The end of the world as we know it...

Here's a thought;

Why worry about our planet?

Ooooo...I can feel your resentment towards me now. All the way through your computer, across the world wide web, into my computer and out through every pore in the plastic covering my laptop. Give me a chance to explain. Please. I am not insane. Nor am I arrogant. I am simply realistic.

You see, the world is changing. We know this. We also know that it has changed before. Some people claim the recent changes is due to natural oscillation in temperature…that it was and is to be expected and nothing to worry about. Others claim it’s a change due to human influence. -One theory which removes responsibility from the hands of humans (“it’s simply no ones fault!”) and a second theory which gives humans galactic destroying capabilities. We can argue about which theory is correct till the end of our days. The fact of the matter is; the planet is changing. I am guessing the change is a combination of the two aforementioned theories. But that would be a third theory and a third theory makes it all more complicated…and it also renders it impossible for us as humans to push the fault over on someone or something else.

Get to the point you say. I will. I just had to explain the issue a bit before I start answering my own question of worry.-or lack of it.

Planet Earth as we know it has been in existence for roughly 4.5 billion years. Obviously if you are deeply religious you may disagree with that number, but either way our planet has been here for a shit-load of years. It is also huge. Perhaps compared to other planets its not so big, but if you compare it to…lets say a Hollywood mansion (which are quite a lot bigger than what Im used to), its pretty f-ing big. Now…what exactly is it about us humans that make us believe we are in the position of destroying this ancient as well as enormous object we inhabit?

As humans we are granted the ability to adapt to our environment without including genes and tedious evolution. Obviously we have evolved, but we can go on winter holidays to Aspen or the Swiss Alps without going through millennia of evolution first (-That would seriously suck by the way). We can manipulate the environment around us in order to increase our fitness. –And since survival is based on fitness (remember Darwin and “survival of the fittest”?) humans have been able to “take over the world”. Obviously this is an illusion since there are far more insects in the world than there are humans…but you get the idea.

So, what does this have to do with environmental problems? It is actually very simple. By treating the world the way we treat it today…polluting the air and the water, building houses where there should be forests, fishing the oceans empty, we simply reduce our own fitness. –And low fitness results in low survival rates. Did I lose you yet? Think of it this way. If you throw a rat into the water in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, you drastically reduce the rats chance of survival.-Or its fitness. It won’t die right away, as rats are pretty decent swimmers, but its chance of survival is based on how close it is to land and solid ground…and how far away the sharks are.

So when we pollute the air, the average temperature gets higher. This in turn leads to changes in weather. Tropical storms destroy villages and crops. People die. Water rises and takes out Denmark, Holland and any other low leveled area. People die. Drinking water gets polluted and makes people sick. People die. Certain crops can no longer grow where it used to due to the change in temperature. People die. The people who used to live in Denmark, Holland and other low leveled areas will be forced to move to higher land. It will get crowded and diseases will spread more easily. People die.

See my point?

We are not destroying the planet...We are destroying our ability to inhabit it. –And it doesn’t worry me. If it gets to the point where it is too late…well, then we just get what we deserve.

My only worry is the species we will take down with us. But hopefully it will be with the planet as it is with forest ecosystems after a fire. -The perfect opportunity for a fresh start.

I guess only time will tell.