@thepaleone Wow. That’s a big scary question to throw out there. I’m going to be completely honest with you. I think it could get close. I’m really hopeful that our generation and yours can be the change in direction and way that we use the world’s resources to make a difference so we don’t destroy this amazing planet that we live on. The changes that have happened in the environment (melting polar ice, deforestation, fossil fuel use) in the 25 years since I was taught about greenhouse gases when I was in Primary School are real and good signs that we need to change the way we do things. There have been some really positive changes in that time – recycling, better information and education thanks to lots of amazing science, renewable resources and energy (like solar and wind power), the way the internet has made everyone in the world more connected – these all give me hope. What do you think?
I presume you mean the people in this world rather than some natural catastrophe like a huge volcano. My thoughts are pretty much the same as Mia’s. Sustainability is the key, and I don’t think we currently live sustainably enough with raw materials, energy and even food. It will take some awesome science to make sure the planet can continue to thrive into the future.
What is scary to me is that, for the first time in history, humans have the technology to do just that. That is why there are many scientists who are also very active in promoting peace, economic conservation, political involvement, and so on — because scientists have to live on this planet just like everyone else! In fact, even many of the people who helped to make the technology for the atomic bomb petition the President of the United States not to use it. Because they understood how the science of the bomb worked, they realised how dangerous it would be to actually use.
So while science can help solve a lot of the problems that the world is facing, a lot of the tools scientists have made can actually make things worse, if they are not used carefully. That’s why we need people who focus on other things (politics, ethics, religion) to help make important decisions about how the people who are in charge can prevent such a disaster from happening.
@thepaleone
I am an optimist. I think we will not entirely destroy ourselves, and almost certainly not the whole world.
If climate change made the world so that we could no longer live in it, it would eventually regenerate.
A large meteor could knock us out of orbit and into the sun, but that is not very likely.
Many billions of years into the future, the Sun will run out of fuel (it is really a giant hydrogen bomb) and then it will expand and swallow the Earth up; because it will still be very hot, the Earth will melt. Even your grandchildren will not have to worry about that one!
I dont think the world will destroy itself, but it may be destroyed by something from space, like an asteriod. It may also be destroyed by something from within, like us 🙁
@thepaleone Wow. That’s a big scary question to throw out there. I’m going to be completely honest with you. I think it could get close. I’m really hopeful that our generation and yours can be the change in direction and way that we use the world’s resources to make a difference so we don’t destroy this amazing planet that we live on. The changes that have happened in the environment (melting polar ice, deforestation, fossil fuel use) in the 25 years since I was taught about greenhouse gases when I was in Primary School are real and good signs that we need to change the way we do things. There have been some really positive changes in that time – recycling, better information and education thanks to lots of amazing science, renewable resources and energy (like solar and wind power), the way the internet has made everyone in the world more connected – these all give me hope. What do you think?
0
I presume you mean the people in this world rather than some natural catastrophe like a huge volcano. My thoughts are pretty much the same as Mia’s. Sustainability is the key, and I don’t think we currently live sustainably enough with raw materials, energy and even food. It will take some awesome science to make sure the planet can continue to thrive into the future.
1
What is scary to me is that, for the first time in history, humans have the technology to do just that. That is why there are many scientists who are also very active in promoting peace, economic conservation, political involvement, and so on — because scientists have to live on this planet just like everyone else! In fact, even many of the people who helped to make the technology for the atomic bomb petition the President of the United States not to use it. Because they understood how the science of the bomb worked, they realised how dangerous it would be to actually use.
So while science can help solve a lot of the problems that the world is facing, a lot of the tools scientists have made can actually make things worse, if they are not used carefully. That’s why we need people who focus on other things (politics, ethics, religion) to help make important decisions about how the people who are in charge can prevent such a disaster from happening.
0
@thepaleone
I am an optimist. I think we will not entirely destroy ourselves, and almost certainly not the whole world.
If climate change made the world so that we could no longer live in it, it would eventually regenerate.
A large meteor could knock us out of orbit and into the sun, but that is not very likely.
Many billions of years into the future, the Sun will run out of fuel (it is really a giant hydrogen bomb) and then it will expand and swallow the Earth up; because it will still be very hot, the Earth will melt. Even your grandchildren will not have to worry about that one!
0
I dont think the world will destroy itself, but it may be destroyed by something from space, like an asteriod. It may also be destroyed by something from within, like us 🙁
0