The two largest issues in ecology are 1.) that people constantly think that they are smarter than God, that they can Improve on Nature and what God has created and 2.) selfish and short sighted greed, which makes Satan look like an angel of Light. Together these two issues, which are inherent in humans, have caused wars, destroyed cultures and ruined the ecology of this world.
In Science Fiction and Fantasy one of the recurring themes is terraforming and transforming other worlds to make them fit into human concepts of what is natural and necessary for human survival. The humans and presumably human-like aliens are constantly taking worlds that they are not suited or designed for and making them into their own image. Instead of recognizing the design of the Creator and appreciating it, they constantly change it into a form that was never inherent in that world. Real beauty is transformed into an unnatural horror of human/alien design. The end result has to be destruction of the natural system and eventually the unnatural inhabitants of that world.
With humans and this world we do the same. We take areas that are beautiful and functioning systems, turning them into twisted human concepts of beauty or even worse, supposed human functionality. Cities, total ecological failures, are put into deserts, thriving jungles are cut down for pastures, rivers of extreme beauty are channeled and dammed. In North America, this is evidenced by the Colorado River. It once flowed unimpeded through the American West. It sustained a diverse and wonderful series of ecosystems dependent on its water and seasonal cycles. Now it is a damaged and polluted mess that never reaches the Pacific Ocean as it was designed to do. At the same time suburban communities are placed in deserts surrounding the Colorado River, farms are placed where they are totally dependent on irrigation from the river, cattle destroy riparian buffers. Areas that once were wonderful examples of beauty are now examples of apocalyptic destruction. All this is done in the name of human progress and greed.
In the Eastern United States we have many examples of taking God’s apparent mistakes and making them into human mistakes. My favorite is the filling in of wetlands such as was done at the Meadowland for Giants Stadium in northern New Jersey. Unable to recognize the marsh as a vital component of a healthy ocean system, it was filled in as wasted space. Now instead of a hatchery for fish, the start of a system that provides an important human food source and a filter for pollutants, there is a monstrosity of concrete, pavement and foul air. Is it a wonder that the mid-Atlantic fisheries are collapsing?
Swamps are the same issue. They are drained, filled in and used for garbage dumps or have cookie cutter subdivisions built on them. Instead of being a source of beauty and the foundation of many terrestrial food webs, they have become wasted and polluted burdens. Water that was once filtered by the wetlands and a source of clean drinking water is now polluted runoff needing expensive filters and chemicals to make it drinkable. The once thriving wildlife has become limited and in many cases extinct.
Another good example of our arrogance is the pesticides we use. DDT is a prime example. Once it was thought to be the ultimate insecticide. Now it is recognized as the source of extinction of many of our magnificent birds of prey. Beyond this, our agricultural pesticides, cheap, efficient and easy to use have seeped into the aquifers. So instead of having an available and readily accessible source of clean drinking water, we have farmers becoming incapacitated by Parkinson’s Disease.
Invasive plants are my specialty. Instead of appreciating the native species, humans had to bring in exotic species to “improve” the local ecosystems and make them “more comfortable” for our self-created environments. Anyone who has walked in a forest or even driven along our highways sees the disasters we have created. A walk in wooded areas will often be a tutorial in human arrogance. A trail that runs from near Baltimore, MD to York, PA may have more invasive non-native plant species than native ones. Whole stretches are nothing but non-native honeysuckles, Oriental Bittersweet, multiflora rose, Russian Olive, Tree-of-Heaven, garlic mustard and many more species. The natives have been drowned out by the non-natives.
While on the subject of introduced exotic plants, one of my favorite examples of humans being smarter than God is the importing of plants to improve wildlife by providing food and cover. Ecological reality is that imported plants are not food or cover for the vast majority of native wildlife species. For example, Russian Olive was brought from Asia to serve as wildlife cover and food. It does neither for the most native wildlife species. While native plants can feed many hundreds of species starting with primary consumers and ending up with top level predators such as hawks and falcons.
In the Florida Everglades, the exotic wildlife is destroying the native. For example, Burmese pythons which were introduced as pets are eating native wildlife, pushing species to extinction. Added to this, the Everglades are in constant danger of going dry, because instead of conserving water, it is drained from this magnificent ecosystem to help humans flush toilets and wash their cars. Satan could not have developed a more perfect destructive system of true beauty based on our shortsightedness and business based greed.
Construction on barrier islands along the Atlantic Ocean beaches from Maine to Florida and the Gulf Coast are disasters that happen continually. Barrier islands are designed to be transient and constantly moving barriers to buffer the effects of the ocean against the mainland. Instead of understanding the purpose of this incredible geological and biological system, houses have been built along with an artificial economic systems created to sustain something naturally unsustainable. We all pay taxes that are subsides that pay people to build and maintain homes, businesses and associated infrastructure in a system that was not designed for it. Every hurricane and often minor storms cause millions of dollars in damage that if humans were smart enough to build in safer areas would not happen. Imagine the effect hurricane Katrina would have had if the natural landscape was protected and allowed to do what it is designed to do. The city of New Orleans would not have been destroyed by the weight of human greed and stupidity. Millions of people were displaced, with their homes and economic security destroyed because we were smarter than God.
In the case of view shed protection, it is hard to put a monetary value on aesthetics. It is much easier to build a shopping mall that pollutes and destroys beauty for the profit of a few. However, when the naturally beautiful is destroyed, humans suffer in many ways. Our mental health is destroyed along with our physical. We end up spending more time in front of the television than walking or just sitting and appreciating the wonderful free gifts of God.
Near where I live is the Appalachian Trail. When on the trail I hear the cars and trucks along I-78 more than the sounds of waterfalls and the calls of song birds. When there are breaks in the trees I see acre sized buildings and eye hurting subdivisions, not the restful green of living forest and farm. On the south side of Reading, PA there is Neversink Mountain. Hiking it this past summer was an awakening. Looking down the mountain there was nothing but houses, factories and roads. The weight of the ugliness bruised my spirit and soul.
The more people disconnect from the natural world, the less healthy we become in all aspects of life. The air we breathe becomes polluted. The water we drink becomes filled with chemicals to counteract the chemicals we contaminated it with. The land becomes painful to look at. The end result is a people sick in body, soul and mind. We become hostile, depressed and withdrawn. Connecting with our neighbors and the world at large is more difficult. Freedom is compromised because the lack of natural aesthetics makes us more susceptible to being led by people even more disconnected and greedy than ourselves. Eventually when we destroy enough of our world, our societies will collapse into anarchy and chaos. It has happened throughout history. It will continue happening until our arrogance and near-sighted greed either ends with our world’s complete destruction or the lessons are learned and we view ourselves as part of the natural world, not separate from it.
Nature pushes back every time we push it. As Isaac Newton stated, every action produces an equal and opposite reaction. The harder we push nature by our shortsightedness and greed, the harder Nature will push back. We will then blame God for an Armageddon we ourselves created, being smarter than God and greedier than Satan.
What can we do? Begin to realize that simple and obvious answers are usually the wrong answers. Nature and natural systems are not single tier, but complex and multi-layered. We need to think not about the immediate results of an action, but the results further out and deeper. The use of non-renewable fossil fuels is an example. The first level is a source of power for our vehicles and our businesses. However, when looking at the next level we see the pollutants that cause the air to be unbreathable. The next level is the effects of the extracting and processing on our environments. Is a refinery in an estuary really the best use of that estuary or does it destroy other equally or more valuable resources such as the fin and shellfish we eat? Next are the non-local impacts. What will happen with all the pollutants caused by billions of gallons of fuel being burned? How much can the atmosphere and ground process before becoming overloaded or poisoned? Finally, what are the overall consequences to people in physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health effects?
Locally fracking and long wall mining are major issues. In the short term there is another source of hydrocarbons for heating our houses. On the next level, any time a layer rock is removed or radically altered, there will be changes such as ground water contamination and ground subsidence. This is basic physics. Then there are view shed and other disturbances that destroy the economies of the residents. Ecologically attractive areas such as forests and estuaries are huge sources of local income simply because they reconnect people with their natural heritage. Add to this that the more development, especially short term, the higher the taxes to pay for the needed increase in infrastructure and remediation when the resource is depleted.
I have learned that when there is profit to be made, especially by people who have no inherent interest in a local area, there will be lies and misstated truths told. Their shortsighted greed will not be in the best interests of the residents of a community. The profits will superficially appear to benefit the local community, but in the long term degrade the quality of life of that community.
Learn to look deeper and to ask questions. Learn that simple answers are not enough as we deal with complex systems. Spend time in your local ecosystem, learning what it is and appreciating its complex beauty. Then stand up and act against people who think they are smarter than God and are greedier than Satan.