Inevitable demise

It is not a matter of "if", it is a matter of "when".

The end is closer than you think. The scientists have been shrieking for centuries and it is finally too late. The sea ice will be gone soon, you will inevitably follow. You turning off the tap while you brush, switching off the fans when you leave will not save us. Even if we cut off all our carbon emissions today, it will take thousands of years to undo the damage. Do not give yourself false hope, your ignorance only breeds complacency.

Optimism and pessimism fabricate a false dichotomy. Do not reduce the intricate complexities of human civilization to a glass of water. That glass is dry now, all the water is gone. You had the privilege to call yourself an optimist because you did not have to walk 20 km for water. Do not preach of a glass half full to a man who has starved for eternity.

The world that awaits your sons and daughters will not be a kind one. It will be more brutal than what Thomas Hobbes’ Natural law defined. It will not be forgiving. We gift our progeny a burning cradle and a million maladies. The blood that runs in them is also already poisoned with microplastics. Soon turtles won’t be the only ones who choke on plastic. These are words that do not fit in with the general narrative and seem overly “pessimistic”. It is tragic that the mind tends to appreciate patterns and familiarity, even when presented with contrary information. Cognitive dissonance keeps you from acknowledging the information, and more often than we would like, our opinions are driven by beliefs rather than truths. No information is objectively good or bad, it is you who make it so.

"For ten years, the Emissions Gap Report has been sounding the alarm – and for ten years, the world has only increased its emissions” - UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

Do you know the pragmatic billionaires are buying bunkers and food reservoirs? When the four horse men of the apocalypse come, they will not stand with you, they will not offer refuge. What a shame that a species, that had all this wealth of knowledge, that knew where it was headed and it went there anyway. If you try to tell me of the great inventions and discoveries of mankind, know that I will have just as many atrocities to offer as counter examples. The accomplishments do not compensate for the downfalls and vice versa. What matters is which one outweighs which at the end and the chances are not pretty.

Leibnitz’s “the best of all possible worlds” is coming to an end and Voltaire is rolling in his grave laughing. I would elaborate who these men were, but yet again our self-imposed restrictions limit us more than any intellectual limitation would. If you would have me redact these words or have them forgotten, know that it stems from your inability to acknowledge information that doesn’t not fit in with your opinions and that has always been and always will be the inevitable demise of mankind. You are of course, free to disagree but I do hope that those disagreements are fueled by logic and rationality rather than your beliefs and emotions.

FURTHER READINGS

• IPCC report: ‘Code red’ for human driven global heating, warns UN chief

• Guarino, MV., Sime, L.C., Schröeder, D. et al. Sea-ice-free Arctic during the Last Interglacial supports fast future loss. Nat. Clim. Chang.10, 928–932 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-020-0865-2

• Arctic summer sea ice could disappear as early as 2035

• Amato-Lourenço, L. F., Carvalho-Oliveira, R., Júnior, G. R., dos Santos Galvão, L., Ando, R. A., & Mauad, T. (2021). Presence of airborne microplastics in human lung tissue. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 416, 126124. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.JHAZMAT.2021.126124

• Ragusa, A., Svelato, A., Santacroce, C., Catalano, P., Notarstefano, V., Carnevali, O., Papa, F., Rongioletti, M. C. A., Baiocco, F., Draghi, S., D’Amore, E., Rinaldo, D., Matta, M., & Giorgini, E. (2021). Plasticenta: First evidence of microplastics in human placenta. Environment International, 146, 106274. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.ENVINT.2020.106274

• Plunge in carbon emissions from lockdowns will not slow climate change

• Preston, J. (2018). Billionaire Bunkers and Disaster Capitalism. Grenfell Tower, 55–71| doi:10.1007/978-3-319-96851-3_3

• Garrett B. Doomsday preppers and the architecture of dread [published online ahead of print, 2020 Apr 10] | doi:10.1016/j.geoforum.2020.03.014