We Are Screwed - Or Are We?

Humans first appeared on the earth scene around 7 million years ago, give or take. This is when early humans along with the chimpanzee, diverged from a common ancestor. In these past million of years, there have been approximately 26 different humanoid groups living and dying off at various times. We, homo sapiens, are the survivors. Our nearest cousins, the chimps are still here but only at our leaving.

Our other cousins, the Neanderthals died off about 25,000 to 35,000 years ago. The reason for their extinction has still not been determined but there are numerous theories, all having some credibility including one in which we, the new kids on the block so to speak, killed them off.

So, humans, in some form or other have been around for 7 million years surviving plate tectonics, earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, tsunamis, meteor showers, magnetic pole reversal, ice ages, droughts, solar storms, hurricanes, tornados, avalanches, pandemics, wars, genocides and rising and dropping sea levels and species extinctions and we are still here.

Sometimes hanging on by the skin of our teeth such as 75,000 years ago when the great Toba supervolcano caused global cooling to such an extent, the human population was reduced to a mere 100,000.

We are an annoyingly determined species. Just when it looks like the end of the world has arrived, we bounce back.

Will we survive global warming, climate change, and a global pandemic? Probably. Will we survive our own stupidity in developing enough nuclear weapons to annihilate the world ten times over? Maybe - maybe not. I like to think on the positive side but sometimes I too have doubts.

Looking back in recent years, we humans have collectively solved some major problems. One of the biggest in my opinion was the depletion of the ozone layer by chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, first discovered in 1985. When the hole was revealed, scientists around the world convened and wrote a white paper that was issued to all governments around the world. Was it considered fake news? No! It was taken very seriously and a solution was outlined, put forward, and implemented — the Montreal Protocol. As a result, scientists have confirmed that the hole in the ozone layer has been steadily shrinking following this historic United Nations treaty that banned chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, in 1989.

Without the ozone layer, all life on the planet was doomed as this natural layer of gas found in the upper atmosphere, protects humans and all other living things from the harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays of the sun. Imagine where life on earth would be today if that warning had been ignored?

We were damned lucky back then. But then, there WAS NO SOCIAL MEDIA! Had there been, I think results could have been dramatically different given the influence that conspiracy theorists have on social media in recent times.

Today we have social media run amock. It is a curse, a pox of our life here on earth. Scientists from all over the globe are warning of the dangers of out-of-control climate change creating a warming planet, greater and more common storms, rising sea levels due to melting polar ice, too much rain in some parts of the world, and too little in many other parts and climate change refugees in the hundreds of millions.

The conspiracy theorists, climate deniers, internet troglodytes, mouthbreathers, and those who would rather stick their heads in the sand are doing their best to block and decry positive initiatives. Included in this group of retards are politicians, dictators, bombastic TV and radio show hosts, special interest group leaders, and right-wing power mongers.

Will scientists and climatologists be able to get the truth out and overcome this groundswell of stupidity and convince the skeptics that we have reached a major fork in the road?

One fork leads to the possible extinction of life on earth; the other to a great and grand renaissance. I hope it is the latter.

It is our choice to make.

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