I'm much more optimistic on cities. The "urban glacier" is rapidly becoming more like an "urban rainforest," *part* of the natural world not in opposition to it, with megabats in Adelaide, caracals in Cape Town, leopards in Mumbai, otters in Singapore, parrots in Tokyo, humpback whales in New York Harbor, coyotes in San Francisco, peregrine falcons in Paris, and much, much more! And in many areas (particularly Europe), we have much *more* forest and wild land than we did hundreds of years ago thanks to more efficient agriculture.
yeah, there is truth is what you say Sam... Back in day, here in Connecticut, my home state, we clear cut 85% of all the trees to make room for Ag and Merino Sheep. Today the forest has regenerated back to 65-70% forest cover in the state.
The cost ?
Loss of Biodiversity. Parcelization of Land...
Land Rights and Land Usage are criminal acts... we need 7-generation thinking to come back in popularity.
There are way too many dams blocking the rivers of CT. I could go on...
But moderation is best. We need to learn to see with both of our eyes open. The good and the bad.
New England's reforestation is another great example of what I'm talking about. I definitely agree with your closing statement that "moderation is best. We need to learn to see with both of our eyes open."
I really enjoyed the summary - "don't worry about population growth or decline'.
I tend to be not so optimistic. I believe the Urban Glacier will continue to roll over the natural world. The urban glacier will continue to cut up the natural world into smaller and smaller pieces. I've written about here https://open.substack.com/pub/earthmonk/p/we-are-cancer?r=jlcdt&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web and I'm working on another post shortly.
I'm a subbed to the weekly anthropocene.... love it!
thank you Sam
Thank you for your comment and your support!
I'm much more optimistic on cities. The "urban glacier" is rapidly becoming more like an "urban rainforest," *part* of the natural world not in opposition to it, with megabats in Adelaide, caracals in Cape Town, leopards in Mumbai, otters in Singapore, parrots in Tokyo, humpback whales in New York Harbor, coyotes in San Francisco, peregrine falcons in Paris, and much, much more! And in many areas (particularly Europe), we have much *more* forest and wild land than we did hundreds of years ago thanks to more efficient agriculture.
yeah, there is truth is what you say Sam... Back in day, here in Connecticut, my home state, we clear cut 85% of all the trees to make room for Ag and Merino Sheep. Today the forest has regenerated back to 65-70% forest cover in the state.
The cost ?
Loss of Biodiversity. Parcelization of Land...
Land Rights and Land Usage are criminal acts... we need 7-generation thinking to come back in popularity.
There are way too many dams blocking the rivers of CT. I could go on...
But moderation is best. We need to learn to see with both of our eyes open. The good and the bad.
New England's reforestation is another great example of what I'm talking about. I definitely agree with your closing statement that "moderation is best. We need to learn to see with both of our eyes open."
"It (nature) has all time. It knows the people are a tide
That swells and in time will ebb, and all
Their works dissolve."
- Robinson Jeffers, from his poem, Carmel Point.