Whither Terrestrial Ecosystems and Habitats?

The subtitle of my paper, ‘Preservation of the Habitat of Man’, was chosen to place in sharper focus the general subject of this Conference, as what we are here for essentially is to discuss Man’s future prospects on Earth. His future, if any, depends very largely on his relationships with the environment in which he finds himself, and from which he cannot escape. In this sense, his environment extends throughout at least the inner 100 million miles’ radius of the Solar System, and perhaps farther out. We do not know if light and other radiation from the rest of the Galaxy have any significant effect on Man as a species. Perhaps they do. Starlight has at least a psychological effect; it also enables Man to see in times of darkness, to navigate his ships at sea, and to locate himself precisely on land. So perhaps the Universe is Man’s real environment. In the narrowest possible view, the Sun must be a part of his environment, as he is utterly dependent on its radiant energy.