Some day this world will be barren and lifeless and totally uninhabitable. I’m not defending Space X, but sooner or later we’ll need to leave. I wouldn’t be quite that dismissive of the need to get out there, but that’s not as urgent as the environment.
Some day this world will be barren and lifeless and totally uninhabitable.
“Some day” is likely to be several hundred million years, if not a billion years from now. That is hundreds and hundreds of times longer than our species has existed. To say that’s not as urgent as the environment is a pretty significant understatement. In fact, I’d say that threat is about as far from urgent as one could imagine.
That’s a best case scenario. A gamma ray burst could hit the planet tomorrow and we’re all gone. A madman with a bunch of nukes could trigger a nuclear winter. A massive volcano could darken the skies for years - wouldn’t be the first time. I’d like to see some progress just in case.
The last mass extinction (excluding the current, ongoing mass extinction) that occurred approximately 66 million years ago, resulted in the extinction of three quarters of all plant and animal species and wiped out all non-avian dinosaurs, and yet the Earth then was still more hospitable to life than any other planet we know of.
Some day this world will be barren and lifeless and totally uninhabitable. I’m not defending Space X, but sooner or later we’ll need to leave. I wouldn’t be quite that dismissive of the need to get out there, but that’s not as urgent as the environment.
“Some day” is likely to be several hundred million years, if not a billion years from now. That is hundreds and hundreds of times longer than our species has existed. To say that’s not as urgent as the environment is a pretty significant understatement. In fact, I’d say that threat is about as far from urgent as one could imagine.
That’s a best case scenario. A gamma ray burst could hit the planet tomorrow and we’re all gone. A madman with a bunch of nukes could trigger a nuclear winter. A massive volcano could darken the skies for years - wouldn’t be the first time. I’d like to see some progress just in case.
There’s a mass extension event every 100 million years.
The last mass extinction (excluding the current, ongoing mass extinction) that occurred approximately 66 million years ago, resulted in the extinction of three quarters of all plant and animal species and wiped out all non-avian dinosaurs, and yet the Earth then was still more hospitable to life than any other planet we know of.
mass extinction event ≠ barren and lifeless. We have a mass extinction event going on Right now because of human impact, the anthropocene.