Anthropocene Apocalypse – we take for granted the things around us. We won’t miss it until it’s gone.

We make assumptions that the world around us will remain as it is whatever we do to the life on it. We create Sci-Fi visions of the future in which we continue to live in vast numbers in massive urban conurbations where all other life has been eradicated.

This is not possible.

We breathe in – we breathe out. The oxygen we take in is all produced by green plants. The carbon dioxide we breathe out is converted into sugar, protein and fat by green plants. If we chop down the forests and pollute the oceans so that we poison the algae we are turning off the oxygen tap in the intensive care ward.

Without green plants there will be no oxygen to breathe.

Without green plants the carbon dioxide will build up in the atmosphere creating a runaway greenhouse effect similar to that of Venus where the surface temperature is a staggering 465 degrees Celsius – hot enough to melt metals.

The soil we stand on is made of sand grains and humus. The humus is made up of the dead and decaying remains of living things. They provide the fertility. It takes millions of years to create soil. Rocks have to be slowly eroded. There has to be a succession of organisms. Without living organisms the soil becomes sand and dust that blows away. The great dust storms were created by over-farming, the cutting down of trees.

All over the world the deforestation is leading to soil erosion. There are no roots to hold it. It is being washed away into the oceans.

It cannot be replaced.

The water we drink is replenished through a cycle that is created by climate and weather. When the climate changes the weather patterns change. The Sahara used to be a fertile forest. Now it is an arid wasteland of shifting sand.

Global warming, created by fossil fuels, will alter climate and create deserts out of fertile land. It will create flooding in other places. It will fuel huge violent storms, tornadoes and hurricanes due to the energy that it contains. Sea levels will rise.

The effects will be devastating.

‘You don’t know what you’ve got til its gone’ To quote Joni Mitchell.

It is time we:

1. Limit our numbers.

2. Sustain the wilderness – 50% for wilderness – 50% for us

3. Cut back our pollution

4. Cease all deforestation

5. Conserve our diminishing wild-life

6. Reduce our carbon output

The pace of destruction is relentless and growing at a frightening speed.

We need to value what we’ve got before we destroy our children’s legacy!