Continental Scale Ecological Collapse

Here is an excerpt and link to my recent personal Earth Meanders essay:

The Earth is entering a new phase in its human caused decline. We are witnessing the advance edge of bioregional and continental scale ecological collapse — the final stage of environmental decline before global ecological collapse. For millennia human caused ecosystem loss and decline has destroyed plant communities and devastated landscapes, but generally the global matrix of terrestrial, oceanic, aquatic and atmospheric cycling of energy and nutrients continued relatively unabated. Until now, as the cumulative impact of poor land, water and ocean management, and a failing atmospheric system, is becoming widely evident. Humanity has become the dominant force of nature. We are witnessing the logical consequences of over-developing large regions and even continents without regards to ecology… we are witnessing the phenomena of environmental decline that is of unprecedented scale and intensity… As abrupt and run-away climate change, terrestrial ecosystem collapse, droughts, floods, lack of pollinators and a whole host of other environmental malignancies ripple through cosseted human civilizations; we are talking of widespread death and social disintegration… I believe we are talking of the end of being — either the complete loss of advanced life including humans, or humanity reverting to barbarity… As the magnitude of ecological dysfunction increases the only sufficient response is for conservation to think bigger and more ambitiously… We need to build the political movement to do what is necessary based upon global ecological science to save the Earth, ourselves, and species with who we share existence.