Ross, you wrote:
The knowledge gained in the study and
pursuit of mollusc populations and assemblages can tell us a lot about
environmental damage due to far more commonplace (alas!!) causes, such
as wetland destruction, deforestation, destructive fishing  and undersea
mining methods, and the transformation of our oceans into an
increasingly toxic soup  with  hundreds of thousands of ingredients
Mother Nature either never dreamed of, or rejected.
 
I do believe that the abuse that this planet takes from it's tenants is
excessive to say the least. I also believe that our time here is short as
the ross ice shelf is sliding into the sea and the amount of weather
related destruction is increasing every year I think that "mother earth "
has had enough of it's abusive occupants. Like a dog shaking a flea off
it's back so we shall go. Be it by a 500ft tsunami caused by the Hawaiian
"big Crack" dropping half the big island off into a 10,000 ft. abyss,or
another Indo Pacific volcanic island blowing a gigantic chunk out of the
earth, Either way you'll have no where to go. We missed the end by the
slightest of margins when back in 1995 an asteroid 8miles across passed
between the earth and the moon, the slightest deviation in it's course and
we would have never known what happened. So when we think that we have the
power to destroy this old gal we call earth just remember , shes seen at
least 6 catastrophes that obliterated life all together. Just a little
nugget to think about as you pull the covers up over your head tonight and
thank God that we made it through another day...MJB