The Natural World and Humanity are in Trouble
By now most people reading this have accepted the idea that there are major, worldwide environmental problems. We have personally experienced the “heat dome” and temperature extremes as well as the ash and destruction of devastating fires. Many of us have also accepted the fact that human activities have caused many other major environmental problems. We see that humans thoughtlessly pollute and alter the land, water and air immediately around us. Some of us see that the widespread use of fossil fuels and minerals underpin the modern society in which we live and that that use has grown exponentially along with human population, and most goods and services. Fewer of us can see the direct relationship between humans incessant energy demands and the dynamics of thermodynamics and biochemistry. The laws of physics and chemistry when placed within the intricacies and immense extent of natural ecological systems are fundamental to understanding the environmental problems we now face. Only with these physical concepts can a sustainable society be adequately addressed. I believe that politics (power, democracy, order, justice), economics (capitalism, consumerism), social institutions (equality, community, peace), as well as science and technology must be truly integrative and supportive of basic human aspirations.
The environmental questions we must address immediately are how do we stop consuming and polluting the Earth while maintaining a sane society. We must both understand the physical world and its limits and reevaluate what we think it is to be human.
