You'll often hear environmentalists claiming that humans are a cancer that is slowly killing the planet. We upset ecological equilibriums, contribute to the greenhouse effect, and put other species in danger. You may also have heard of the recent discovery of a 300 mile wide crater (that's really big!) buried deep under the ice flows of Antarctica. I read up a bit on the effects of cataclysms like these (check out Space.com and Wikipedia), and it kind of put what we, as humans, can do to the planet in perspective. The ozone layer: We are extremely dependant on the layer of protective gases that surround the earth. Upsetting its fragile balance has a direct effect on the earth's surface temperature, which in turn can have terrible effects on the planet's biodiversity. There are huge masses of plankton living around oceanic fissures that metabolise the methane produced by the movement of tectonic plates. Without this plankton, the methane would slowly bubble out from beneath the ocean and make the atmosphere almost uninhabitable within a few years. However, that quantity of harmful gases would be nothing compared to the amount that would be released after the impact of an asteroid. Scientists have theorised about a possible global firestorm that might have helped wipe out the dinosaurs. The enormous shockwave created by an asteroid would have made huge cracks in the earth's crust from which huge quantities of toxic gases would have come gushing out, filling the atmosphere. Lighting bolts would then have literaly set the atmosphere on fire. Just try and picture that! The scorched earth would have stayed about 10 degrees hotter for hundreds of thousands of years afterwards. Talk about a greenhouse effect. Radiation: Think Chernobyl was bad? Every day scientists detect gamma ray bursts emiting from deep space. These bursts bombard our atmosphere with radiation from hundreds of thousands of light years away. Luckily they are usually at a sufficient distance for our atmosphere to block them out, but a single burst from a nearby star (nearby being several hundred light years away) 450 million years ago wiped out almost all life on earth and vaporized 70% of the earth's atmosphere. Just like that. My point is, I think it's amazing how fragile we are. Just as easily as your life could be ended by a car crash on your way to work tomorrow, on a larger scale, a flash of light from a star or a small pebble (by planetary standards) could come along at any time and annihilate everything that mankind has built in an instant. I'm not saying we shouldn't take care of the environment, but that we should keep in mind that we're not the captains of spaceship Earth. The very equilibrium that we depend on and want to protect will always be at the mercy of forces much larger than itself. Luckily, it seems life has survived far worse conditions than anything mankind could cause, although ultimately we'll still all be swallowed into the sun!
It's about comfort in knowing that humans and everything we have built, as well as a our very planet will eventually return to the cosmic dust from which we spawned.
^ then kill yourself? What would you want us to do about it? there isnt much to do I should have quoted you since you completely changed your post. so nevermind
Maaaan, why these people always gotta be confusing me with- whats goin on on earth, whats goin on in the atmosphere... I GOT THAT SHIT under control alright, lets focus on the bigger picture: Write this down, M.. A... R.. S.. MARS BITCHES, THATS RIGHT, REDROCKS!!!! THE UNITED STATES OF MARS! Great dave chappelle quote lol. But I agree with your concerns andy. Although I do feel that all our social and economic and environmental problems stem from the much larger problem of overpopulation. QUIT MAKIN BABIES!
My post above is kind of related to what you are talking about.. Do you know how impossible it would be to just get rid of everything we've done? You know that you wont give up your car so you wont have to walk to pick up your bud.
My beleifs on global politics are very very very counter-mainstream. That's why i changed my post. The vast majority of people will never and absolutley refuse to subscribe to my views, it is not worth my time debating it. The point is, the democrats, the kyoto protocol, global warming, they're all tools of the people who have ultimate control to achieve ancient goals. It's not about humans as a species, it's about the elitist corporation owners, it's about the politicians they finance. The same people who have created the tools of destruction now call for the salvation of the planet through global control. I don't wish to debate this, I'd actually appreciate it if you deleted that post.
I'll just drop it. You've got unique views, and i respect that. I think i get what you're saying, and it makes sense, but i'm not going to try to clarify them because i don't want to start a debate. Interesting though.
I don't even bother to think about it. If we're talking possibilities, well it's possible that all the atoms that make up your body or mine will suddenly zip off somewhere else, and we would cease to exist. Is it likely, though? Not really.
Mother Earth sure has been through a lot bros and yet life has endured. The fact that she has been subjected to so much and still survived still doesn't address how dangerous human beings can be. IMHO the human mind is the most powerful element the world has ever been subjected to. It is fully within our ability to change the destiny of this planet and perhaps even the solar system. Man doesn't control every random act in the universe so therefore many things can happen that are outside of our ability to effect, but what he does control can and is destroying a world. The earth may have been subjected to everything including cosmic rays but I submit that next to the force of man all other forces go limp or man goes extinct and the earth bounces back. (The Vitruvian Man) Either way you slice it, in our humble corner of the universe there beams a beacon of light and horror called man. "What a piece of work is a man! how noble in reason! how infinite in faculties! in form and moving how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the world, the paragon of animals!" ~William Shakespeare~ Peace.
Do we really though? Or is this just an illusion created by our own subvert ego? Our foolish and brash pride we have in our technological superiority over other life.
Here's a short list of things our ego and pride have done: 1. Global warming 2. Deforestation 3. The raping of the earth's oceans 4. The polluting of earth's oceans 5. The annihilation of innumerable species 6. Massive industrial cities 7. The internal combustion engine 8. Murder 9. The rich 10. Apathy about how powerfully we impact the world I could go on but why? I wish it were an illusion bro but judging from the way nameless graves are being filled I doubt it. Stay green!
I'm pretty sure the first people on earth murdered and wanted/tried to be richer than others.. So that would have to mean that in order to solve that problem, we shouldn't even be here in the first place. I for one want to be here.
Indubitably past history exists in the present moment but I think the earlier versions of ourselves were less corrupt and had a bit more peace about where the fuck they fit into the scheme of things. Sure they murdered and there were rich but those people didn't have the capability of pushing some buttons and ending life on a global scale either. I think if you peeled back through enough history what you'd probably find is a species of man that was closer to God than we can comprehend. Let's face it bro as time has changed so have people but as this has happened man's almost spiritual connection with the earth has waned, which brings us to this sorry place. I acknowledge the past while at the same time acknowledge we have a future. If history has taught us anything it's that with due focus and commitment we can change the world. Finally, I think the ideas we lay down with at night and close our by are a lot closer to comfort than to truth. Peace.