Are We Heading Toward Extinction?

[Duppers]

What we here already know is finally being said outside of scientific journals.

Are We Heading Toward Extinction?
The Earth's species — plants, animals and humans, alike — are facing imminent demise. How we got here, and how to cope.

By Catherine Ingram
07/20/2019 05:45 AM ET

The following has been excerpted from the long-form essay Facing Extinction.

For much of my life, I thought our species would soon go extinct. I assumed we might last another hundred years if we were lucky. Now I suspect we are facing extinction in the near future. Can I speculate as to exactly when that might happen? Of course not. My sense of this is based only on probability. It might be similar to hearing about a diagnosis of late-stage pancreatic cancer. Is it definite that the person is going to die soon? No, not definite. Is it highly probable? Yes, one would be wise to face the likelihood and put one’s affairs in order.

For decades, I had sensed that things were dramatically worsening, the rate of destruction increasing. As a journalist from 1982 to 1994, I specialized in social and environmental issues. I had written about global warming, the phrase we used in those days, numerous times in the 1980s, but because it seemed a far-off threat, we could intellectually discuss it without fear of it affecting our own lives in terribly significant ways. As time marched on, I began to awaken to how fast the climate was changing and how negative its impacts. It became a strange relief to read and listen to the truth of the situation from people who were studying the hard data as it affirmed my instincts and threw a light on what had been shadowy forebodings, dancing like ghosts in my awareness. It is an ongoing study that has taken me through a powerful internal process — emotional and cathartic — one that I felt might be helpful to share with those who have woken to this dark knowledge or are in the process of waking to it, just as I, over time, found comfort in the reflections of the small yet increasing number of comrades with whom I share this journey.

Because the subject is so tragic and because it can scare or anger people, this is not an essay I ever wanted to write; it is one I would have wanted to read along the way. But the words on these pages are meant only for those who are ready for them. I offer no hope or solutions for our continuation, only companionship and empathy to you, the reader, who either knows or suspects that there is no hope or solutions to be found. What we now need to find is courage. What we now need to embrace is love.

Much more...
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/facing-extinction-humans-animals-plants-species_n_5d2ddc04e4b0a873f6420bd3

[Loki Liesmith]

1. Doomer articles just waste my time

Get busy fixing things or get out of my way.

[Duppers]

2. Then why waste your time posting...

Here?

Sorry you have no idea. Over 60% of species are have already gone extinct, so why do you think humans are immune. Rhetorical question.

Bye 🐦

[Loki Liesmith]

5. To show others

That we are not all convinced we will fail.

[muriel_volestrangler]

27. Why is that a rhetorical question?

There are good reasons for thinking that humans are nowhere near as vulnerable as most species. We're omnivores, with an impressive spread across environments (a spread which was present before we developed technology - from the equator to the Bering Strait, 20,000 years ago). And on top of that, we have the technology - agriculture, transport - to adapt in a way that no other species can. Plus we know the danger, and can prepare for it. Again, something no species has had before.

That doesn't mean that we can't suffer the death of billions. Not exactly a sunny prospect. But for all of us to die off looks very unlikely. If mass deaths do occur, a side effect will be the end of mass greenhouse gas production.

[Boomer]

46. Human exceptionalism is a dangerous concept

The earth is filled with the bones of ubiquitous species that were wiped out in one of the five mass extinctions. We may be more clever, but we're not invulnerable to climate disasters.

[muriel_volestrangler]

50. But 'more clever' is exactly why the five mass extinctions don't give any guide for our species

I would never say we're invulnerable to disaster, but extinction is a whole level beyond being harmed.

[paleotn]

51. Ironically, it may be just that technology that is our undoing....

I'm still not sold on technology contributing to our longevity as a species. Seriously, how long will it be before someone uses a nuke in anger again? Not long, I'd imagine. And so, we have the technology to create something like the P-T extinction and just enough stupidity to actually do it. I figure if it can be done, it probably will be done, so in short, we're screwed as a species.

[The_jackalope]

52. As far as I can tell, technology has never been used to facilitate degrowth

The underlying intent of technological development is to increase either the power or the efficiency - or both - of human activity. Increased power and efficiency facilitate growth, not its opposite.

If anyone has an example of technology being used for degrowth, I'd love to hear it.

[PETRUS]

53. I doubt there's an example to be found.

Although I think I've observed evidence that given the choice, most people prefer to use productivity gains from technological innovations to give themselves more leisure time, rather than using them for more material output. It appears to be coercive, hierarchical systems that insist on growth. Maybe I'm wrong about that, but that's what I think is (more or less) true.

[paleotn]

54. Intentionally, Maybe. Unintentionally, yes.

We intentionally degrowthed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Can you imagine what would have been left if we, Germany and Japan possessed nuclear weapons? Then the Russians unintentionally degrowthed Pripyat with roughly the same technology. Then there's the litany of Russian bio weapons accidents.

The thing about technology is, its impacts and dangers are not linear. They're exponential. From our ability to build and manipulate structures on an atomic level with nanotechnology to our ability to rapidly and drastically re-code life with genetic manipulation, the power is immense for both good and harm. And it's the harm that will wipe us out eventually. Couple human foibles with immense power to do harm and the law of large numbers and it becomes nearly inevitable. In my mind, we've simply grown too smart, too fast without evolving in ways that mitigate the potential harm of all those smarts. As recent events have shown, we're still extremely tribal and a tribal, warlike species has no business wielding this much power...if said species expects to survive long term, i.e. millions of years like many far less intelligent species on this planet. That intelligence may be an evolutionary dead end. Species that evolve in that manor, like lemmings, inevitable plunge off the cliff. While horseshoe crabs still live and reproduce in roughly the same manor since the Paleozoic.

[Autumn]

3. May I ask what you are doing to fix things? I would like to know what we people can do

because our leaders in power have no desire to do anything about what we are facing nor do they have any suggestions for us on how to cope.

[NRaleighLiberal]

9. Nice sentiment. Open minded much?

[Autumn]

12. It seems some don't like discussion of climate change.

The essay is quite remarkable.

[NRaleighLiberal]

18. Yes...and yes..

[The_jackalope]

23. The habit of 'futurethinking' is a hard one to shake.

Threats to futurethinking trigger all our defenses, both rational and irrational.

[mahina]

35. I searched for that term but I don't know if the meaning is what you intend here

I would like to learn more about what you’re saying. What is future thinking and what are alternatives? Do agree with the author about trying to focus on the senses now?

I’m struggling with trying to understand all of this and what is going on.

Thanks very much.

[The_jackalope]

36. As I interpret it here,

"futurethinking" refers to planning that has as its core assumption the continued existence of a future that will have much the same form as we we imagine it today.

That assumption is threatened when we start talking seriously about the collapse of civilization or the extinction of the human species. Without that assumption, all our plans for the future are impossible to realize. And that, in turn causes a lot of anxiety for some people, because it requires letting go of our expectations for the future.

That anxiety about what will or will not be, or "pre-traumatic stress disorder" can be effectively reduced by the sort of mindfulness espoused by Buddhism. Mindfulness is the concentration on the situation as it is, as reported through our senses. I practice it, so yes I agree with her.

[mahina]

38. Thank you. I read you and agree too. Was wondering if it meant what happens when we confuse thinkin

g about a troubled future with the present, which I'm working on coping with now.

There is a DUer named Glider Guider who I appreciate too. At first I thought he wrote the article, but it's by a wahine.

I appreciate your taking the time to think with me here. It's good to read your thoughts.

[The_jackalope]

41. Big grin, thank you. Here's a bit of back story

I am actually GliderGuider. That handle got blocked from DU after I supported Louise Mensch one too many times, so I had to come back as a mythical creature, the jackalope.

I only wish I wrote as well as Catherine. Her essay speaks my thoughts so eloquently. I think it's essential reading for everyone who is waking up to the predicament.

I've been knocking around the doom-o-sphere for 15 years. About 5 years ago I ran out of things to say about the onrushing catastrophe, and also out of reasons to say it. But with people like Catherine and so many others now writing the kind of uncompromising truth that is so desperately needed, and doing it so much better than I ever could, I'm now mostly retired from the fray.

[mahina]

43. Brah!

Aloha. Made my day.

[StevieM]

57. I guess not everyone is aware of your alter ego.

I was amazed when I read the above post and the writer actually mentioned GliderGuider. I was thinking "boy, are they in for a big surprise!!"

[SamKnause]

4. Yes, next question ???

[Botany]

6. We are losing the 1st trophic level .... bugs

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/27/magazine/insect-apocalypse.html

The Insect Apocalypse Is Here
What does it mean for the rest of life on Earth?

Sune Boye Riis was on a bike ride with his youngest son, enjoying the sun slanting over the fields and woodlands near their home north of Copenhagen, when it suddenly occurred to him that something about the experience was amiss. Specifically, something was missing.

It was summer. He was out in the country, moving fast. But strangely, he wasn’t eating any bugs.

For a moment, Riis was transported to his childhood on the Danish island of Lolland, in the Baltic Sea. Back then, summer bike rides meant closing his mouth to cruise through thick clouds of insects, but inevitably he swallowed some anyway. When his parents took him driving, he remembered, the car’s windshield was frequently so smeared with insect carcasses that you almost couldn’t see through it. But all that seemed distant now. He couldn’t recall the last time he needed to wash bugs from his windshield; he even wondered, vaguely, whether car manufacturers had invented some fancy new coating to keep off insects. But this absence, he now realized with some alarm, seemed to be all around him. Where had all those insects gone? And when? And why hadn’t he noticed?

[Boomer]

47. I've been uneasy about this for several years

My wife and I noticed the drop a few years ago, just in our back yard. It's unsettling, like the eerie music in a horror movie that warns you something bad is brewing.

It's easier to spot the anomalies that show up in front of you -- like a southern fish or bird in a northern region. You look out and think "That doesn't belong here." But it's harder to notice the spaces between, what should be there but is missing.

[Botany]

49. I landscape .... native plants ... and the drop off I have see in the last 20 years is staggering

I no longer see lightning bugs are near the #s I used to. I still see the flashes but
no where near the levels I remember in my front yard which is over 50% native prairie.

Doug Tallamy's, "Bringing Nature Home" and the Xerces Society, "Attracting Native Pollinators"
are 2 really good sources.

[Nay]

55. I've been uneasy too, for the same reason. We have a natural back yard that we have

cultivated for 25 years. Over the past 3 years, the bee population has plummeted. Other bugs are few as well. We do have lots of skinks and salamanders and American toads, though.

For the past 10 years I have monitored bird populations for the researchers at Feederwatch; bird populations are falling, but also have occasional blips upward. This year was pretty sparse -- normally in the winter I'd see groups of 15 or 20 juncos; not this year. 8 at most.

[ananda]

7. Well.. if we're heading toward extinction,

maybe we deserve it.

We have all turned into monsters these days, either
actively or complicitly.

[NRaleighLiberal]

8. Brilliant writing...essential read thx for posting.

[safeinOhio]

10. 15% alcohol kills the yeast.

When yeast is introduced to a rich environment of sugars, it eats, breeds and poops until the alcohol level reaches 15%. Then the alcohol(poop) kills its producer, the yeast.

I see us as the yeast.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

11. I fear we're heading toward massive population reduction rather than complete extinction...

to the point were we self-limit and live a far more simple existence with far fewer people.

My gut say we're heading toward multiple global conflicts as mass migration boils over, primarily caused by climate change and by increasing nationalism resulting in hard border controls and protectionism. Many millions will die in the process, if not already dying.

We're already seeing fresh water supplies dwindling, more sea life, plant and animal species disappearing, global warming and the associated sea level rises and drifting from traditional climate patterns. Scarcity of quality foods is increasing.

The human race is short-sighted and in denial. We continue to burn fossil fuels at an increasing rate and elect greedy psychopathic assholes to lead us.

Why am I so pessimistic? It's because humanity is currently doing the exact opposite of what we should be doing to slow or stop this process, thereby providing a positive feedback system that worsens the problem. That is a result of worsening economic inequality, a slow decline in foundational moral values and education of the general public and rampant greed in the high-wealth class.

There's also a mass drift toward individualism and away from charity, humility and willingness to change our path.

Whew, rant done.....

[Autumn]

13. I think that must be the plan of the "greedy psychopathic assholes" in charge.

I like that you called them that, because they are. None of them have the urgency or the will to prepare us for what's coming.

[robbob]

20. I believe this is the plan and intention of the 1%

Last edited Sat Jul 20, 2019, 02:51 PM - Edit history (1)

People on this site keep asking the question, how can the powers that be continue polluting and raping the planet? Don’t they have children? Are they so blind and short sighted that they trade the future of life on this planet for temporary riches that will be of no value when we are all dead? I believe the answer is grimmer then we imagine. I believe that the fundamental religious right wing fanatics talk of “the rapture” and the coming apocalypse is a metaphor for what we are actually seeing today in the worsening environment.

I think the wealthiest and most powerful individuals in the world have seen the studies and forecasts and know where the path we are on leads. I think they have concluded that there is no turning back, that the only course open is to accumulate as much wealth and power as they can while continuing to push the planet over the brink. They are hastening the demise of the planet because they believe there is no way to fix this problem. Their plan is probably to build remote enclaves protected by private armies where they can go and watch the planet burn.

[Autumn]

21. The fact that our party won't even allow a climate debate was eye-opening to me

and got me thinking in that direction too.

[Nay]

56. That's my take on it, too, Rob. They can hardly wait for the rest of us to die off so

they can then mitigate the problem for themselves only. (They may be as stupid as we are, since true runaway carbon will kill them, too.)

In any case, they have no intention of saving any of us peons for any reason. We need to be gone so they can have some room. They'll save a few of us for slaves, but that's all.

[paleotn]

14. Us? Yes.

Vastly more species are now extinct than currently exist, so it's simply the natural order of things. Stuff happens. Species can't adapt and they go extinct. And it's still too early to tell if intelligence, as we define it, is a successful long term survival adaptation. It may turn out to actually be a harmful mutation in a certain hominid species and leads nowhere, being quickly extinguished in evolutionary terms. Intelligent Homo sapiens have only been around for a couple hundred thousand years, an eye blink when it comes to the history of our hominid family, much less life on earth.

Life in general? No. Life is incredibly tenacious and has survived numerous extinction events over billions of years. Life on earth will only be extinguished when our sun becomes a red giant and engulfs our planet. But earthly life might still survive, as stowaways on spacecraft. It's not beyond the realm of possibilities that microbes exist right now on Voyager 2, hurtling away from our system.

[Duppers]

29. I agree. nt

👍

[Boomer]

48. Mass extinctions lead to new species

We wouldn't exist as humans if not for the previous five mass extinctions that eliminated the more successful, high-profile lifeforms. It takes millions of years, but eventually new life flourishes in some unexpected way, such as a small mammal leading to Homo sapiens.

So I view this sixth mass extinction as the platform for some current underdog species to come into its own many millions of years from now.

[bucolic_frolic]

15. Money rules the world

which is to say, competition rules the world more than cooperation. Everyone has to have everything. They're selling it to you by the yard by the minute. Greed, self-interest, money. Until that equation is conquered not much will change.

[pangaia]

16. ""tranquilized by the trivial,"

[jalan48]

17. Unfortunately, many of our so-called representatives are really representatives for the corporations

and interests who benefit from the status quo. We're heading over the cliff and we'd rather not think or talk about it too much. The fact that our own Party is unable to hold a debate on this single, critically important issue speaks volumes about our current state of affairs.

[marylandblue]

19. I made the same journey for the same reasons.

Been tracking the issue for years until I found out our species can't actually plan more than a few years out.

But humans are remarkably adaptable. A few of us will survive in a new dark age. Our descendants will wonder at our power and our hubris. Eventually a new civilization will rise. We will be a cautionary tale for them. Perhaps the legend of our spectacular fall will give them an ecological ethic from their very beginnings. If so, they will do better than us. I wish them well.

[CrispyQ]

22. Possibly.

I think a massive die off is more likely with a significantly smaller collective of humanity living in the very northern/southern & higher altitude regions. I do think the wealthy are not prepared for the changes coming down the pike that can't be stopped due to how hot the planet already is.

[Bayard]

24. I also think there is some kind of major apocalypse on the way

In some form or another. The planet has a way of righting itself, and humanity usually does not fare well. The question is, will it still be habitable at all? Except by cockroaches (and I don't mean rethuglicans!)

Small pockets of humans may survive. Hopefully, they will have leaned something, and be better caretakers. Or, who knows--some other species (domestic or alien) may arise that says, you've done such a rotten job, we're taking over.

It is in our nature to destroy ourselves.

[Duppers]

34. Life of some form

Finds ways. We have a beautiful Goldilocks Planet here and it'll take a long while to recover from us and our poison.

[gtar100]

25. Nature has an amazing ability to adapt and survive and recover from damage.

But it takes time and the conditions for healing need to be maintained (or simply just allowed to be without interference). Humans need to respect that process if it is going to happen. Unfortunately, we keep doing the things that are destroying ecosystems so we aren't giving the healing process a chance to work.

The bottom line is this - either we live our lives in harmony with the natural laws or we suffer the natural consequences of not doing so. Because we poison the waterways, the air and land, we are making monumental mistakes that have only one imminent outcome - our own demise.

What if instead of focusing all our economic activity on "growth" ( a euphemism for "make more stuff to sell" ) , what if we shifted our focus to mostly cleanup activities with the purpose of restoring ecosystems. I don't see any other way but I also don't see enough people actually caring either, not in this day and age. Most people, including myself on some issues, the mantra is out of sight, out of mind. Regardless, we need to act and it needs to be in accordance with how nature does things or it will fail, guaranteed.

[Mountain Mule]

26. I have been broken hearted for a very long time now

Sometimes I feel cursed that I studied climatology in college. Our beautiful world, all the plants and animals and our innocent children - all doomed. Thanks for posting this. It helps sometimes to know that I am not alone in my grief.

[Duppers]

31. You're not alone.

A few years ago when I could no longer avoid the obvious conclusion, I spent days crying, interspersed with short periods of rage. Then came the depression which has now become almost manageable. I glad to see this finally published in a major news source.

[The_jackalope]

28. This remarkable essay tells the whole story...

...From the numbers that doom us to the gratitude and love that redeem us.

Every day, more of us step onto the path that Catherine describes so well. It is deeply heartening to see signposts like hers along the way. They remind us that we are not alone on this awe-full journey.

In the end, however, we need to make our own choices, come to our own conclusions, and decide for ourselves what we want or need to do with this sacred knowledge of endings.

[Duppers]

32. Never told you

I love you. You're the first person here to tell us the truth when I was too cowardly to post.

[The_jackalope]

37. Why thank you!

[rownesheck]

30. Of course.

All living things become extinct at some point. Plus our sun, a star, will continue on with its life cycle eventually engulfing our planet. All us parasites will definitely be eliminated by then!

[Duppers]

33. It's the timeline that's the problem.

[bronxiteforever]

39. Kick and recommend. People who have their head

In the sand about climate change are idiots. In this Country we have an entire political party devoted to climate change denial and the hatred of science.

[kurtcagle]

40. Not a complete extinction

But yes, I expect things are going to get hairy over the next century or so.

Africa is actually going to be the place to watch, as well as anywhere within the tropics. WHO estimates that the largest projected population growth (roughly another 1.8 billion people) in the 21st century will be in Africa. At the same time, a significant swath of Central Africa and the Middle East may be facing sustained temperatures above 140 F, which is hot enough that it is considered unsustainable for human habitation for more than a few hours at a time.

I do not believe that the two are reconcilable. More than likely, we will be seeing heat refugees displacing economic and political refugees as the largest impetus for human migration patterns, which is going to increase the xenophobia that you're seeing in the US and much of Europe at this point.

[The_jackalope]

42. This is an excerpt. Here is a link to the full essay.

It's twice as long as the except, and it's even more mind-bending - complete uncompromising truth.

http://www.catherineingram.com/facingextinction/

[bronxiteforever]

44. +1 thanks for posting this.

[Duppers]

45. Thank you!

Should be required reading for anyone wanting to discuss climate and extinction.

Opinions are abundant but knowledge is rare.