ECO-FATIGUE

 

ECO-FATIGUE

The canary in the coalmine.

Our planet is struggling.

What it cannot say in words or writing it is declaiming loudly in how it feels, looks, and how it behaves!  Planet Earth is tired, worn out and abused and the neglect is visible all around us.  Throughout billions of years it has shown a remarkable ability to bounce back from disaster, some apocalyptic in nature and lasting millions of years.  It can handle pure physical disasters and its natural restorative powers are impressive.  What we have been throwing at the planet, and especially these past centuries, goes well beyond its ability to recover.  We have polluted the air, ground and water.  Nearly every ecosystem on the planet has been exploited and desecrated to such an extent that a recovery is no longer possible.  Our planet is massively overpopulated by our species and the ability to sustain and meet the needs of over 8 billion people is in serious jeopardy.  Our reaction to global warming and climate change is one of dismay, anger, disbelief and ignorance.

Earth reacts to what we do to it.

Planet Earth is not a living entity but simply a mass of atoms.  No emotions are involved.  When it comes to global warming for instance it simply reacts with physics to rising temperatures.  Turn up the heat and you turn up the energy and the release will be spectacular.  Yes, past geo-physical data show that throughout the planet’s history there have been millennia of even hotter temperatures.  The big difference.  It took hundreds or thousands of years for temperatures to gradually rise and lifeforms had time to adapt.  There were also no humans present and therefore no interpretations of cause and impact.  What we have done has taken place in a matter of one century of explosive human development.  No time for adaptation.

Failing ecosystems.

Negative developments create negative energy and we’re sharing the negative consequences not with millions, but with billions.  A do-or-die reality will supersede all our economic models and strategies and our minds will be made up for us.  Question: will we persist or resist?  The answer to that one is simple.  It is in our nature to ignore problematic issues and deceive ourselves with hope.  We have set in motion economic systems and strategies that are intrusive and energy intensive.  Humanity has surrounded itself with a level of artifice that has spun out of control as our dependency grows by leaps and bounds.  We don’t know how to turn things off or how to turn them around: trade, political differences and tensions, climate change and global warming, the destruction of ecosystems, widespread poverty and unrest, food insecurity, resource depletion, pollution and toxins leaching into our water, land and air.

Nothing to be proud of.

By 2050, going by the current rate of the dumping of plastics in our oceans, they will contain more plastic than fish.  Since two-thirds of our planet is covered by water, and food and water are the two mainstays to keep us alive, that is indeed a worrying sign.  Why mention this?  It is the size and scope and the damage inflicted on our oceans that are reflective to what we’re doing to everything on land.  We live on land and we share it with millions of other species.  Without the abundance of diversity and symbiosis we will soon resemble a parched, dried up landscape devoid of life.

Eco-fatigue is all about a planet no longer capable of restoration and rejuvenation.  We are impacting with a force that is no longer sustainable and the planet is buckling under from a human assault that is relentless.  Pure physics.  Unleash enough negative energy and suffer the consequences.  We’re up against an angry planet that has seen its surface and depths battered, depleted and destroyed.  Global warming and climate change—although important—are but small potatoes when compared to all the negativity we’re up against. 

As a writer, a student of philosophy, history and the humanities I am an observer and I interpret what I see.  I don’t have a crystal ball, but I am worried as to where we are headed.  It is the reason why I wrote Energy & Origin.  It not only explains our origin, but where we are headed and why.  Buy it, read it, and pass it on.

It is available on KDP Amazon.ca:  Energy & Origin by W.M.A Bes

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As a writer I am well aware of the fact that nothing I write will ever make a difference.  If on the other hand I can encourage people to change for the better, respecting each other and the planet, than all my efforts are worthwhile.  And it is the reason why I write.  Therefore, pass it on.  Subscribe to my blog and stay informed.