Day of Wrath

Humanity will eventually come to an end. This is scientifically sure, as far as things can be scientifically sure. I remember the day I learned this as a child in primary school. My parents and my teacher tried to reassure me: I myself would (probably) never experience it. They didn't understand that wasn't sufficiently comforting to me; I could empathize perfectly with the people who will actually experience it and I still can today. The nightmare of being lifted up and swallowed down into the earth is as realistic as it could be. Many people didn't survive this experience this year.

It all became more understandable as I learned about the cosmos and humanity. The second law of thermodynamics tell us nature will gradually eliminate all useful energy differences and turn our universe into a lukewarm lump of iron. Furthermore, our earth and our sun have a finite lifespan. Possibly we can still try to escape to another place, but the question is whether we will learn that in time. Humanity (or a new super-human successor) can perish from natural cataclysms such as meteor strikes, comet impacts, solar expansions, volcanic eruptions, uncontrollable biological plagues, such as epidemics or new extremely successful life forms. We discovered we can also create the cataclysm ourselves: continuing burning fossil fuel is probably the fastest way. We are extremely vulnerable.

Therefore, good management and responsibility are more important than ever. Glasgow 2021 can become either a milestone of salvation or a milestone of auto-destruction. Management and accountability are also a common thread in Christianity. In the Bible, man is often appointed as a steward of precious things (the parable of the talents, the prodigal son, the appointment of Peter). On the return of his master, the steward is held accountable for what he has received. The intuitive religious feeling that we will be reckoned off for what we have done with our planet is seamlessly aligned with today's scientific findings. Care for the Earth is needed more than ever.

I like to refer to my previous blogs: "Sustainability Engineering", "Heat", "Durban" and "Biosphere 2".

Photo: European Space Agency (Rosetta mission) – license text can be found at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/igo/