the earth is going to shit. we might not yet be at the point of no return where the vicious cycle of warming starts, but it can't be far. simply, we aren't going to change our habits, no matter how much the scientists and treehuggers scream and yell. sure, the bluefin tuna is going to be extinct soon, but before long it will just a memory, just like well, everything else that stands in the path of human consumption.
it strikes me that i'm involved in this every single day. maybe not to the same degree as certain people, but sure as hell i'm involved. BP seems to be some distant tragedy - and i'm doing my part to make sure the demand stays high for oil and energy. i have things to buy, and society needs to progress.
on a cosmic scale, this is nothing new. if greenhouse gases don't get us, some meteor will get us (and the rest of life on earth) eventually. and if not that, in about 5 billion years, the sun will consume us when it becomes to a red giant. so we can relax.
so the human race will die off anyway. arguably if we do destructive things to the earth, it doesn't matter! it might speed things up a tad, but we're not likely to see it in our lifetimes anyway.
the problem with zooming out so far nothing seems to matter at all. so why bother about anything? frankly, i can only be bothered about things that affect me right now, or in my foreseeable future.
there are two really large obstacles to the environment problem.
one, the effort we exert on an individual basis has essentially no discernible effect. it is difficult to care.
two, short term enjoyment almost always trumps long term considerations. it's so far off we can deal with it later (until it's too late).
whatever solution the environmentalists come up to solve this very human psychological pitfall will similarly apply to us.
