How Long Will Earth Last? The Clock is Ticking

by Dennis Townsend, Contributing Writer

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Have you ever just sat and thought to yourself, how long will the Earth last? Or how about, if there are millions of galaxies out there, why is it that we seem to be the only planet with life on it? What I believe is that there is other life out there, but we are not meant to cross paths. The influence we could have on another species or they on us could be an imbalance that the universe is quite not ready for yet. In the eyes of others, we could be considered barbaric or in the eyes of a dominate species, weak and docile, which could make those premonitions about alien invasion a reality. Star Trek fans are very well aware of the “prime directive” which forbids interfering with the evolution of other galactic cultures and species and perhaps that could be a creed of another species when it comes to us. Somewhere out there, far, far away in a galactic abyss, two Voyager spacecrafts are speeding along with a plaque and a gold phonograph record saying hello, we are located in the what we call the Milky Way galaxy, third planet from the sun. Stop by for a spot of tea if you are ever in the area.

God, Allah, Jehovah, or Spirit in the sky, whatever your belief, it was wise of that entity to determine  that all species have their own personalities and imperfections and  interactions with each other would not serve the purpose or plan which they envisioned. Science dictates that the universe was created by the “big bang”, and religion preaches God as the almighty creator. The arguments about which is correct is mute because God could very well have created the bang that brought forth this galactic canvas in which the universe was painted.  With so much “space” out there, boundaries are natural meaning that where we probably can not survive another species could. It is arrogant of us to think we can destroy our planet, and move on to another like we're just moving up the street. Mars is the big talk at this point when it comes to conversations about an “Earth Two”, but somehow that seems to be a very questionable maybe. Mars is a hostile planet with 6 month winters and planetary dust storms that make living in above ground structures sketchy at best. Not to mention the logistics and the lack of sustainable water. Not human species friendly, possibly a natural boundary.

Climate change, you hear about it. They just had a summit about it with world leaders in an attempt to stop the elevation of the poisons that are being expelled into our atmosphere. Yet those that make money off polluting our planet are the first ones who deny global warming. We must change the way we live and that is going to be difficult with the money makers promoting more and more pollutants in the name of profits. How many more oil spills can this planet and wildlife endure? How many more earthquakes will it take before the Earth shakes apart? As of right now, scientist say that the Earth will die in about 5 billion years and by the time that happens I'm sure humans will be just a memory to somebody, but our footprint in the sands of time in the Milky Way galaxy will remain for ions in the form of the space junk that we leave behind before we depart.