And so it begins Part MCMLXIV: Acorns

When T.S. Eliot told us the end came with a whimper and not a bang, most people missed the point: decay is slow and predictable, so that except in a few cases of extreme violence, death is an afterthought.

Up and down the East Coast, residents and naturalists alike have been scratching their heads this autumn over a simple question: Where are all the acorns?

"I had read about the collapse of the bee colonies, and it made me wonder, is something else going on here? Could this be affecting other systems?"

CNN

Systems... good thinking. When systems are disrupted, expect multiple indirect effects for every cause.

So it begins, as it begun before, as it is not limited to global warming: humanity is overextended, cannot control itself or its growth, and is wrecking nature at multiple points.