The below article is an edited version of a lecture he gave at the Seymour Centre in Sydney on Monday night, February 21, 2000. In his new book, Naked Ape to Superspecies , David Suzuki and Holly Dressel look at the ecological features of our planet and the environmental dangers that have been created by globalisation, the information explosion and the breakdown of the old order of superpowers as we enter the new millennium. Click here to learn more about Real Audio. Allende meets Morris West, who has written the odd bestseller himself. No person, company or government sets out to deliberately trash our surroundings, yet the collective effect of human numbers, technology and consumption is corroding the life-support systems of the planet.
Human activities inflict harsh and often irreversible damage on the environment.
If not checked, many of our practices put at serious risk the future we wish for human society. Scientists are extremely cautious when making pronouncements to the general public, so this was a most unusual alarm call. In biological terms, the globe is experiencing an eco-holocaust, as more than 50,000 species vanish annually and air, water and soil are poisoned with civilisation's effluents. The great challenge of the millennium is recognising the reality of impending ecological collapse, and the urgent need to get on with taking the steps to avoid it. But our obsession with economics has become an impediment to taking appropriate action.