Chapter 17- Hello Doomsday

The introduction of the article baffled me. I thought I was (once again) going to read about how Sumner thought the world was coming to an end, but instead I had to suffer through pages of geological terminology and its controversies. Eventually, Sumner got to his point. We can learn about the past from the present, and the past repeats itself. Sumner’s first historical example is the downfall of Easter Island’s sophisticated society. Ignorant, or more likely indifferent, the islanders cut down all of the trees on the island, creating deforestation that ruined the agriculture or the society, leading to famine.

Meanwhile, in the present, Ocracoke Island, in my opinion, stands as a beacon of hope. Nearby Roanoke Island is packed with condos to the max. Meanwhile, large portions of the Ocracoke seashore has been put aside by the government as a national preserve; this means that large portions of the seashore can’t be built on. The areas that can have buildings have become so congested that they are stressing the water and sewer systems. This is unfortunate but not irreparable.

The most important thing is that, in America, someone cared enough to preserve pieces of our seashore and to keep them natural. No one on Easter Island cared enough to save the last tree. I hope that will make all the difference.