Apocalypse Now

[cambro]

I'm teaching an environmental science class this semester, which means that I'm up to my ears in utterly depressing stories of destroyed ecosystems and hopeless futures. I'm trying to keep things chipper, and focus on functional ecosystems as much as dysfunctional ones, and to emphasize possible solutions to our problems....but, man, there's not

Comments

[derekasaurus]

Despite a lifelong commitment to pessimism I can't fully subscribe to the collapse of Western civilization in my lifetime. As much as I think Western civilization needs a good collapsin', I don't think the next few decades will be completely devastating

[cambro]

In many ways, I agree. There was a bit of deliberate hyperbole in that "significant chance that civilization will collapse" statement. However, I do think there's a significant chance that our way of life will undergo major changes that we won't like

[derekasaurus]

I share your concerns, and I agree that terrible economic policies (like dirt cheap subsidized gas) make market forces far less effective engines of change, so I'm not expecting an efficient transition