Okjökull Letter to the Future
19 November 2020
Millions of years ago, a significant portion of the European continent was submerged underwater. During the last ice age, approximately 10,000 to 15,000 years ago, the same continent was covered by a thick layer of ice. The previous ‘small’ European ice age was between 1430 and the second half of the nineteenth century.
It was on average 1-2 degrees colder than it is today. In Roman times, Egypt and Syria were fertile agricultural areas, and the region was much wetter and colder.
In other words, climate change is not a human creation, but rather a natural phenomenon, as humankind is a part of the same natural ecosystem. It does not alter the fact that the presence of humanity is responsible for (too) rapid and significant changes in the ecosystem, flora and fauna on planet earth.
The explosive population growth from around half a billion people in 1800 to more than seven billion in 2020, (industrial) pollution, deforestation of continents (starting in Europe in the 17th-20th century), the cultivation of land for (gigantic) cities, agriculture, golf courses, ports, airports, etc., mobility and the use of natural resources have a massive impact on ecosystems. Humankind is indeed disruptive. That is a fact.
On the other hand, there have always been natural predecessors, such as all-powerful dinosaurs, meteorite impacts, volcanic eruptions or the climate changes as mentioned above. Planet Earth will continue to orbit the Sun for millions of years to come, regardless of whether it is a few degrees warmer or colder, with or without glaciers.
Humankind is not only disruptive, however. People can also positively influence development. Fortunately, they do so, not only for the sake of nature, ecosystems, flora, and fauna, but also to improve the quality of life for humans.
The Rhine near Basel is an example. Who could have imagined swimming in this dead river forty years ago? Nowadays, man and fish are happily swimming around again. The Salmon is not yet able to do so, but that is due to other (French) obstacles.
For centuries, the mobility of people and goods has led to the massive migration of animals, plants, bacteria, and viruses. Rabbits in Australia, the potato in Europe, as well as the flu in South America, syphilis, Spanish flu, and coronavirus, are just a few examples. Around 800 species of plants and animals inhabit Switzerland nowadays, compared to a few hundred years ago.
CO2 emissions and the (proven) relation with global warming is just one of the facets that will be discussed in the new exhibition (Earth at its Limits) in the beautiful Historical Nature Museum (Naturhistorisches Museum) of Basel (see under agenda).
The show is also a (late) tribute to the American scientist Eunice Newton Foote (1818-1888). She discovered the relationship between CO2 and global warming as early as 1856. But she was a woman, and John Tyndall (1820-1893) got the honour a few years later.
Anyone walking in Graubünden or skiing in the Alps has the idea that the human ‘footprint’ is not that omnipresent. However, this exhibition showcases the evolution of the last hundred years, including the decline of glaciers, land use, pollution, mobility, and the enormous consumption of freshwater.
The Letter to the Future (dated August 2019) and the glacier stone commemorating the disappearance of the Okjökull glacier in Iceland illustrate this development.
There is no place for pessimism, activism or doom and gloom in this informative and well-documented exhibition. Nor does it make sense, because humanity is here and no one wants to return to the dental chair of the 1930s or live without computers, plastics, chemistry, batteries, or modern means of transportation.
The question is: how do we deal with the presence of so many people, and how do we organise the earth for eight or nine billion people soon?
The entrance to this show offers perhaps the quietest natural environment in Basel: five minutes in, and you can listen to nature without human sounds in the heart of the city, on the Münster. It is recommended for every hiker and nature lover.