Aforementioned: aphorisms and questions for 2015
Mankind, the bringer of deserts: the leading edge. 
We image building this because we might - no life in sight. 
Human convenience, 100 - life zero. There is enough pavement in the United States to cover the state of Georgia - a sizeable and absolute desert. 
This is bottom trawling. It flattens and destroys all benthic life in its path. We can't see it, so few complain. We would if someone dragged across a human suburb a block-wide concrete pole, flattening everything in its path. The result would be similar, if less devastating. 
A natural occurrence you say. Well yes, but getting much worse as a result of global warming. Mankind continues to grow, dragging the desert along just behind. 
Lots of pathos here. However, we, the desert makers are now dumping annually into the oceans enough garbage to cover half the province of Prince Edward Island knee-deep in plastic. Where does it go? Into the huge, ever-expanding oceanic gyres of particulate plastic and after that to the bottom of the ocean to suffocate even anaerobic life. 
Oil spills, another horrific bringer of deserts to our coastlines. You've seen the pictures of oil encrusted sea life. Did they ask us to suffocate them?
This speaks for itself. All those red areas were once teaming with life. Now they are lifeless. Mankind, the bringer of deserts.
I have snorkeled over dead coral. I hated it. The coral reefs will not last much longer.
Mankind, the bringer of deserts.
Even these pictures do not do full justice to our desert-making skills. Perhaps the most dramatic of all cannot be represented by a picture. Have a look at this article: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2007GL031745/full
So we are very, very good at making deserts. It is extremely difficult to see how this can continue, even as our numbers grow into the final stages of a plague. What will it take to convince ourselves that we have to drastically change our ways. Please, no more testosterone - there's is no planet B.
We image building this because we might - no life in sight. Human convenience, 100 - life zero. There is enough pavement in the United States to cover the state of Georgia - a sizeable and absolute desert. This is bottom trawling. It flattens and destroys all benthic life in its path. We can't see it, so few complain. We would if someone dragged across a human suburb a block-wide concrete pole, flattening everything in its path. The result would be similar, if less devastating. A natural occurrence you say. Well yes, but getting much worse as a result of global warming. Mankind continues to grow, dragging the desert along just behind. Lots of pathos here. However, we, the desert makers are now dumping annually into the oceans enough garbage to cover half the province of Prince Edward Island knee-deep in plastic. Where does it go? Into the huge, ever-expanding oceanic gyres of particulate plastic and after that to the bottom of the ocean to suffocate even anaerobic life. Oil spills, another horrific bringer of deserts to our coastlines. You've seen the pictures of oil encrusted sea life. Did they ask us to suffocate them? This speaks for itself. All those red areas were once teaming with life. Now they are lifeless. Mankind, the bringer of deserts. I have snorkeled over dead coral. I hated it. The coral reefs will not last much longer.Mankind, the bringer of deserts.
Even these pictures do not do full justice to our desert-making skills. Perhaps the most dramatic of all cannot be represented by a picture. Have a look at this article: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2007GL031745/full
So we are very, very good at making deserts. It is extremely difficult to see how this can continue, even as our numbers grow into the final stages of a plague. What will it take to convince ourselves that we have to drastically change our ways. Please, no more testosterone - there's is no planet B.
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