COMMUNITY OF LIFE ON EARTH
Ecology, or ecological science, is the scientific study of the distribution and abundance of living organisms and how these properties are affected by interactions between the organisms and their environment. The environment of an organism includes both the physical properties, which can be described as the sum of local abiotic factors like climate and geology, as well as the other organisms that share its habitat. The term oekologie was coined in 1866 by the German biologist Ernst Haeckel; the word is derived from the Greek oikos ("household") and logos ("study") therefore, "ecology" means the "study of the household of nature".
As a scientific discipline, ecology does not dictate what is "right" or "wrong". However, ecological knowledge such as the quantification of biodiversity and population dynamics have provided a scientific basis for expressing the goals of environmentalism and evaluating its goals and policies. Additionally, a holistic view of nature is stressed in both ecology and environmentalism.
UNITY OF LIFE ON EARTH
Whether or not we have any transcendent considerations or ethical beliefs, I think that most rational and intelligent people would most likely agree that Life on Earth is most certainly a unified, ecological, community.
A central principle of ecology is that each living organism has an ongoing and continual relationship with every other element that makes up its environment. The sum total of interacting living organisms (the biocoenosis) and their non-living environment (the biotope) in an area is termed an ecosystem. Studies of ecosystems usually focus on the movement of energy and matter through the system.
Almost all ecosystems run on energy captured from the sun by primary producers via photosynthesis. This energy then flows through the food chains to primary consumers (herbivores who eat and digest the plants), and on to secondary and tertiary consumers (either carnivores or omnivores). Energy is lost to living organisms when it is used by the organisms to do work, or is lost as waste heat.
Matter is incorporated into living organisms by the primary producers. Photosynthetic plants fix carbon from carbon dioxide and nitrogen from atmospheric nitrogen or nitrates present in the soil to produce amino acids. Much of the carbon and nitrogen contained in ecosystems is created by such plants, and is then consumed by secondary and tertiary consumers and incorporated into themselves. Nutrients are usually returned to the ecosystem via decomposition. The entire movement of chemicals in an ecosystem is termed a biogeochemical cycle, and includes the carbon and nitrogen cycle.
Ecosystems of any size can be studied; for example, a rock and the plant life growing on it might be considered an ecosystem. This rock might be within a plain, with many such rocks, small grass, and grazing animals -- also an ecosystem. This plain might be in the tundra, which is also an ecosystem (although once they are of this size, they are generally termed ecozones or biomes). In fact, the entire terrestrial surface of the earth, all the matter which composes it, the air that is directly above it, and all the living organisms living within it can be considered as one, large ecosystem.
- The civilized person realize humanity's interdependence upon the ecological community of life on earth.
- The civilized person adapts their lifestyle to accommodate this realization.
- The civilized person adapts their lifestyle to serve the health and welfare of the unified, community of Life on Earth.
There is no need to have any particular spiritual beliefs to be a civilized, intelligent, wise, thoughtful, caring, and considerate human being.