A race against Time
Time heals a lot of things; broken hearts, wounds, animosity. But time, together with humans, also destroy a lot of things. In fact, I believe it’s only a matter of time before the human race destroys the planet and makes it uninhabitable for us.
Climate change due to human activities and the rapid growth of the human population will doom the planet, and with it, our species.
Unless.
Today, a few groups of people are working actively to make that “Unless” come true. And it’s a race against time. The race against time notion becomes even more apparent if you’re aware of The Fermi Paradox.
The Fermi Paradox asks the question of why – given the huge estimated number of Earth-like planets there are in the Universe – we appear to be alone. And one of the theories is that there is a Great Filter, or an obstacle SO huge that other civilizations and lifeforms just could not overcome, to become an interplanetary species. Waitbutwhy has an incredible article on what some potential Great Filters may be.
If that Great Filter is still ahead of us, then it makes sense for us to diversify (terraform other planets) as soon as we are technologically capable of doing so. So back to the people working on “Unless”…
Elon Musk – Interplanetary Champion
You should really slap yourself if you have not heard about Elon by now. This man is almost single handedly pushing on the mission to ensure humanity’s survival.
How? Glad you asked.
First, he is trying to stall for time on Earth meeting an earlier demise with all the carbon emissions it’s inhaling, by working on Tesla, his electric car company. Tes;a is currently working on its 3rd iteration of electric cars, imaginatively called Model 3. This is the first that’s aimed at the masses, costing $35,000 before incentives. Tesla is working on an acquisition of SolarCity, of which he sits as the Chairman. SolarCity is the largest provider of solar energy services in America.
Second, he is also the CEO of SpaceX, where his ultimate mission is to send 1 million people to Mars by 2035, in order to enable a self-sustaining human colony. You can view his Mars project as an insurance policy for humanity in case something terrible happens on Earth.
Mark Zuckerberg | Priscilla Chan – Disease Curer Billionaire
Next, we have Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO and his wife, Priscilla Chan, donating $3b via the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, in an audacious bid to cure all diseases.
Leonardo DiCaprio – UN Representative on Climate Change
Lastly, we have Actor/Producer/Environmental Activist Leo DiCaprio. He narrates Before the Flood, a documentary distributed by National Geographic detailing the effects climate change is having in various parts of the world.
In order to bring about higher levels of awareness of climate change, the film was distributed free on various platforms, including YouTube, and you can watch the trailer here.
Until these folks succeed on the bigger picture, we as individuals can also do our (small but powerful when done together) part in reducing our carbon footprint.
It doesn’t help that the second biggest contributor of carbon emissions is now being presided by a President Elect who thinks climate change is a fraud.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯