Fecerunt desertum

If you travel inner Sicily or Spain you will find a barren landscape, with sparse or no trees and extensive grasslands. This is ovioulsy related to low rainfall, but this landscape is by no means a natural one; it was originated by overexploitation of the soils for crop harvesting at the time of the Romans. The impoverished soils became unproductive, and were ledt abandoned or destinated to sheep grazing. This is perhaps the most striking heritage of the Roma Empire, much more, possibly, than the imposing ruins of temples and theaters.

And our own civilization probably will leave a simila footprint: the towns and skyscrapers will become sparse heaps of rubbles, but the irreversibly collapsed ecosystem - for instance the desertified rainforests - will remain forever.