I am sensitive to the ecology and have writtten books on the subject. But hold on. Many topics raised here have explanations and even solutions. Take the Sahara for example. Due to a precept in Earth’s orbit around the sun, the desert has undergone numerous changes from desert to savanah over millions of years. It’s a 20,000 year cycle. It has at times been under water too. Nat Geo has a cool story of an ancient whale graveyard near Cairo. Find it on YouTube. Is the empire collapsing? Good and different question. One key difference between today and everything that came before is that this empire supports individual freedom and with it the ability to innovate and evolve over time. 150 years ago you might have been forgiven if you thought the Civil War signaled the end of the American Experiment. Freedom prevailed and it was no accident.