nature help: why is it important to conserve the natural environment? - Help.com

We (all present-day lifeforms on earth) have evolved to survive in the thin biosphere wrapped around the earth. Nature is a complex web. Pull on one thread, it stresses others. Cut one thread, others come undone. Pull too hard or cut too many and the web can collapse. A host of current debates - e.g. “is global warming really happening” and “how much pollution or fishing is too much” and “do genetically modified plants, nanoparticles or antibiotic handsoap pose a long-term threat to the environment” - pit those looking for instant gratification (shortsighted self-interests) against those who quite sensibly IMHO believe that exercising moderation and restraint NOW might well preserve environmental equilibriums that humans really REALLY don’t want to see collapse. Sadly, we will only know in hindsight (perhaps not for centuries) which side was correct.