Mankind will erase itself, by and by.
It always does.
Wildlife always comes back.
Everything does.
Nature moves in circles, and like a cyclone, is unstoppable.
I had a conversation some years ago with a developer that bought an entire, previously unspoiled barrier island with and eye toward building a "golf course community" upon it. I mentioned to him that, when I was a child, his "island" was essentially nothing more than a glorified sandbar reaching into the mouth of a tidal inlet. He insisted that his "staff hydrologist" had studied the matter intensely, and that he could foresee no circumstances under which the accretion of sand was likely to be threatened. I don't remember exactly what I said, but I'm sure it was something along the lines of, "Well, in my experience, where the ocean
has been, the ocean
will be again." He had only succeeded in nearing completion on four or five 'units' before the collapse of the real estate market put him in bankruptcy and put an abrupt end to the project. I ended up being in the area a couple of weekends back. Apparently, he did manage to dredge out the main channel in the inlet. Which, as any asshole who's ever lived at the beach can tell you, inevitably alters the flow of tidal currents. The almost finished condo units are now about 75 yards
into the surf at high tide.