The real world is fast catching up with fantasy. One of my fantasies that I came up with a few years back. I had thought that possibly the displacement of oil from the earth's crust resulted in earthquakes* due to the removal of volume and the empty space resulting from the displacement of pumping oil out of the earth. This increasing empty space is/was resulting in tectonic shifts. But an article in the Wall Street Journal seem to suggest that I may not have been too far off. While it focused on the displacement of pushing more liquid into the earth, the opposite action of removing liquid from the earth may be true.
What does this say to us about the environmental effect of "our way of life." Life imitates art or was Marvin Gaye a prophet or keen observer of the human condition when he wrote the lyrics to "Mercy, Mercy Me"? There are those who feel that the mechanistic view of the world allow for whatever current technology breaks to be fixed by future technology. We are, unfortunately, looking at a long track record where that hasn't been true. In fact many civilizations have had their demise attributed to environmental conditions of their own creation.
We look at modern agriculture and are reminded of the injunction there is no such thing as "modern" without reference to european culture (possibly a quote from Marimba Ani). The mono-culture, chemical nitrogen fertilizer, chemical pest control farming practices are suffering the effects of entropy.We, who choose to see, are looking at the warning signs of a civilization's death knell.
There is evidence that the top soil is eroding and being washed away. Insects are dying at a rate that alarms those who are most knowledgeable about the potential impacts of such an occurrence. We are all aware of the warnings concerning chemical herbicides, whether dioxin of Rachel Carson's text "Silent Spring," human studies of the impact of Agent Orange of Vietnam War veterans or the more recent case against the common household weedkiller, RoundUp. Also, with the diminished microbial activity in farm soil due to herbicides and other impacts, the nutritional level of food is decreasing. All of this from the things we are to use to promote and preserve life, i.e., growing food.
There are other activities that are a function of the culture (way we interact with the environment), world view (mechanical universe) and conceptual framework (duality of sacred and secular) held by and embedded within the dominant euro-narrative that informs and drives this culture. It is time to head for solid ground in the face of our shifting fortunes.
*Study Ties Fracking To Quakes In England, Wall Street Journal, Thursday, November 3, 2011, pg.B3
*The Good New and the Bad News/ Yes, we can cause earthquakes, Wall Street Journal, Saturday, November 19, 2011, pg.
