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Originally Posted by MuadDib
First off the Earth, and life on it, is gonna be around for a long time to come. Natural disasters has happened on this planet in greater force and with greater frequency many other times in its history. As for humanity though, its harder to say. .
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Agreed, but I think humanity will be around for a very long time to come.
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Originally Posted by MuadDib
Only in the last several decades has humanity ever concerned itself with the possibility of our own species one day going extinct.
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Disagre here, I think it would have been very hard to tell the Romans during Nero and the Barrack room emporers thatthat wasn't end times. Also, there is proof mankind has almost always thought of his demise. The Book of Revelations is a good example, as is some of Socrates and Plato's teachings and Nostradamus.
Again, I truly believe that every generation looks down at the next and thinks the world will end after their generation is gone... in one way it's ego and in the other it is a way for us to face our own demise.
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Originally Posted by MuadDib
As I see it the threat is present in two forms: environmental degradation and nuclear warfare. Either way, the problem is there and it could happen in our lifetimes but there is no way of knowing. The solutions to either of these problems are within our lifetimes grasp too, but also no way of knowing.
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I believe this is giving us far too much credit. The Earth (nature) has far more powerful forces than that we EVER will have, that being said, and my belief that Earth itself is living and growing in it's own way has ways to protect itself from our abuses. I think the Earth gows through many cycles (El Nino,El Nina, the ice age etc.) and those are nature's ways of healing the Earth.
Plus, I believe mankind to be very, very, adaptable to change, with a strong survival instinct and therefore will change as Earth changes, as we always have.
I do agree that pollution (especially air) is unhealthy and may cause Earth to change and adapt itself, but to claim that it will destroy everything is a myth that the media and welll paid scientists would love us to believe. Look at volcanoes and how they will throw out far more air pollution than man will in 100 years.
If our air is so unhealthy and our water so polluted then how do you explain lifespans to be getting longer?
Don't get me wrong, I do want my children to inherit a cleaner Earth than what we have now.... but I don't believe us to be destroying our home planet and I don't see us ever doing so or be allowed to do so.