Carcosa

Carcosa is a fictional city in the Ambrose Bierce short story An Inhabitant of Carcosa (1886). In Bierce's story, the ancient and mysterious city is barely described, and is viewed only in hindsight after its destruction, by a fleeing citizen. The city was later used more extensively in Robert W. Chambers' book of horror stories published in 1895 entitled The King in Yellow. In Chambers' stories, the city is similarly a mysterious, ancient, and possibly cursed place, the descriptions given make it clear that Carcosa is located on another planet, or possibly even in another universe. The fable of Carcosa resonates with our times, as our planet’s ecosystems and biodiversity, evolved over millennia, start to rapidly break down to the brink of collapse, on our watch. Earth can and will survive the worst we can muster, extinction events reset the clock of deep time back an hour or two, nothing more, it is our species’ continued existence in a thriving environment that is urgently in question. It is our ability to execute long overdue maintenance on the life support systems we and every creature under the sun depend on, using emerging technologies we so cleverly innovate, to restore and maintain life’s balance, which will decide our fate. Let us unite behind this common goal for humanity, so that future generations can enjoy and wonder at this incredible journey we experience on Spaceship Earth.