They're Taking Over - jellyfish bloom and the future of the ocean.
Her final statement (and in particular her final word) resonated quite strongly with me. It's hard to know where the point of no return is on this issue but I suspect that when it comes (and goes) it will be without fanfare.<p>It seems fairly clear at this point that as a race we're facing some fairly substantial problems that need to be addressed if we want to avoid major catastrophe, and yet almost without exception the people I speak to about these issues are dismissive and unwilling to make even minor changes to their lives. Nobody is willing to accept responsibility for the problems and everybody believes they will somehow be resolved without their personal intervention. Even as somebody who is genuinely concerned and willing to accept responsibility, there seems to be nothing of worth that I can actually do to help.<p>The scariest part is that we can well and truly pass the point of no return before we even realise there's a problem to be addressed. This is true for practically all the environmental issues we are facing. By the time we realise how much we've upset a system and that awareness propagates down to a significant proportion of the world's population, the damage is done and we can't do anything to fix it. Some people do notice earlier, and some of those people will jump up and down about it, but nothing real can change until a significant proportion of the population is staring down the Gun Barrel of Consequences. And so we just keep charging towards the bluff.<p>Her use of the word 'adapt' is quite prescient. Things are going to change; we have so much momentum at this point that it is unavoidable. And as it happens we will just have to ride it out as best we can. The thing that makes me saddest now is not that I might personally suffer (although that certainly used to worry me) but rather that we are going to destroy a lot that is quite beautiful, and once it's gone we cannot bring it back. But life will go on, and one day the world will probably be beautiful again.