Are we suffering from Shifting Baseline Syndrome??

Shifting baseline syndrome is a term coined in 1995 to describe the gradual, generational lowering of standards for environmental health. Each new generation accepts a degraded natural world as the "normal" state. 

Shifting Baseline Syndrome causes people to overlook long-term environmental decline because they lack experience of past, healthier conditions, creating a "new normal" that hinders conservation efforts. SBS describes how even experts adjust their baseline of what is "normal" based on personal experience rather than historical data. Younger generations may not realize how much wildlife, biodiversity, or habitat quality has been lost because they never witnessed it. 

Decades ago, car windshields were frequently covered in splatted insects. It was a common sight in the summer but now a rarity. Younger generations, having never experienced this abundance, accept "clean" windshields as the natural state, thus missing the context of immense environmental loss. Because the decline happens slowly over generations, we all become accustomed to an increasingly damaged environment. 

We must protect what's left!