Salty Soil

In parts of Montana, salt concentrations in soil water, have reached those double those of seawater.

~ Jared Diamond (born:1937-09-10 age:78) Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed: Revised Edition page 47

We see this same pattern over and over. Man finds an emergency solution to a problem then tries to use it in perpetuity. But the long term side effects lead to disaster. Even when man knows the consequences, because the short-term economics favour it, man persists in the path to destruction.