679
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
M. C. Tobias, J. G. Morrison, On the Nature of Ecological Paradox,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64526-7_74
Chapter 74
Ecological Epistemology
74.1 Feast or Famine Metaphysics
Upon each grain of sand within the co called Sorites’ heap
1
are as many as, or more
than, 100,000 microorganisms, as was recently approximated on an island off the
coast of Germany.
2
Conversely, the Danakil Depression, atop the active Erta Ale
volcano in Northeastern Ethiopia, is thought to be the only spot on earth that is
utterly lifeless. Zero precipitation at Danakil versus, for example, Mawsynram, in
the Khasi Hills north of the Bay of Bengal, within India’s Meghalaya State, 11,871
millimeters of rainfall per year, the most recorded on the planet. Such contrasts mirror the human psyche. The Indo-Burma biological hotspot, in which the Khasi subtropical eco- region swarms with India’s greatest abundance of species in one of
only two remaining rainforests in all of the sub-continent, might be likened to
humanity’s most generous persona.
Descriptions, beginning with J. D. Hooker’s seven-volume The Flora of British
India (1872–1897) to more recent studies by A. H. Mir, K. Upadhaya, and
H. Choudhury,
3
point to an all but obvious dilemma, humanity’s other side, its numbers encroaching upon all others, an issue relevant to Ethiopia as well.
Population = 115 million in 2020, the second highest human population in all of
Africa, after Nigeria, with a corresponding rash of threatened and endangered species. India’s moist broadleaf forests, such as Khasi, as well as small portions of
1 Raffman, D. 2005. “How to understand contextualism about vagueness: reply to Stanley”.
Analysis. 65 287: 244–248. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8284.2005.00558.x. JSTOR 3329033.
The Sorites Paradox was first conceived by the 4th century BCE Megarian thinker, Eubulides.
2 “Every grain of sand is a metropolis for bacteria PhysOrg, Dec.13, 2017, ttps://phys.org/
news/2017-12-grain-sand-metropolis-bacteria.html, Accessed November 23, 2019.
3 “Diversity of endemic and threatened plant species in Meghalaya, North-East India,” Int. Res.
J. Env. Sc. 3(12): 64–78, and N. Chettri, E. Sharma, B. Shakya and Thapa (Biodiversity in the
Eastern Himalayas: Status, Trends and Vulnerability to Climate Change, 2019, ICIMOD Books.
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
M. C. Tobias, J. G. Morrison, On the Nature of Ecological Paradox,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64526-7_74
Chapter 74
Ecological Epistemology
74.1 Feast or Famine Metaphysics
Upon each grain of sand within the co called Sorites’ heap
1
are as many as, or more
than, 100,000 microorganisms, as was recently approximated on an island off the
coast of Germany.
2
Conversely, the Danakil Depression, atop the active Erta Ale
volcano in Northeastern Ethiopia, is thought to be the only spot on earth that is
utterly lifeless. Zero precipitation at Danakil versus, for example, Mawsynram, in
the Khasi Hills north of the Bay of Bengal, within India’s Meghalaya State, 11,871
millimeters of rainfall per year, the most recorded on the planet. Such contrasts mirror the human psyche. The Indo-Burma biological hotspot, in which the Khasi subtropical eco- region swarms with India’s greatest abundance of species in one of
only two remaining rainforests in all of the sub-continent, might be likened to
humanity’s most generous persona.
Descriptions, beginning with J. D. Hooker’s seven-volume The Flora of British
India (1872–1897) to more recent studies by A. H. Mir, K. Upadhaya, and
H. Choudhury,
3
point to an all but obvious dilemma, humanity’s other side, its numbers encroaching upon all others, an issue relevant to Ethiopia as well.
Population = 115 million in 2020, the second highest human population in all of
Africa, after Nigeria, with a corresponding rash of threatened and endangered species. India’s moist broadleaf forests, such as Khasi, as well as small portions of
1 Raffman, D. 2005. “How to understand contextualism about vagueness: reply to Stanley”.
Analysis. 65 287: 244–248. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8284.2005.00558.x. JSTOR 3329033.
The Sorites Paradox was first conceived by the 4th century BCE Megarian thinker, Eubulides.
2 “Every grain of sand is a metropolis for bacteria PhysOrg, Dec.13, 2017, ttps://phys.org/
news/2017-12-grain-sand-metropolis-bacteria.html, Accessed November 23, 2019.
3 “Diversity of endemic and threatened plant species in Meghalaya, North-East India,” Int. Res.
J. Env. Sc. 3(12): 64–78, and N. Chettri, E. Sharma, B. Shakya and Thapa (Biodiversity in the
Eastern Himalayas: Status, Trends and Vulnerability to Climate Change, 2019, ICIMOD Books.