What Have We Done?

What Have We Done?

I have found the Internet to be an invaluable source of information on what human activities have done to the operation of our biosphere, Gaia. I have researched this issue for quite a few years. I believe I now have a sound understanding of what has happened. I do not speculate on why we have done this. I leave that to others who have much more expertise in the appropriate fields. Reg Morrison in ‘Plague Species’ is very plausible on this subject. I have concentrated on what has happened. I now appreciate that the body of our civilization is dying as the result of our activities. You will be aghast. You are not the only one. The mind of our civilization has not taken this fact on board yet. I use the term mind here as an analogy to how I, and you operate. Our bodies depend on the input of natural resources, air, food and water to enable this very complex organism to operate. Our minds take this consumption for granted most of the time. We are aware of only some of the functions. But our minds are aware of our mortality. Civilization, on the other hand, is encouraged to believe that its use of natural resources can go on forever.

What are the symptoms of the demise of civilization? I present my view of them here. I do not expect it to influence evolving events. Society is too besotted with the economic growth paradigm to do other than slowly and belatedly respond to what nature is saying about the health of our life support system. Their myopic view is encouraged by a vast amount of rhetoric and literature that provides a biased view of biophysical reality. These seemingly authoritative statements are skeptical about climate change, oil supply limitations and other ways we have depleted and degraded natural resources and denuded our environment. And, of course, there are always many views on how market forces and technology will redress all the emerging problems with nature. I can personally see the weaknesses in these arguments but it is not possible for me to refute the great weight of them. On the other hand, I know of many books and articles that over the years have put forward views similar to mine in more detail and in a more expressive manner. Catton with ‘Overshoot: The Ecological Basis of Revolutionary Change’, The Club of Rome with ‘The Limits to Growth’, Richard Heinberg with ‘The Party’s Over’ and Georgescu-Roegen are just some that readily come to mind. The latter presented a sound, holistic view in ‘Energy and Economic Myths’ some thirty years ago. He was one of the originators of ecological economics. Reg Morrison in ‘Plague Species’ provides appreciable detail on what we have been doing for centuries. Most people have ignored these perceptive authors often, no doubt, because they have been unwilling to open their minds to something challenging the common view. People have to be motivated to sit down and read these books and assimilate their message. It takes a lot of time and thinking to change one’s mindset. I have been through that process, largely in the past decade. I find it disturbing that the education system continues to be steeped in the view that humans are in control of biosphere operations. The true biophysical reality is really very simple. There is no need for a complicated set of arguments. But people have to be prepared to change their mindset to think through and so appreciate this biophysical reality. I look forward to the slow awakening with hope that some people will rise to the challenge of ameliorating the decline to a limited extent. Those who are prepared to confront biophysical reality now will be in a better position to face the future. I hope my views contribute to the necessary understanding.

Before I begin to present my view in some detail, I will point out that misleading terminology often clouds the issues. I do not use this misleading terminology below but I need to point it out so that you can more easily relate to what is being said.

It is common to see ‘renewable energy’ in articles on the evolving energy situation. Energy cannot be renewed. It always degrades to waste heat when used. That is an irreversible process, just like time passing. That is an immutable natural law that almost everyone does not think about. The use of the term ‘renewable energy’ obscures this fact. The Sun supplies almost all our energy. Some of this has been stored in the fossil fuels for eons. We draw down on this energy capital by extracting and using the fossil fuels. Some people, including Georgescu-Roegen, prefer to call it ‘store energy’. Sunshine continually provides our ‘energy income’ (or flow energy). This energy income drives the growth of plants. We can harness some of this energy income directly (with PV cells) or indirectly (hydro, wind etc) but we have to use other natural resources to set up the system to accomplish this. This energy income is what is

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