ABSTRACT
The rapidly developing problem is a consequence of the effects of technology and its products on the biological energy systems of our planet. The effect is one of biotic impoverishment, simultaneously a reduction in the Earth’s inventory of species and a reduction in biological productivity of the Earth’s surface. The reduction in the number of species on the planet is the result of soaring extinction rates, rates continuously accelerating to levels way normal. Extinction of species is not; however, the only form of biotic impoverishment taking neither place nor the only way in which biological productivity is being reduced. The effects of the reduction of ecosystem productivity can be far reaching. Biotic impoverishment is undoubtedly the greatest problem people face every day; truly it dwarfs most other concerns. Even the projects fall far short of halting the process of biotic impoverishment, which in terms of species extinction has the chilling characteristic of irreversibility.
