Worrying About the Future, Strangely

THE ONLY THING that matters is climate change. All other issues, no matter how seemingly monumental, pale in comparison, because climate change can cause the extinction of the human species, unless we do something now. Earth's nearest neighbor in space, Venus,, used to be much more like earth, climatically, but, due to a build up of carbon in her atmosphere, now has surface temperatures of eight hundred degrees, constantly. That's where Earth is headed, unless we do something, now. Either way, those of us who are alive now will be dead soon enough, soon enough to avoid the most devastating impact of global warming, namely, an inhospitable, to human life, planet. The unfortunate ones are those, numbering perhaps ten billion, who will be alive one hundred years from now, experiencing the worst of climate change; the wars, the endless mass migrations, the poverty, the starvation, as the human species, silly little primates, fades from existence after a once promising start. Can anyone imagine a scenario in which there are not at least ten million people on Earth in the year 2100, other than atomic war, a global epidemic, collision with an asteroid, the rapture, or whatever? And can anyone imagine them all being well fed, happy, healthy, wealthy, and wise? During my lifetime the Earth's population is more than doubled, from three million when I was a kid to close to eight billion now. Despite slowing birth rates in developed countries,much of the world is birthing right along, as we head towards nine billion by mid century. it may already be too late to save ourselves, particularly considering that a large part of humanity doesn't seem to care about the future. But, scientists say there is still a chance, and they go further, by telling us what we need to do, and how to do it. The only thing we the people need to start doing is listening to the scientists.