We're erasing countless species to replace them with cows and soy.

I've tried often to convince people to care more about biodiversity. I don't focus on the chemical/pharma angle because I'm not grounded in those sciences, and because while I think they're important, they're not what's most important. Biodiversity is simply the best thing in the known universe. Nothing else holds a candle to the beauty, the wonder, the awe that the living world engenders.

I've met people who agree, and people who disagree, but I've never seen anyone change their minds.

On the bright side (if you can call it that), whereas the positive value of biodiversity doesn't seem to motivate much change, the negative value of potential catastrophic species collapse might ...