Seeing overshoot
It’s difficult to convey the enormity of ecological overshoot in words. Words are simply inadequate to describe the wildlife holocaust; the damming, paving, plowing, logging, and excavation of the natural world; the billions of Hiroshima bombs worth of heat we’ve added to the world’s oceans by burning fossil fuels; the billions of tons of ice that has melted; the billions of tons of microplastics floating in the air, the water, the blood of every living being on Earth.
Why is everyone not horrified every moment of every day by all of this? We are an adaptable species. We are comfortable. We are excellent at denial. We just want to get food on the table. So we exist with our blinders on, working hard not to see it so we can get through the day, once again.
I understand that impulse; I do it too. But we exist in a bubble that’s about to pop. We can’t do anything about it as individuals; all we can do is prepare ourselves mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually, and work to protect every single square inch of land and water for those beings who might outlast us so there will be something rather than nothing after we’re gone.
We can’t prepare for what we don’t see coming. So let’s take our blinders off for just a few minutes, and see. We’ll put those blinders back on, so we can get through the day, but perhaps by seeing, we’ll work harder to protect what we love.
Do you see it now? What will you do today to protect who and what you love? What will you do to remember?
Well said. I just have a hard time believing humankind is capable of changing. Is any species? Our big brains take us places where our character cannot sustain us.
THANK YOU for saying that your efforts to curtail development have never succeeded. I don't know anyone who has. I welcome talking about our options once we acknowledge this. What's our next step...toward discussion??