The other day, a friend asked me an intriguing question: “Do you believe that humans are endangered and need to be saved?”
Here’s my answer.
I do believe humans are endangered. The species continues to multiply with little thought to the consequences. Humans are responsible for a very substantial portion of the environmental mess we’re in. In addition to our responsibilities, there are natural disasters such the Canadian wildfires, caused by lightning. Twenty-five million acres burned in June and July this year and their fire season has not yet started. By the end of their fire season, those fires will have put more carbon into the atmosphere than all other human and industrial activities combined.
But that’s trivial compared to the consequences of the melting of Greenland’s ice (270 billion tons/year), Antarctic ice calving and melt (150 billion tons/year), and the likely collapse of the Gulf Stream due to desalination of the North Atlantic. That makes it seem hopeless to me to save much of anything.
As I understand it, Greenland’s ice melts into the Atlantic Ocean. That new fresh cold water sinks, joining the warm Gulf Stream as it moves further east and south, after making its way north along the North American continent’s east coast. The new cold fresh water sinks and makes the once-warm Gulf Stream cold enough to affect northwestern Europe. The last time something like that happened, that part of Europe experienced an ice age. It is predicted to happen again, given these trends.
Add to these threats continental migration due to sea rise flooding of now habitable land. Countries: Indonesia, Bangladesh, China, India and the Netherlands. Mega-cities: Los Angeles, New York City, Lagos, Bangkok, Dhaka, Jakarta, Mumbai, London and Copenhagen. With no plans in place to care for those displaced, and it gets even messier. When that happens, we will witness survival of the fittest at its rankest.
Already more than 1oo million people have been forcibly displaced by war, food insecurity, drought and flooding. This is just the beginning. Low-lying communities and countries could disappear forever. And those people who are displaced need somewhere to go. The U.N. is “studying” this, but as far as I can determine there are no plans in place to house or feed them. Where do they go and what happens when they get there?
Unless there is some way to force the greedy and powerful to stop their ways, why save us? How does the continual amassing of wealth by the few while the rest suffer make any sense? At the same time, the richest of the rich are determined to colonize other planets to “save” themselves.
I would love to think that my children and grandchildren and their children will grow up in a better and more humane world than the one we are leaving. I want to believe it will happen, but it doesn’t look like it.
Earth is a beautiful planet if left to its own devices. Ecological balance was maintained, I presume, until Homo sapiens took over. What good does it do to be capable of planning and creating if we leave millions to starve? How would we save our species? Personally, I do not believe we can and in fact, the planet would be better off without us.
Basically, and selfishly, believe it or not, I am an optimist. I would like to be wrong about my pessimism around this. Very, very wrong.
Ginger Carson lives in Greenfield.