Can really humans end planet Earth?
In your opinion, could climate change lead to the end of life on Earth? Why or why not?
Can climate change be reversed at all, or is it an inescapable trend?
Earth, created about 4.5 billion years ago, is the 3rd planet of the solar system in reference to the Sun. The only planet in the system with “proper living conditions”, upon our view and concept, the ones that live in it. The Earth is known to not be large in comparison to other planets, systems, or the whole universe. But it does contain fair amounts of biodiversity, and most importantly humans.
According to your believes (beliefs) the origin and conception of humans may be different, it can be by the hand and desire of God, or like science states, humans may come from apes or any human ancestor that was first registered between five million and seven million years ago. What’s certain is that humans with modern developed brains are at least around 100,000 years ago.
Surprisingly, humans have managed to start a phenomenon that may end in crisis within a period of 120 years. This phenomenon is called climate change.
Climate change is the long-term shift of temperature taking into account its average conditions. These can happen due to natural conditions, but in the case of the planet Earth, it has to do with human activity. Some examples are pollution, burning fossil fuels, deforestation, agricultural practices, industrialization, etc. These produce greenhouse gases, which absorb more energy from the sun and excessively heat the Earth, resulting in rises in temperature and many other detrimental effects.
According to Carbon Brief, 2016: National Programmes of Action (NPAs) for pollution prevention promote integrated approaches to prevent, activities easier and more comfortable, but it seems to be extremely detrimental and is producing a possibly inescapable trend.
The solutions given are usually simplistic, and only fix one part of a whole, more complex problem. As always, humans talk constantly about how willing they are to give up for the sake of not only the future of a planet but of an entire race.
As an example, we can try to remove a part of the industrial issue by reducing the emission coming from the concrete industry, the transport industry, etc. Even if it would represent a limitation in the development and growth of certain countries’ economies, and production.
Another factor is food production. With the increase of the population and the development of the industrialization of food production, the demand for food (like meat) especially in developed countries has increased. Since it doesn’t only represent a nutritional factor, but it also represents an important social aspect.
The list of things that must be changed to reduce climate change include:
Livestock
Transport industry (Of people and goods)
Waste production
Mining
Technological and commercial production
As said previously, the sense of responsibility that each individual may have can barely contribute anything to the reduction or fixing of climate change at all. It is definitely possible to change aspects and improve the environmental issues. However, this would require changing the basis and fundamentals of our society, including the fundamentals of our industrial system, and other systemic changes in politics, technology, and economy. Changing the ways of energy production, transportation, and food production, as major issues without forgetting smaller percentages.
For this, we would need to change the ideals of the leaders and the people, to sacrifice certain aspects of our life to save the Earth. The priorities set on the population would also mean that action and solutions may negatively impact society. It would represent a change for humanity, species, the environment, and the Earth.
We do know that the Earth is in constant change, for the better or the worst. These changes have occurred since the creation of Earth, and only those able to adapt have survived. Meaning that the fittest species survive, and over geological time the flora and fauna have constantly evolved.
The rest have disappeared through a mass extinction, and it may be human’s turn soon. The concept that humans have over the damage that they’ve done on Earth seems foreign. Despite the fact that there is a higher possibility of human extinction than the destruction of Earth.
Definitely, humans have subverted the evolution of Earth and taken over. It has created inventions and technological progress, yet it has been part of the Great Acceleration. That has increased the population and development but has also caused anthropogenic damage to its own planet.
The a-lot-of-talk, no action may cause the collapse and disappearance of natural ecosystems like coral reefs and rainforests. Humans have practically changed and destroyed the biological balance. Even accelerated the extinction of other species, deteriorating the global biodiversity. In an ecosystem, organisms depend on each other, so slowly the ecosystems throughout the world would disappear, and with this the resources needed by humans.
This catastrophic slow chain has been present in previous mass extinctions like:
Ordovician-silurian Extinction (Small marine organisms): 440 million years ago.
Devonian Extinction (Marine species) : 365 million years ago.
Permian-triassic Extinction (Vertebrates): 250 million years ago.
Triassic-jurassic Extinction(Previous species of Dinosaurs) : 210 million years ago.
Cretaceous-tertiary Extinction (Dinosaurs): 65 Million Years Ago.
If there is a chance to turn Earth into what it was once, and humans don’t take it, the Earth and what’s left on it will evolve and survive after the 6th mass extinction.
Sources
https://www.carbonbrief.org/scientists-clarify-starting-point-for-human-caused-climate-change
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210520-could-humans-really-destroy-all-life-on-earth
