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Earth

E. O. Wilson: We must save the living environment

By Roger Highfield

19 August 2009

New Scientist. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

Let’s talk Wilson’s Law

(Image: Jim Harrison / PloS (PDF) )

Saving Earth’s biodiversity will take nothing less than an IPCC for species, says the world’s leading biologist and ant guru.

What’s this idea all about?

It sounds immodest but I call it Wilson’s law. It says that if you save the living environment, you will automatically save the physical environment. But if you only try to save the physical environment, you will lose them both. That is a defensible law.

So we need a major rethink?

When we talk about the world going green, the media and the public think…

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