We as a species make the greatest changes to the world; more so then any other species ever has. Many take this idea as a bad or ominous sign about the destruction we cause upon the planet but I conversely consider it the single greatest thing that we can ever do. As humans we have been placed into a niche that no other species has ever been in. We have become the protectors and purveyors of life.
In the event of a large disaster, one that could cause mass extinctions, humans are at an interesting position in their ability to control and prevent such events. We have the ability to stop a meteorite from striking the earth in the same manner we can prevent almost any known cataclysm from striking our planet. This places us in the position of being the protectors of life on earth. Currently the planet tolerates what we are doing to it. With the current rate of destruction upon the nature with a rather conservative plan to end the destruction we will have killed more then 10% of the diversity of life on earth. This pales in comparison to what a single meteorite of a decent size will do. Having us in a position to prevent this truly makes our actions required to gain the technological and scientific standing that allows us to protect life rational.
We as humans will eventually have the ability to do something even more grand and overall important. Life as we know it is trapped on this planet. Earth is a limited place with limited resources, limited space and limited time. Earth certainly will not be around forever and we, as the technologically advanced species of earth, can leave and travel throughout the galaxy. At the time of writing this message over 850 planets outside of our solar system have been discovered with many in the habitable zone around their stars and there are even some that are truly earthlike. We as humans can travel forth and bring life to these planets. Inevitably we will bring the diversity of life from our planet along with us and guarantee the spread of life throughout the galaxy. Acting as the spreaders of life we will truly make up for the negative effects we have caused on our planet. We as a species are destined to protect, continue and spread life in a way no other known species could ever come close to doing.
Wesley Hicks
Los Angeles, California
[email protected]