This US summer is 'what global warming looks like'

[GaYellowDawg]

61. Really.

Assuming an otherwise hospitable environment, the only thing that holds any species in check is the ability of other species to combat it. Ecosystems tend towards a balance because of the interplay between different species. For instance, the only thing that keep a mouse population from completely exploding are its predators. In the absence of predation or particularly virulent pathogens, just about any species will go through cycles where its numbers explode, then get pared back when it exceeds the carrying capacity of an environment.

ALL species will do this. Not just humans. And yes, given my degrees, I'm more of an expert on evolution than most. There are plenty of people who know a great deal more than I do, and they understand the checks and balances in ecosystems to an extraordinary degree. You accuse them of intellectual arrogance, when they are simply much more educated than you are. The moment I see anyone referring to humans as "parasites," etc., as if our instinctual drives make us somehow more evil than other species, I know that person is just another individual who is Tea Party level ignorant and loud.