The Winds of Change
A little passage from the book I just finished, The Winds of Change:
A simple look at the upward path of global greenhouse-gas emissions answers the question--in the affirmative--of whether we will continue to squeeze the trigger on the gun we have put to our own head. For me, the most depressing aspect of the calamity that we face is the implication that from the perspective of our Martian guest we are no different than fruit flies in our ability to contain our appetites and numbers and to avert predictable calamities. During times of good weather and abundance, we expand to and pass the limits of food and water, and when times turn bad, we crash. For all our vaunted intelligence, our track record suggests that our behavior as a species is ruled by short-term self-interest just like our dim-witted six-legged friends.
This statement really puts the human species in its place. For all its cultural adaptations, there's still a point where the drive to survive and procreate outmatches our intelligence. But I guess the problem repetitiously stated in this book: people/species can easily adapt to slow climatic and environmental changes, but this book argues that climate change can be rather rapid (in a matter of a couple of years) and dramatic (ice-age-like conditions) leaving the carved-out niches of human adaptation to suffer if immediate solutions for food and water aren't readily available.
A simple look at the upward path of global greenhouse-gas emissions answers the question--in the affirmative--of whether we will continue to squeeze the trigger on the gun we have put to our own head. For me, the most depressing aspect of the calamity that we face is the implication that from the perspective of our Martian guest we are no different than fruit flies in our ability to contain our appetites and numbers and to avert predictable calamities. During times of good weather and abundance, we expand to and pass the limits of food and water, and when times turn bad, we crash. For all our vaunted intelligence, our track record suggests that our behavior as a species is ruled by short-term self-interest just like our dim-witted six-legged friends.
This statement really puts the human species in its place. For all its cultural adaptations, there's still a point where the drive to survive and procreate outmatches our intelligence. But I guess the problem repetitiously stated in this book: people/species can easily adapt to slow climatic and environmental changes, but this book argues that climate change can be rather rapid (in a matter of a couple of years) and dramatic (ice-age-like conditions) leaving the carved-out niches of human adaptation to suffer if immediate solutions for food and water aren't readily available.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home