting up Fermi’s paradox, David explained to Ira why this made him sad. He recalled an anecdote about watching the Apollo moon missions with his son, and how he observed the bleakness of the moon, “just this dusty, awful rock,” and that “space just seemed like some horrible, awful, dangerous place.”

David decided if he was going to dig deeper that he needed to consult a scientific mind. So, he contacted a fellow physicist, Melissa Franklin. They began their conversation by evaluating explanations to the question, “Where are they now?”

David Kestenbaum

For example, maybe other life has arisen, but just not intelligent life. In other words, there are microbes but nothing else, which would be a bummer. The next one’s a bummer, too.

Melissa Franklin

It’s the nature of intelligent life to destroy itself. That’s really sad. If that was the reason, that would be really sad…Everyone is listening. No one is transmitting. Yeah, I guess it takes less energy to listen than to transmit.

David Kestenbaum

Oh, that’s a good point. Then there was the zoo hypothesis. Basically, that aliens have left us alone undisturbed as a kind of intergalactic nature preserve.

It’s like a hypothesis tasting; they swish each notion around in their mouths, then spit it out and review its merits. Some illicit gloom, others glimmer with hope. Then, Melissa steers the conversation towards the logic of his grief.

Melissa Franklin

Look, compared to seeing all the polar bears die, this is not sad. So here, the point is there were polar bears and now there aren’t any. And there, there were never anybody and we’re sad. There’s still nobody there!

This is an important distinction. If earth’s tragedies have a hierarchy, how would we rank them? Where does losing a species fall on the spectrum? Would it be worse if we cause it? Or if we could prevent it, but don’t?

It’s hard to put a monetary value on losing a species. We rarely know how it affects an ecosystem until it’s gone. One example, from India, is the vulture. In the early 1990’s, the vulture population plummeted by over 95% because of an anti-inflammatory drug introduced in cattle. The loss of these scavengers left carcasses open to rot. During the same period, the feral dog population boomed causing an increase in bites and rabies, costing India an estimated $24 billion. (5)

Another example is lyme disease. By breaking up forests for backyards, we’ve reduced woodland biodiversity, which had previously diluted the disease by spreading it among ineffective hosts, or dead ends.(5)

While protecting a species may seem insurmountable, the good news is we have a solution. It’s habitat conservation, which has already been proven to decelerate human-caused extinction, also called Anthropocene extinction.

In the 20th century, society woke up to the negative side effects of hunting, trapping and habitat loss when a variety of species vanished, like passenger pigeons, silver trout, California golden bears and Carolina parakeets. (1)

In 1973, the U.S. passed the Endangered Species Act. This legislature gave the Fish and Wildlife Service the power to identify endangered species and create critical habitats. Since then, only 10 of more than 2,300 species have gone extinct, and according to one analysis, the number could’ve been as high as 227 (3). In addition, 47 species have recovered and are no longer listed as endangered.(2)

Today, the drivers of extinction are more complex. Issues like climate change and rapidly industrializing nations present unique challenges — far from critical habitats. One estimate by Edward Osborne Wilson of Harvard states that if the current rate of human disruption continues, we could lose millions of species in the next few decades. Wilson calls for protecting fifty percent of earth’s land, especially areas rich in biodiversity. (4)

Solutions can come from anywhere. But one place they won’t come from is other intelligent lifeforms. We won’t be receiving a blueprint or a tutorial video on how to protect our planet.

If Fermi’s paradox has a silver lining, it’s that it illuminates the rarity of Earth’s biodiversity (nay, the Universe’s!). Looking at the facts now, Earth could be the beginning of life in the cosmos. And it’ll take a massive collective effort to save it from ourselves.

So if you’re wondering how to kick back some evening or find yourself with free time, there are organizations in your area and nationally who need your support. They’re a quick Google search away. And they’ve already begun to clean up the ocean, reduce our carbon footprint and rally to protect land, but it won’t be enough without you, sole inhabitant and fellow guardian of this galaxy. Without strong leadership and worldwide education — we will lose the most valuable part of our planet.

References

(1) Glass, Ira, Kestenbaum, David, May 19th, 2017, Fermi’s Paradox, This American Life, https://www.thisamericanlife.org/617/fermis-paradox

(2) Mclendon, Russel, February 7, 2017, Is the Endangered Species Act Working?, https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/blogs/endangered-species-act-in-danger

(3) Kasnoff, Craig, 2018, The Plight of Endangered Species, http://www.endangeredearth.com/

(4) Kuipers, Dean, February 23, 2016, The Case for Setting Aside Half the Planet,

https://www.outsideonline.com/2057146/moral-case-setting-aside-half-planet

(5) Richard Conniff, September 27, 2010, What Are Species Worth? Putting a Price on Biodiversity, https://e360.yale.edu/features/what_are_species_worth_putting_a_price_on_biodiversity