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Welcome. I write about nature conservation, climate adaptation, and the thinking lives of organisms—grounded in research, written for readers, educators, and conservation‑minded communities. If you’re new, this page will help you quickly find cornerstone resources, series, and book pages.

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Cornerstone resources

Arizona Wildlife Resources and Checklists

Overview and links to checklists, notebook, and special topics: Arizona Wildlife

Weeds, Invasives, and Local Bibliography

Hub page with invasive plant articles and resources: Weeds
Dewey–Humboldt references and sources: Weed Bibliography for Dewey-Humboldt, Arizona

Climate Adaptation and Biosphere Topics

Adaptation (all posts): Adaptation
Adaptation for Climate Change (series/posts): Adaptation for Climate Change
Biosphere (selected writings): Biosphere

Books and key posts

The Maplewood Journals (CliFi novel)

Announcement post: Announcing a New Climate Fiction Novel: The Maplewood Journals
In‑depth discussion page: The Maplewood Journals

Biosphere Collapse: Causes and Solutions (nonfiction)

Introduction post: Introducing “Biosphere Collapse: Causes and Solutions”
Executive summary / book page: Biosphere Collapse

Silent Earth: Adaptations for Life in a Devastated Biosphere

Core ideas from Silent Earth appear in these recent posts and series:

The Thinking Planet series:
- 3: The Animal Kingdom’s Diverse Minds and the Power of the Crowd — Read
- 4: The Value of Thought — How a Thinking Planet Creates a Stable World — Read
- 5: The Human Paradox — Our Place in the Cognitive Web — Read
- 6: The Final Adaptation — Evolving Our Minds for a Wounded Planet — Read
Preserving knowledge: 4: Preserving the Blueprint – The Urgent Mission to Save Knowledge
Inner landscape of change: 5: Solastalgia and Ecological Grief – The Inner Landscape of a Changing Planet

Curated paths

If you’re here for practical, place‑based information

Explore: Arizona Wildlife
Browse weeds and invasive plant resources: Weeds
Reference: Weed Bibliography for Dewey-Humboldt, Arizona

About and contact

About AFOSA and this site: About

Contact or report a broken link: Contact

Silent Earth Details

Here is a short explanation of the title. It breaks down the metaphor used in the text to clarify that “Initiation” refers to a rite of passage rather than a beginning.

The title reframes the collapse of industrial civilization not as a meaningless end, but as a necessary rite of passage for humanity. It argues that humans are behaving as adolescents: obsessed with immediate gratification, a false sense of invincibility, and growth, the accumulation of material wealth.

Therefore, the “Initiation” refers to the painful evolutionary bottleneck we have entered. Just as a tribal initiation forces a child to endure an ordeal to become an adult, the climate and biosphere crises are the “initiatory ordeals” required to strip humanity of its illusions.

The goal of our initiation is a shift in consciousness: moving us from the role of planetary conqueror to that of a mature, responsible member of the biosphere. We are not dying; we are being forced to grow up.

In short: The biosphere collapse is the harsh lesson (the Initiation) required to transform humanity from reckless adolescence into mature sapience.

Read the whole text and see how the title fits.