Ecosystem collapse

When grasses whither, trees shed their leaves to become dead limbs, flowers do not bloom – when the skeletons of livestock litter the parched lands – when there is no birdsong because there are no birds – we will know the time has come. We pushed too hard, too fast, believing nature to be perennial and consistent, as assured as the sun and the moon. We believed we could do as we please, take as we want, and she would keep supplying us her bounty. Perhaps we did not even recognise her, instead crediting human ingenuity to our marvellous civilisation.
Marvel no more, because we have no technology to save ourselves. When ecosystems collapse, that is the floor from under our feet that vanishes. It is the web of life that has been supporting us all along, and without it we have  deserts, heat and dry, empty and desolate landscapes. Devoid of life, unable to resuscitate it. We have no food, we have no water, we have war in the search for it.

We knew what we were in for, there were countless warnings from scientists, leaders, politicians and other sources. There can be no-one to blame but ourselves. We had the knowledge, the information – we turned a blind eye, at once arrogant and ignorant. it came much faster than we expected. We were divorced from our natural surroundings, safe in our cities, until now…