We Can't Save The Earth
Here's a truth many folks can't seem to grasp. We can't save the Earth. The Earth is going to die. It won't be for billions of years, but the end is indeed coming (yes, religious fanatics, your day will come). What really needs saving is not the planet, but, rather, ourselves. For while the Earth's demise is a very long way off, ours may be just around the corner. We don't need to save the planet. We need to save the human race. Earth Day? Shouldn't it be called Human Race Day?
It turns out that we humans are just a bit more fragile than the Earth. Though the Earth won't survive it's final day of reckoning with a dying Sun, it will survive global warming, a nuclear holocaust, and even an asteroid strike. But we might not. And while we can do our part to prevent self destruction, some things are currently out of our hands. Sooner or later, just like in the movies, we'll be hit by that giant meteor and Bruce Willis is unlikely to be able to help.
Sooner or later the Earth's magnetic fields will drastically change, possibly increasing our exposure to the dangers of solar radiation. Another new ice age is coming. You want climate change? You're going to get it. The continents and ocean floor are moving, so eventually New York might find itself bordering the Sahara Desert. And some of this will likely happen within tens of thousands of years, not billions. Which means we may be around to (gulp) watch. At least, for a while.
So, while zipping around in a hybrid car or using paper bags instead of plastic may be an earnest effort to forestall disaster, ultimately it's nowhere near enough. Don't get me wrong. Cutting emissions, recycling waste and a commitment to solar and wind power makes terrific sense. But, cosmically speaking, these are just short term solutions. What we really need is to commit beaucoup bucks to our space program. Because no matter how much we conserve, no matter how nice we are to it, eventually the Earth will swallow us up. Believe it or not George Bush was making sense when he declared that we need to go to Mars.
We landed on the Moon in 1969. It took us less than a decade to accomplish that amazing feat. In the four decades since we have all but abandoned manned space exploration. While those forty years haven't been completely wasted, we have clearly lost the urgency with which we first reached out into the cosmos. Ask the people dropping their uncleaned yogurt containers into the recycling bins on my trash room floor and most of them will probably tell you that spending money in outer space is foolish. You've heard the argument. Why are we wasting money up there when we have so many needs down here?
Ignoring the fact that an incredible list of modern advances came out of the space program and that the solutions to environmental change and potential cosmic disasters will only be found in a lab, there's a much simpler explanation for why we need to spend more on space science. Sooner or later we have to move off this planet or face annihilation. Which needs do we have that trump survival? Dinosaurs dominated the Earth for over 150 million years, but they're gone and the Earth is still here. Save the Earth? Heck, save us!
Loading comments…
Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to
Great point Bruce..NO stone should ever be left unturned; our survival as a human race demands it. One of the most base instincts of ANY living thing is survival and continuation of the species. I'd be curious to study those dirty-yogu
We have already put so much junk in space that our spaceships would be lucky to get through.
world ending predictions, ok we have all heard them befor. Solutions? Good steward ok I understand this concept and agree. Population control? care to explain this one in plain terms that are not diabolical? It seems some of you have this as a common concept, so just what are you talking about here?
Here's an Idea: if you believe in population control: be celebate. How does that work for you? That way there is no need for birth control, nor for the justification of abortion.
Here's another idea: since we dont any longer believe in the death penalty for murder and so forth, we do believe in the protection of THIER rights. Why dont we just let them out? No? Why not? You wanted population control.
ZPG - Zero population growth - it means replace yourself, no more. Each couple has 2 children.
If we had heeded the call 30 years ago there would be 3 billion hungry mouths instead of almost 7 billion, That is 4,000,000,000 more...pla
Sure, the planet will probably be here for some billions more years (though it's possible the biosphere could die sooner). When that time is up, maybe we'll be able to move to a fresh star. It wouldn't hurt to check out and maybe alter orbits of some asteroids, as well as try to colonize them, since it might be easier to transfer to same in another system.
But meanwhile, unless you're planning on solar or nuclear power to run food and oxygen factories, there's also a little matter of keeping our local biosphere in good shape, and we're not doing too well with that. We've been so successful as a species that we think we're beyond the laws of nature. Since we 'can't take it with us', we make lots of little copies of ourselves so we can pass it on. Overpopulation is a major factor in probably all our environmental as well as social problems. For instance unemployment is more about constantly increasing numbers of workers rather than too few jobs. Make-work welfare pollutes and destroys the environment as well as wasting human and industrial energy. Overcrowding necessitates central control, leading to elitism, capitalism, fascism and eventually collapse. We may be seeing the beginning of biggest and perhaps humanity's or Gaia's final collapse.
The Earth is slated to end at about the same time as the rest of our solar system; so, why all this getting spread out over the solar system? The fact is, if we can't be good stewards of what we have here, why should we get to screw up other places? I think we need to learn to take care of our present resources. If we do that, we will eventually find we have more resources to help get us beyond our home. Anyway, if the Earth has some billions of years left before it becomes uninhabitable, what's the rush? It would seem that we are breeding, bombing and polluting ourselves out of existence long before we have to worry about the sun going nova. Let's learn to take care of this one place in the universe where we know we can survive, then we can seriously give thought to going other places. Right now, the Moon, Mars, and other places deserve better than plastic WalMart bags blowing in the wind.
It has been speculated that there are aliens out there watching us, not wanting to engage with us because we are a cruel belligerent species who think nothing of destroying each other or other species. They are waiting for us to "grow up" before they let us join the universal community.
How does $100 BILLION a year sound for a budget, Bruce, until multiple self-sustaining bases of humanity are established in locations around OUR solar system, and begin to pay for themselves with industries like mining, manufacturing and tourism?
It actually could be an easily achievable budget if people made honest efforts to overcome their hypocrisy, bigotry and judgmental natures to end the insane war on drugs. Many estimates place US annual expenditures (open and hidden) for waging this unconstitutional and lobby perpetuated madness between $200 and $500 BILLION annually. And, that doesn't even address the BILLIONS in taxes available were non-violent vices legal, better controlled, taxed and TREATED - rather than prosecuted and incarcerated. But then, why would ANY country want to eliminate ALL the crime in their societies associated with having created a 'black market'?
I don't know, just to conquer space and better preserve OUR species?
Perhaps we should come up with an 'important' reason...
Predicting the future has been the historical equivalent of turning lead into gold but this prediction indicates foresight wasted on humanity. Testing predictions is simply a matter of waiting for the promised event but this rivals biblical prophets. In the bible the earth is is presented as durable, even permanent, it shall abide forever and of course a number of ancient bible prophecies have been so proven. Especially prominent is the phenominal reappearence of Isreal, after some 1900 years of diaspora that was foretold through the prophet Ezekiel's " Dry Bones " utterance, the refleshing of the dry bones of Israel, not in response to the Messiah but in waiting for their defeat, after which a remnant loudly cries for Jesus who will hear and respond to re-establish King David's throne in Jerusalem. Deniers are many but His own look forward to it. Most Jews are committed to perpetuation of what they see as the work of their hands just as Muslims and even Christians believe in futures concentric to that ancient city but nearly all believe they are the chosen people, not recognizing that God will prevail and establish Jesus' kingdom after the ruin of the will of men. We may be living close to those days; tomorrow? Prepare for the peace of Jerusalem!
As an Astronomer, I know that the Earth could die as the Sun goes to Red Giant in approx 4.5 Billion years. And I also know that we, as humans could face some terrible times if an asteroid or comet hit us.
As a practicing Catholic, I know that, according to the Diary of St. Faustina, Jesus has told us that the Judgement Day is soon but before we pass through the Door of Justice there will be time to pass through the door of Mercy and at that time, all light will disappear and a cross will light the sky up for a time and this will be the time of mercy.
When will that come? It could be any day or 10 years from now.
That's why I say don't worry but if you do just say "The Chaplet of Divine Mercy" Just Google it and you will find it.
End-timers have been spewing for hundreds of years now that the world will be coming to it's end.
If Christ is coming back, fine-- hopefully it will be soon-- I'll only believe it when I see it. Meanwhile, I won't be holding my breath.
The end-timers and their predictions do not impress me.
There is no serious dialogue on the pollution and life on the earth until the world unites to not only maintain but dramatically reduce the world's population. Its people pollution that is the problem. All the wiind power, hybrid cars, recycling programs and the other endless line of green solutions mean zero until we tackle the real problem.
Totally agree.
Right on! Bringing up this issue with most self-proclaimed environmentalists can get you irrationally shouted down though. When I see all the feel-good suggestions on the television about "simple" things to do to "save the earth" I'm usually yelling "wear a condom" or "get a vasectomy" back at the TV.
yes.
Great article Bruce !! Finally a little common sense has been injected into the global warming debate. Although many people are concerned and well-intended there is very little humans can do to change the temperature of the Earth. The government is concerned about warming for one reason...M
Can we assume you've gone out and done the necessary environmental measurements, on a global scale? Otherwise, where did you get your information, except from politicians, economists, business people and projections of your own motivations and what you'd like to hear? I'd also like to feel that confident, but I listen to scientists who I think have a better handle on it and are more interested in finding the truth.
But you're right about carbon credits, as well as cap and trade and other scams. What we need is an honest carbon tax with yearly increases, on every stage from mining to burning of carbon. It could help pay for advances in rapid transit, solar and wind power, and a welfare system that works for the biosphere first and replaces all the make-work welfare, which is a big part of the environmental destruction. Such a system would include and encourage contraception of all kinds, free and equitable health care in some areas, but not much for life-extension.
Perhaps we're not trying to save earth or ourselves. Perhaps we're trying to avert the suffering which seems inevitable. I've always supported space exploration but don't see it as in competition with development on earth. What astounds me is that almost no one will talk about the real problem behind all of this - human over population.
After the industrial revolution, clever humans developed the means to limit infant mortality (vaccination, clean water) and allow people to live long lives (antibiotics, modern meds.) around the same time we developed the means to limit the number born through effective contraception. We implemented one but not the other, mostly due to religious dogmatism. The numbers born go up while in the west we're obsessed with living longer and better. Something has to give. Earth's finite. Expanding into space will only divert a handful of the best educated skilled humans. Most will still be stuck on earth.
There's far too many people everywhere and numbers going up and up. I feel a huge crunch is coming, with food shortages (NGOs are already warning us), collapsing ocean food chains, climate and environmental disasters. We are going to see more dirt poor, hungry people, more migration, more terrible images of skeletal babies dying. We had it in our hands to stop this by voluntarily controlling our numbers and we collectively blew it. Wouldn't a smaller earth population mean everyone fed, educated, with a job and some wild places still left? Why is that so bad?
Over population--indeed is a problem and no one is addressing this honestly.
Nicely written.
The Sierra wimped out on this one - too hot an issue they felt. They were wrong, there is no issue more important!
Mr. Tenenbaum, the reason it is called Earth Day and not Human Race Day is because the human race isn't all that counts on Earth. True, we cannot change the fact that the Sun will die in about 4 billion more years and with it, the Earth, but we are a bit concerned about the survival of Earth's creatures, including us, for the short term.
Everybody talks about the violence and destructiveness of storms, but nobody seems to consider the cumulative cost of repairing the damage done by them, running into billions of dollars per year. How long can we, or the nations of the world, meet such costs? The rising of the seas is creating millions of environmental refugees already, in places like Bangladesh. The social dislocation of millions is a problem we will have to face. Rising temperatures bring organisms from the tropics into the temperate zones for the first time, creating disease threats that have not existed before in regions unprepared to deal with them. I'm not trying to alarm, I'm just repeating what I have read. If we can do something about our human contribution to global warming, I think we must do it, fast.
As for colonizing Mars or some other planet, I think that was Bush's only good idea. But to think we can evacuate this planet in any number before Earth becomes unlivable is a long shot. Short-sighted individuals are largely responsible for the loss of funding and resulting lack of progress.
Okay, I totally agree with this article except for one thing. George Bush was NOT making sense when he declared that we need to go to Mars. It would cost TRILLIONS of dollars to go to Mars, and require the support of eery country on this planet and, probably, every gallon of gas left in its crust and ounce of metal in its mountains (and probably Mars' mountains too). Science fiction is FICTION. We would be much better, if we are following a pipe dream, to attempt to mobilize a la STAR TREK and work as a planet to improve our situation here. And, hello, what is stopping an asteroid from destroying Mars?! Like we're not going to have WORSE problems there? It's not like we're building an ark that just has to be able to float on water. IT HAS TO FLY THROUGH SPACE FOR THREE MONTHS. So, please, let's all stop acting like this is a sinking ship and we have to find a new one. It's our disposable consumer-based mindset that got us into this mess in the first place. There is no "away" - there is only "here" and we should be focusing on taking care of our home, not financing a vacation to escape our problems.
Humans are just a transitional, experimental species anyway. Clearly we were not designed by evolution for a long run on Planet Earth or we wouldn't have made such a bloody mess of it.
Oh yeah? We're just a transitional, experimental species? More than any other species? Since evolution is a fact, all species transition to other species. As for experimental, whose experiment are we and for what purpose?
Nature's experiment. Evolution only occurs among species that must evolve to adapt to a new environmen
BTW: evolution is a theory which is well supported by experimental and observational data, not a fact! Science is all theory...
I don't want to live on Mars - the beauty of this planet is what makes life worth living.
You must be logged in to comment. Log in or connect with
