We have now entered an age that has been deemed the ‘Sixth Great Extinction”. A period of time in which we have seen, and will see, more species of plant and animal life become extinct than would be normal within the course of the planets natural evolution. What makes this extinction of particular importance, is it's root cause; humanity. The concept of our “Footprint” on this planet is becoming ever more common news room currency, yet we seem preoccupied with our carbon footprint, as though resolving this issue will cure all others.

The “Human Blitzkrieg” has been sweeping away species for centuries and seems in no hurry to stop whatever the cost of a diminished biodiversity maybe, which I argue you can see in the cases of the smaller islands whose ecosystems have been destroyed by our waste and greed.

Hence the title which harks back to a time in the island of Madagascar’s’ history when there were giant lemurs along with other large mammals all of which died out shortly after the arrival of humans. This is a perfect example of Ross McPhee's ‘Dreadful Syncopation’- “Humans come in and animals go out”.

We are creating a dark future, and setting an atrocious precedent for the generations to come.

Lyrics

Our destructive needs will push until we conquer
Whether passive or aggressive-
the degradation shall be complete!
We shall stride across the broken bodies of giants
That now remain, only as a memory
May the Human Blitzkrieg Reign
All pushing, all consuming
For we the most invasive of species
How will the future champion our triumph?

New millennium opens the gates
To the greatest unnatural extinction
The factors multiply one another
Creating an equation of doom
Amplified beyond our darkest imaginings!

How many more:
Forests must be slashed and burnt
Urban centres do we need
Biotic invasions must we propel
Toxic chemicals can we produce
Habitats must be lost
Degrees must climate rise
Worthless humans are needed
Species must we murder?

Half of the land has been modified
And oceans decimated by our greed
Countless habitats exist beyond the natural ideal
For the living example
Just observe the empty peripheral isles
And ask how much bigger
must our footprint be?

Devoid of the diversity that nature intended
The ‘Dreadful syncopation’ triumphs
Our unsustainable practices

With the finite resource for life
Has the potential to doom a million species
And shatter this planets fragile stability

Time to re- evaluate is now
forget the short term profits
One long-term goal we must address
And if we fail there is no one left to blame
for the catastrophic end result.