Our ability to see our real situation, to see the Earth from space, should be a game changer. Our behavior should be different, now that we know just where we really are. Many of our kitchens boast a refrigerator magnet with a picture like the one above, and with the following notation arrowed in: "You are here."
Yes, here we are! And we had better be careful. This Earth we inhabit is both finite and frangible. The phrase "Earth Island" is another way to make the point.
The Earth Island Institute is a non-profit, public interest, membership organization. For twenty-five years, the Institute has helped initiate and support grassroots campaigns "dedicated to conserving, preserving, and restoring the ecosystems on which our civilization depends."
"Civilization" is the name we give to the world we create. That world depends on the Natural World we don't.
The most recent edition of the Earth Island Journal is available online. The cover proclaims, "Welcome to the Anthropocene." The premise of this title is that we have now entered a completely new era in the history of the Earth, one dominated by human action, and an era in which humans have assumed that they can, and should, substitute their own works for the World of Nature. More and more, the physical realities of the Earth and its environment are manmade. The editorial is titled, "Arrogance Is Bliss."
Arrogance? Yes. Bliss? Not really!
I recommend the Journal as an antidote to arrogance. It is more good reading for those who are looking for ways to get human frogs to jump.
I recommend the Earth Island Institute, too.
Image Credit:
http://www.prembababoulder.org/music/chants/earth-from-space/
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