Astronomists are looking for explanets - planets outside of our solar system.
Some have been found, some are even regarded to be second earths...
Some argue that we must build generation space ships in order to get there and survive the blow up of our sun...
And M. Macron has stated that there is no Planet B.
I say we must adapt and live sustainable on this Earth, it must be livable here. That is our home, our planet.
But just in case we look for another planet (a second Earth) - do youl think we deserve to settle there conquer it and destroy it - what is the outlook for any interstellar colony of mankind if man cannot even rescue its own planed and mother Earth?
Aleš Kralj
no, I am not aware of these problems of wind power but pray publish about it - we must know and understand in order to make educated judgements...
The destruction of our planet cannot be reduced to the problem of energy consuption or climate change. The dangers of destruction are manyfold.
I am observing this for about 30 years and it is not getting better.
And let me tell you - that green initiatives are not the problem.
Some are clearly the solution...
The problems are:
- habitat destruction and the extinction of species,
- trade in endangered species,
- global warming,
- water level rises and the subsequent destruction of islands and costal areas,
- waste export and dispersal in natural landscapes (e.g. plastic in the ocean),
- the way industrialized countries are living (ecological footprints),
- extension of single car transport and the rise of car sizes,
- the emerging economies and the hunger of their population also to have a western life style (everyone switches from bicycle to motorino/car)...
Sustainablity and less consumption is one answer.
Alternative energy sources is another.
Understanding of the problems and their discussion is the key.
Other threads in which we are discussing some of the above mentioned issues:
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Plastic_is_dispersed_in_the_rivers_and_the_sea-we_are_openly_destroying_our_planet_What_can_what_must_be_done_Any_helpful_comments_or_ideas#view=5e11bf5a2ba3a1052c73a1c1
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Can_man_continue_to_use_fossil_fuels_or_must_mankind_adopt_and_find_better_more_sustainable_ways_to_produce_energy_Which_ones_and_how_fast_Ideas
That's true Sir. These days, we people even don't care of things or our local environment, in spite of the fact that many a times we ourselves get that with our own hard and/ or smart work. If we start keeping our local environ in a better condition it would be no less than better.
Dear Carsten Weerth , I have signed World Scientists’ Warning of a Climate Emergency. Planet Earth is our only home! Have you signed this warning?
Mitigating and adapting to climate change while honoring the diversity of humans entails major transformations in the ways our global society functions and interacts with natural ecosystems. We are encouraged by a recent surge of concern. Governmental bodies are making climate emergency declarations. Schoolchildren are striking. Ecocide lawsuits are proceeding in the courts. Grassroots citizen movements are demanding change, and many countries, states and provinces, cities, and businesses are responding.
As the Alliance of World Scientists, we stand ready to assist decision-makers
in a just transition to a sustainable and equitable future. We urge widespread
use of vital signs, which will better allow policymakers, the private sector, and the public to understand the magnitude of this crisis, track progress, and realign priorities for alleviating climate change. The good news is that such transformative change, with social and economic justice for all, promises far greater human well-being than does business as usual. We believe that the prospects will be greatest if decision-makers and all of humanity promptly respond to this warning and declaration of a climate emergency and act to sustain life on planet Earth, our only home...
The problems here are man made. Deforestation for shelter, clothing and live Sustainability. Once man activities keep going on, there is no way the problem can stop. The earth is old and everything that has begging must have an end.
Consider in Engineering practice now we talk about fatigue of infrastructures. It mean the earth being old is also experiencing fatigue condition. That's why today we talk about green environment, reducing global warming bla bla bla. Let us live sustainable life by contributing our quota in making the earth livable.
The science fiction and popular science writer, Isaac Asimov, recognized and argued for the huge importance of space missions for environmentalism, with his suggestion that many of the Earth’s pollution problems could be solved by moving industrial processes into space:
“Unless we are willing to settle down into a world that is our prison, we must be ready to move beyond Earth…. People who view industrialization as a source of the Earth's troubles, its pollution, and the desecration of its surface, can only advocate that we give it up. This is something that we can't do; we have the tiger by the tail. We have 4.5 billion people on Earth. We can't support that many unless we're industrialized and technologically advanced. So, the idea is not to get rid of industrialization but to move it somewhere else. If we can move it a few thousand miles into space, we still have it, but not on Earth. Earth can then become a world of parks, farms, and wilderness without giving up the benefits of industrialization.”
— Isaac Asimov, “Our Future in the Cosmos: Space”, lecture given at the College of William and Mary, 1983.
As for a second earth, well, I don't see interstellar flight to exoplanets to be a prospect that raises environmental concerns here and now. The terraforming of Mars would be a more realistic prospect and even that's a long way off and it's unlikely that Mars has extant biota that we need to worry about destroying.
Environmental conservation and protection should be one of our priorities
Fight the corruption in this regard.
Corruption takes a serious toll on the environment. A number of sectors are particularly vulnerable to corruption, including forestry, the protection of endangered species, water supply, oil exploitation, fi sheries and hazardous waste management...
Tackling corruption will help create equitable access to essential resources such as water, and a clean environment. In confronting this crime, an inclusive commitment to action is needed from all fronts, including communities, businesses and Government, while policies that promote transparency, accountability and integrity are simultaneously being developed...
http://www.anticorruptionday.org/documents/actagainstcorruption/print/materials2012/corr12_fs_ENVIRONMENT_en.pdf
For the progress of the human species, applied ethics or ethical culture is paramount.
In this respect, I observe a definite retrogression since the mid 1970s.
We can also opine that the assembly line created the modern consumer,
who has lost creativenesss to develope her/his full human potential. In any case,
humans are not born as co-creators; this is an ethical learning process and the moral imperative of the next decades.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalms+104&version=ESV
https://www.biblegateway.com/verse/en/Deuteronomy%204%3A4
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=genesis+3.22&version=NIV
----------------------------------------
There is an urgent need to change the dominant economic model:
from the win/lose to win/win economy.
We will move from voting to bargaining.
https://www.researchgate.net/project/New-Economic-Bargaining-NEB
https://www.researchgate.net/project/Geonomics-in-1-Lesson
---------------------------------------------------------------
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silvio_Gesell
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Natural_Economic_Order
Saving our planet earth is a collective responsibility that must be activated at all levels. Looking for another place to live at is not the solution.
Stricto census we are not destroying our planet but a large part of the biosphere. I am pretty sure that the planet will survive to our harmful action on present life, on a geological timescale, of course. We can question the fact we deserve to colonize another planet (an extrasolar planet), but in practice, it is more probable that our current civilization annihilates itself before we are able to travel toward another exoplanet... As an astrophysicist, I can not understand how we can destroy and not respect what universe built in 13.7 billions of years!
Curbing industrial emissions and planting over a trillion trees can help save our planet
This is related link with fine contributions.
https://www.researchgate.net/post/How_can_we_protect_and_preserve_our_natural_resources#view=5e4fb3a011ec73152f48a593
Planet B is hard to detect with current technology.
Climatic cycles shows us good level of self-balance of geophysics, responding to different irritations. Sometimes we do not like effects- that is only our problem.
Smart global climate modification has some possibilities, which should be checked.
Here is how we can take care of our environment
https://www.fastweb.com/student-life/articles/eight-simple-ways-to-help-the-environment
Dear Carsten Weerth , this is very related research question by my dear colleague András Bozsik . There are fine contributions there.
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Do_you_want_to_save_and_defend_the_planet_Earth
I am a big fan when it comes to discovery of other planets and even other physical universes (parallel universes/multiverse) etc. However, I absolutely agree that before we embark on such discoveries, we need to save and preserve our own planet first. There are so many fascinating things on our earth to appreciate but these are tarnished by the wars, pollution, greed and destruction amongst many others.
Dear Dr. Weerth! May I argue that there still must be optimism to save out planet. Otherwise climate action policies would not be discussed and countries would not be interrested to be involved in. I only claim that the situation is not yet that bad. Human kind has instinct for surviving huge environmnal cathastrophes - and we had survived the previous ice age as well. There is nothing wrong with searching for another planet: this move might actually be a necessary one, as scientist might find clues on distant planets how to build a set of novel best practies in an effort to preseve nature on Earth:
The Nature Conservancy (2019). "Can the Earth Be Saved? - The answer is 'yes,' with some big 'if's. Here are 3 things we must do. " December 16, 2019, © 2020 The Nature Conservancy Terms of Use, Available at: https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/who-we-are/our-science/three-ways-to-save-our-planet/
Yours sincerely, Bulcsu Szekely
This has been the case for millennia, that as part of technical and technological progress, man develops his civilization by subordinating the planet Earth to himself. If man were able to reach other planets like Earth in order to colonize them, he would probably do so. But since such a flight to the nearest exoplanets (Earth-like) in the nearest other planetary systems, in the nearest constellation Alpha Centauri in our Andromeda galaxy, would have to take at least 2,000 years or even much more (depending on the spacecraft technology used and this) not now, rather in a few decades, such flights may begin, if there are ever any manned flights outside the solar system), unfortunately it is very unlikely that humans will ever reach these exoplanets of any kind. It is sad, but such are the realities of cosmic distances. Therefore, man must save his planet Earth!
Best regards,
Dariusz Prokopowicz
I assume that human inclination to travel to a distant planet is somewhat more connected to our need for peace and relaxation in the face of the severe problems that humanity is currently experiencing.
We hope in science and scientists that one day they will save the earth from pollution and global warming, and the earth will return to a planet fit for life.
Perhaps we will learn from our mistakes and will not do it again. In addition, now we have better information on how to protect our planet.
The most unlivable places on Earth are like heaven when compared to the most livable places on other planets (in terms of temperature, gravity, water availability, etc.). As long as we can't live here sustainably, we won't live sustainably anywhere else either.
- Badges
- Science method
- Similar topics
- Philosophy