"New Scientist" magazine had an editorial that expresses my own feelings.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20827863.200-the-real-value-of-life-on-earth.html
THE living world continues to astound us.
Only a few years ago biologists assumed that life could only thrive in Goldilocks conditions - not too hot, not too cold, with plenty of water and nutrients. We now know this isn't true: life can tolerate and even flourish in the most extreme conditions. There is barely a habitat on Earth that has not been colonised (see "Extreme survival: Life frozen solid").
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Yet this sense of wonder is not reflected in attempts to protect life on Earth. The recent biodiversity negotiations in Nagoya, Japan, focused on the economic value of the living world. While that may be a pragmatic approach to saving life from destruction, we must never allow the bottom line to eclipse the value we place on life's exuberance.
Earth is the only inhabited planet we know of. It is our duty to care for it, for its own sake.
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