It’s been kept quiet because it’s controversial…overpopulation.
The ethics police would have field days on this subject, that is the impact of people on our environment. CNN’s recent news piece on the subject reveals some fascinating data:
Embedded video from CNN Video
People, including you and me, are the root cause of our environmental crisis. It’s not that our cars our inefficient, or that we have dirty methods of energy production, or even that our waste isn’t recycled as efficiently as possible. The problem is that none of these things are manageable by our planet at scale.
We have a finite set of resources on Earth, and the nature of Westernized civilization – to take-take-take, where more is better – is tipping the Earth’s scales. Our planet cannot handle the scale of the problem, and this is why we are seeing the environmental responses that we see – species extinctions, changes in weather patterns, rises and falls in sea level, cats and dogs getting along, etc. All systems strive to achieve balance, and that is what our planet is striving to do…find balance with us.
The recent news has shed some light on the garbage patch gyre in the Pacific Ocean, where a highly concentrated amount of waste is stuck circulating in an area the size of Texas – or even larger. Does this surprise you?
Well, it shouldn’t.
A significant amount of garbage is dumped in the ocean. Barges of trash are literally dumped in areas deemed ‘far enough away from shore’. Again, out of site, out of mind. On a smaller scale, the USCG even has dumping limits based on distance from shore for personal watercraft. Hello!?!?! The ‘limit’ needs to be ZERO. The impacts of this are not merely cosmetic. Like other issues that we can see here on land, the environment is going to respond. When it does, look out. And it’s our own fault.
The ocean is not humanity’s toilet. This Pacific gyre is just a cry for help, and is Earth giving us a chance to do something.
With population booming, the day where we (humans) become even more dependent on an intimate interaction with the ocean is coming. The key, which cannot be overlooked, is to keep a balance with the ocean now so that it is there for us when we really need it…as a place for future habitation, settlement, and continued evolution of our species.