I just read an interesting and, unfortunately, frightening article on the National Geographic site. It talks about the damage that is occurring to the world’s soil because of the impact of humans. The article references scientists who believe we have entered a new geologic time they call the Anthropocene or human-made era, an age where the Earth is being altered by man. It makes me realize that there are no truly renewable resources. The damage we are causing is making even dirt–Earth itself–an endangered species.
Here’s the article: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/02/080205-anthropocene.html
My belief is that we can not reverse what we have done. A catastrophic solution is the only one; destroy all and start anew. Depressing? Not really. Just inevitable. As Jan Zalaseiwicz, one of the scientists cited in the article said, “the Anthropocene will appear about as suddenly as [the transition] triggered by the meteorite impact at the end of the Cretaceous” 65.5 million years ago, when the dinosaurs became extinct.”
I still believe in personally striving to make as gentle of an impact as possible while I’m on this planet, but in the end I don’t believe it will matter. We’ve done too much damage and we are too far away from humanity accepting its responsibility. There are still people who insist that humans have not altered global weather, or that non-organic agricultural methods are not that damaging, or that the death of some obscure species doesn’t matter in the big picture.
Despite all this, I don’t live my life under a cloud of doom and gloom. I have my little slice of paradise and I will do what I can to keep it healthy and that makes me very very happy. Those of us who believe in sustainability and who accept our responsibility as being a part of this planet and not rulers of it, will be the survivors, if there are any. If not, I’ll at least know that I did my best.
