Over the last few years, I’ve been part of a group working to put some scientific numbers on the question; “Why should we care about biodiversity?” and specifically ocean biodiversity. We all love whales and sea turtles, and the occasional Jacques Cousteau rerun. But how does ocean life really affect our life?
Our main report was published in Science in November 2006 and one part of it generated headlines that got a lot of people riled up (see for example, here and here). Perhaps more about that another time. But, during the course of the study, I spent a fair amount of time talking with people about marine biodiversity and conservation, and the question I always get, understandably, is “What can I do?”
Well, here are a few answers for starters.
Or, more accurately, the Monarch.
One of the thorny, and somewhat unexpected, problems facing modern society’s attempts to live more harmoniously with nature is recognizing what nature is. At a gut level we all think we know what we mean by nature. Perhaps, like art or pornography, nature is something that we can’t define but we know it when we see it. But do we? What is “natural”? 
Mysterious organisms, greenhouse gas reduction, a lucrative business opportunity, and a new type of fuel. All in one package! What more could you ask? Well, it’s also green, literally.
Of all the multifarious challenges facing the global environment, the changing climate is the granddaddy of ‘em all, the one ring to rule them all, the one ring to bind them. Until recently, the political prospects of doing something about it seemed vanishingly slim.