With fewer people being born each year now, the age of exponential growth in consumption will soon be a thing of the past. if current trends continue, the global human population could reduce to and stabilize at perhaps 2 billion people in a couple of centuries' time, according to a new study by Spears and Geruso ('After the Spike'). That is around the population of the world as it was in about 1920. Before 1800 it was well under 1 billion. Through this lens, it can be seen that the current phase of human activity on this planet is temporary - a short phase of mass consumption, mass pollution and catastrophic environmental degradation, before we return to a sustainable civilization. The job of our generation is to realize this, and to make some sacrifices, if need be, to check our rampant consumption and pollution - lest we irreparably damage and destroy our fragile ecosystems to the detriment of all future animals and people that will inhabit this planet.