On one hand I agree we as a species have passed a threshold where we are playing with fire in many regards. On the other hand, I tend disagree with the claims

On one hand I agree we as a species have passed a threshold where we are playing with fire in many regards. On the other hand, I tend disagree with the claims of fragility. My (somewhat shallow) readings of the data both past and present suggest these systems are much more anti-fragile and multi-dimensional then we give them credit for. There is no doubt we are manipulating them at a scale which will almost certainly come with consequences. That said, the consequences appears to me as more of a mixed bag than existential in nature. There are some studies that suggest our contribution may have staved of the next glacial period by as much as 50,000 years. Tbf, I don't give much cadence to such predictions from both sides, these systems are way too complex for us to make claims beyond the fact they ware messing with them.. Side note on Oil Barons: The evil Mr Burns trope is a tree hugging hippie fantasy. Most of these companies are public corporations majority held by institutions (index funds) which are mostly made up of pension funds, 401Ks, sovereign funds, college endowments etc. There are outliers but they at the exception to the rule. Oil and commodities in general are a very hard line of business. You have a short period of supply/demand mismatch where you get to pretty much print money but supply catches up real quick and then its a decade of survival until the cycle repeats. A lot of companies die during this time, usually the small/independent ones.. And even when he had Oil Barons like Rockefeller, should they be really considered as evil? Arguably they played a critical role in not only the rise of the American Empire but even modern civilisation as we know it. If haven't noticed it yet, I really think we are underestimating the role fossil fuels played in creating the world we see around us by an order of magnitude. Beyond that, I believe people are equally underestimating how bad things used be in the past. We as species were under the tyranny of nature in a manner not so dissimilar to a chimpanzee or a wolf.