What Civilization has Wrought

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We define civilization as any way of life characterized by the emergence and growth of cities, with cities being any group of people living together in large enough numbers to require the importation of resources from outside their bioregion.

Civilization has always taken more than functioning ecosystems can replace, but the combination of a population explosion and worldwide industrialization has put the future survival of humanity beyond this century in serious doubt. A few of the many indicators of this are:

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Global Warming - Carbon levels of 350 parts per million (ppm) or lower are required to sustain the life that is currently adapted to living on the Earth. Climate experts believe that we are headed to over 650 ppm.

Toxins - Nearly every mother on the planet has dioxin in her breast milk. Samples from mothers also show contaminants of over 350 chemicals from substances such as perfume, fire retardants and pesticides. Male sperm counts have dropped more than 30% in the past 60 years. Ultimately, toxins produced from industrial processes could very well cause male and/or female infertility, preventing humans’ natural ability to create life.

Deforestation & Soil Erosion – Over 72 acres of rainforest are destroyed every minute. More than 75% of the topsoil that existed in 1492 is now gone. As a result of human activities such as forestry, ranching, and cultivation of marginal lands, more than 1,500 acres of land become desert every hour.

Oceans in Peril -Coral reefs are dying. Zooplankton populations, the second stage in the oceanic food chain, have decreased 70% in the past 40 years. Oceanic dead zones are found the world over. Approximately 6.4 million tons of garbage end up in the oceans every year.

Species Extinction - More than 100 species go extinct every day. For the past 300 million years, excluding this century, approximately one species went extinct every four years. If nothing is done, half of all species will be gone by the end of the century.

Sources for the presented information can be found here.

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