If you’re lucky enough to get out for a snorkel or a scuba dive, it’s obvious from the get go. The coral graveyard below the surface, that is. And unless you’re a purposeful ignoramus, your own part in that devastation hits home quickly.

But even if you’re trapped in in a world of emails, tweets, and cable news, the alarms are going off like fireworks now, blasting about humanity’s devastation of our world. A sample:

• Insects are dying and disappearing at an accelerating rate — and faster than they can be discovered. Why does that matter? Well, they’re “the heart, lungs and digestive system of our planet.”
• Human-driven increases in CO2 in the Earth’s atmosphere is turning the food we grow into junk food.
• Ocean dead zones have quadrupled in size over the past 70 years.
• Sea ice, a sign of a healthy climate and an essential part of life for Inuit, is vanishing — destroying natural cycles, the Inuit way of life, and Inuit mental health.
• China, while pushing a green agenda, is simultaneously leading the rush to trample the natural world.

Face it, most of us are stuck in a rut: We see what’s happening, but are content to grimace and stare as the carnage grows, then resume what we were doing. There is more than an opportunity for a leader here and now, there is a necessity for one (in fact, for many).

Given the Imbecile-in-Chief’s track record, it’s not a surprise he above all has surrendered his adult duties on this front. What’s alarming, however, is how much he’s going out of his way to make matters worse.

And yet, not all hope is lost. His time in this role is down to three or fewer years. Meanwhile, some of his predecessors in the White House — plus many others — offer a route to survival. Look no further than the people behind California’s State Parks.

If we and our natural world have a hope, it’s only by going down a path like this. For now, to be blunt, we’re heading for the precipice.