Montana’s environmental problems today include almost all of the dozen types of problems that have undermined pre-industrial societies in the past, or that now threaten societies elsewhere in the world as well. Particularly conspicuous in Montana are problems of toxic wastes, forests, soils, water (and sometimes air), climate change, biodiversity l

In addition, Montana ores are rich in iron sulfide, which yields sulfuric acid.

recovery from damage),

A third consideration is hostile neighbors.

don’t know of any case in which a society’s collapse can be attributed solely to environmental damage: there are always other contributing factors.

Much more likely than a doomsday scenario involving human extinction or an apocalyptic collapse of industrial civilization would be “just” a future of significantly lower living standards, chronically higher risks, and the undermining of what we now consider some of our key values.

fragility (susceptibility to damage) or as resilience (potential for

In fact, climate may become hotter or colder, wetter or drier, or more or less variable between months or between years,

climate in many parts of the world tends to vary not just from year to year but also on a multi-decade time scale;