Careers on a dying planet

The signs of the planet's disintegration are clear – coral bleaching of reefs, massive heat and bushfires, rivers running dry, Arctic ice sheets melting, natural habitats destroyed, species extinguished.

Scientists warn of the dangers, yet politicians pander to business (coal, rice, cotton) and do nothing but form more advisory committees.

You will have your careers ahead. Me? With 63 years on earth, I've not seen change as rapid as this. I can reflect.

Here in Perth I've witnessed the winter's rains plummet. Dams are almost empty. We depend on desalination (soon recycled sewage) for drinking water.

The changes wrought on Earth are a result of business wanting more profit. In order to do this its needs to sell more stuff, made form more raw materials.

Obsolescence is now a feature of most products (clothing, furniture, electrical goods). Business favours a bigger population. That way it sells more stuff. But our resources are finite.

The age of convenience and disposability thrusts us closer to the day when nothing will remain.

The American Indians had it right, saying: "When the last tree has been cut down, the last fish caught, the last river poisoned, only then will we realise that we cannot eat money."