Whether or not climate change is caused by man, or is just a normal cycle is
irrelevant. Either way, I do believe that we contribute to it.
The real problem is man's overpopulation and greed, which feeds the utter disrespect of the
majority to our environment and the world's ecology in general.
The days of
safaris and the unchecked hunting of Africa's game has depleted and brought
them close to extinction. Those that are left are being slaughtered for food
and folk medicine by the hungry and greedy.
The rain forests are being
cut down, also by the hungry and greedy.
The old growth forests here in Oregon
with the exception of a few
protected acres have been cut and re-planted as
tree farms. These forests
are not the same , if and when they are replanted.
Countless thousands of
species do not survive in the interim and what
results is a forest that is a
ghost of it's former self.
The cities are expanding and all those roofs and
pavements collect toxic
water. This water unfiltered by the earth, then runs
unchecked through the
storm drains daily, by the billions of gallons and
drains directly into and
pollutes the oceans. The ocean is being literally fished out of not only the
large predator species, but the sardines and smelt at the bottom of the food chain.
And so
on......
Wherever man has reached a certain critical population, he has
tended to do
so at great cost to the earth's, and his children's future. The
days of
being fruitful and multiplying are past. The earth has only so much
room,
and while maybe not as fragile as any one particular species that may
go
extinct on any given day because of man, all of the earth's biota is
interconnected and interdependent.
The twenty acres I once lived on
far (I thought) from the city, in Florida,
are now surrounded by
developments and the small two lane country road has
become a six lane
highway.
If you are over 30 years old, look around and remember what it was like 20 years ago.
What is left of the forested hills here in the Willamette valley
are being
cleared to plant grape vines. This was land traditionally unfarmable, and
was a refuge for the local wildlife and native plants.
These acres are
stripped and fenced to keep any animals out. In our local
economy here, it
is permitted to do this, but not to build a house up in the
woods in addition to the old farmhouse.
Something if done properly, would have very little impact on the
local biota. (a personal gripe)
The problem cannot be solved simply by carbon credits,
electric cars wind
generators and such. The problem is that there are too
many of us. I do not
know what the solution is. But, if we haven't reached a
critical mass yet,
we soon will, and I do believe that our growth rate is
unsustainable.
Can we feed everyone tomorrow? The biosphere is collapsing, and soon our diet
will have little variation as we turn to a minimum of large scale bio engineered foodstuffs.
But we will probably still have plenty of wine.
After all, this is not our problem, it's our children's. Or is it?