Sometimes, in an open landscape like this, one that is bleak and colourless, one that is relatively featureless so our frail form seems to stand out against it, we do look very small and insignificant. Yet it is as if we are challenging our surroundings, particularly when we stand somewhere so special, at that meeting point of three great elements, earth, sky and sea.
We look so puny yet we are increasingly aware of how much our presence has altered the world upon which we look out. I use the term 'altered' advisedly: too many people would use a more emotive term like 'damaged': the world has constantly been damaged throughout its history by far more powerful forces than us; think of the meteorite impact 66 million years ago which wiped out the dinosaurs and perhaps 75% of other species. Earth doesn't care; it certainly doesn't care about us. It is merely a question of whether we care about ourselves.
I am very conscious that it is my generation which has done most to endanger our species, with a mindset that makes it the more difficult for us to do anything about it. We have made a mess and it is too late for us to mend it. The old men, in particular, need urgently to stand aside and give way to a much younger generation, and offer them the chance to mould the world to their future.
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