Geocide

We are the only animal capable of geocide: the killing of a world--that is, the world that made us and nourishes its web of life, as a whole. And in what for us is slow motion, we're doing it.

The extent of the oceans, and the amount of life in it, is incomparable larger than land and its life. Yet little if any life on land would be possible without the living seas. For centuries, we've been slaughtering the mammals of the sea--untold thousands of whales every year for much of the 20th century, driving several species to the point of near extinction. With factory ships and "modern" methods, we've slaughtered many fish species to virtual extinction, and threaten some three-fourths of what's left.

And as a product of our self-involved civilization, we're killing the oceans themselves. There are complete dead zones already, and their existence is being linked to the climate crisis. But the damage is much wider, A study this past week suggests that humanity has damaged 96% of the world's ocean--all but small portions near the inaccessible poles, which of course are becoming more accessible thanks to global heating. At least half the oceans are heavily damaged, principally by climate crisis and overfishing. Overfishing is actually encouraged by government subsidies in many nations, and the World Trade Organization.

This was the first attempt to look at damage comprehensively, and not just the impact of separate effects. Our ability to damage comprehensively was evidently not matched by our ability to think that way. Now the challenge for our species--and our only redemption--is to act that way as well.