The Long Bloom of the Environment: Problems and Solutions

We usually imagine environmental concerns in terms of a human-caused litany of losses. We have heard about the loss of biodiversity, deforestation, degradation of land, climate change, toxins in the air, and the disappearance of clean water and soil. Amongst that welter of information, if we were admit the selfish truth, we typically think about how such disasters might affect us. We consider food security, human sperm counts, and endocrine interrupters in the water. Too rapidly for the Pleistocene mind to understand, the stability in the biosystems we have come to take for granted seems to be deteriorating and the notion is terrifying. Many turn away from the question at that point, for it's depressing to think about an overwhelming array of pervasive and pernicious issues, and solutions for such ubiquitous environmental concerns seem to be thin on the ground. That's because we forget that there is a concerted effort worldwide to deal with the environmental crisis; although as a species we may be causing many of the issues, we are not standing alone when it comes to trying to solve them. We are working alongside bacteria, plants, and animals who are actively struggling to ameliorate the conditions under which we suffer, and great strides have already been made biologically, politically, and technologically. Like a rock skipping across the top of the water, this study is meant to outline the problems facing us, discuss the viability of the possible solutions, debate the very human blind spots which complicate our understanding of reality, and contemplate what life might be like after we have gotten over the hump of the Anthropocene.