Two posts ago, I wrote a post on this being a great country. After thinking about it for a week or so, I've also decided that we live on a great planet. Despite all the bad things on this earth with wars, famine and disasters of all kind, we do have a pretty hospitable place to have our home. Our options are pretty much zero at this point and will be for some time.
I watched William Shatner take his trip up to space and listened to his remarks upon his return. He was truly moved by his trip to space. Some of his remarks are noted below. He was in awe but also in grief for the future of our fragile earth.
"I saw more clearly than I
have, with all the studying and reading I've done, the writhing, slow death of
Earth and we on it," Shatner said.
"It's a
little tiny rock with an onion skin air around it. That's how fragile it all
is. It's so fragile. We hang by a thread ... we're just dangling."
Shatner was experiencing the "overview effect" that a lot of astronauts experience. The experience causes a cognitive and emotional shift in a person's awareness when they see earth from space. We often hear news of global warming and the effects on the climate and the livability of this planet. I think most of us have grown used to the news and don't think a whole lot about it on a daily basis. But, it does appear that us earthlings are not taking the problem as serious as we need to. As an individual, I believe our thought is "what can one person do" and our next thought is "the government and scientist will figure out a solution". I'm not sure how this whole thing is going to turn out and, if it turns out bad, we don't have a second planet to quickly move to.
Enough about the bad news. This is a great planet to live on. We have nice breathable air, abundant water and a pretty great place to live. Our options on other planets don't look so great. Mars has an atmosphere 100 time thinner than ours and only has a trace of oxygen. Venus has a surface temperature of 900 degrees. All the other known planets have similar, unlivable atmospheres. When you look at our earth from above you see a very, very thin layer of atmosphere that allows us to live. The current thought is that space begins at about 62 miles above the earth. Think about that, 62 miles! That is an hour's drive, if you could go straight up. When I think of driving down the interstate to a town 62 miles away, it doesn't seem to far. When you factor in the portion of that 62 miles that we can actually breath air, it shrinks to about 20,000 feet above sea level. That is 3.78 miles! We could walk that distance!
So, this great planet of ours is a great place to live, but is very fragile. We can enjoy it's oceans, mountains, canyons, wildlife, and it's water and oxygen, but we must also be good stewards of this earth. Our descendants are depending on us to take care of this place so they too will have a great place to live.
This planet has a great variety of cultures, architecture, food and other great things to enjoy while we live and in retirement we should explore as much of that as possible. I have seen some wonderful things on this earth including the Rocky Mountains, Grand Tetons, Yellowstone Park and many other parks. I have stood at the edge of Niagara Falls. I have seen some beautiful beaches. I have rafted down some whitewater canyons and have gazed upon the mighty Mississippi River. I've been lucky to see a very small portion of this earth and think this is the planet for me.
Science fiction shows and movies often show humans landing on other planets similar to ours. I can't imagine that will happen any time soon. I would imagine it will be many generations down the road before something like that is even possible. If you ever make it out of this world to visit one of the other planets, I'm sure you will be eager to get home to this great planet of ours!
What amazing things have you seen on this earth of ours? Was there somewhere that really took your breath away? The Grand Canyon was one spot that was mind boggling to me. I was simply amazed at the size of the canyon and the beauty of the place.
I disagree about Earth being fragile or that we are killing it. I think we humans are fragile and are killing ourselves. The earth will be here long after we humans are gone and after a period of healing from our presence, will be a healthy and happy planet once again, as it was before our presence.
ReplyDeleteAs for amazing places on our planet, I tend to equate them to where people are not and thus they are becoming more rare as time goes by and why I don't actively publicize places that amaze me with their beauty. The Grand Canyon is a beautiful place. I would find it ten times more beautiful without all the roads, pullouts, helicopters, glass walkways, lodges, etc. built up along its length. I guess that is why I enjoyed my trip from water level along it's entire length a lot more than I did my trips along the length of the rims.
It is rare to find a place of solitude where there are no people. You would probably have to take a long hike in a remote forest to avoid people for any time at all. I have not been to Yosemite but understand it is an awesome place. But, I often see news about how crowded it is and that the crowds are causing air pollution in the area.
DeleteI'm reading A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. I agree with Ed's comment re: the fragility of the planet. Consider the earth's 4.5 billion year history. Fragile? I think not. And even the scientists disagree about many things. Theories are postulated then proven & disproved. We'll keep on keeping on until we don't. It is an amazing place that we landed. It's a dangerous planet without the influence of humans. A quote from the book - The history of any one part of the Earth, like the life of a soldier, consists of long periods of boredom and short periods of terror. Derek V. Ager.
ReplyDeleteI will have to look for that book and add it to my reading list. After we are all gone, there will remain our plastic trash and tires for a couple thousand years to greet any newcomers.
DeleteI agree that the earth will be here long after we are gone. But I also think we'll be here for quite a while. I'm optimistic that we will think and invent our way out of our problems, as we have so many times in the past.
ReplyDeleteI believe in the ingenuity of mankind and, like you, are optimistic that things will turn out fine.
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