Understanding and researching these Earth truths will prepare you to dig deeper into the reasons we’re standing on the edge of what was once a balanced climate. Believe in them and you are prepared for what comes next.

We’ll delve now into four distinct milestone global events that brought civilization to its current sate. And as we go through this, I assure you that Momma Nature anticipated what was about to unfold, and she wept while thinking a rapidly changing planet was fast approaching. I say “rapidly” because 170 years is a blip when considering our planet was born about 4.5 billion years ago, and has another 4 to 5 billion years of life left. The planet should exist for a total of about 9 billion years. The question is: what will be the state of the biosphere from this point on should climate action continue to limp along?      

‘The Four Biospheric Trees of Civilization’ is a metaphorical term I created to help illustrate how our climate crisis suddenly came about.

I have already alluded to the Tree of Over-population that never stopped growing and branching out. In the mid 1800s, the Tree of Invention created economic sectors that began sprouting: industry, transportation, energy, commercial and residential, never to stop growing eventually leading to the technology explosion. 

The Tree of Energy was quickly planted when, on August 27, 1859, oil was discovered in Titusville, PN. Prior to this, during the 1700s in England, coal was determined to burn hotter and longer than charcoal. And, in 1785, Britain became the first country to commercialize natural gas. But it wasn’t until the full-on industrialization era that coal and natural gas really took off. Texas oil went big in the early 1900’s, and in 1908, Persia, or present day Iran, discovered oil in the Middle East. Coal, oil and gas fired generating plants spewed black smoke that was off and never stopped running to the white clouds and blue skies. We were thrilled at the time. Life was great as the developed nation’s economic sectors blossomed. 

Unfortunately for us today, the Tree of Pollution grew into our world immediately as a result of the Energy Tree - we just didn’t know about it at the time, nor for another hundred years. Pollution slowly grew and diffused, spreading everywhere, and it wasn’t until the 1950s that scientists knew greenhouse gas had been soiling the atmosphere for about a hundred years.

Sadly, pollution began to undermine all that technology had accomplished. The carbon and methane are more dense in our skyline than it has been in the last 14 million years - for different reasons. Thus sums up all of the events that began with the Industrial Revolution and brought us to where we are presently. Stay tuned.