I read an alarming tidbit today: last Wednesday, while we were going about our business, the world passed a major, cautionary milestone. On Tuesday last, Earth's human inhabitants lived mostly in rural areas. As of last Wednesday, human's lived in mostly in urban areas. This is not a shock in the United States, but worldwide this means more people are living in a city. Overall this could be good news, but if the developed countries leading the urbanization charge are any indication, it means that more people with rural consumption habits are moving into denser and denser areas. It seems to me that if people living in urban areas (and countries developing urban areas for people to live in) could band together and act sustainably, people might look back at May 23^rd, 2007, as a day when the writing on the wall was good. Otherwise, generations will look back upon this date with disdain for our short-sightedness.

posted at 7:23 AM - comments