The tragedy that our generation could have saved the world

Talked to my Astronomy TA after class. She noted in discussion about how Venus’s atmosphere can be taken as a sort of warning to what Earth could (and is on the path to) become. Basically Venus has such an abundance of greenhouse gases in its atmosphere that nothing can escape, and thus it is inhabitable and crazy hot. When I talked to her after class I asked her if she thought we had reached our tipping point or not (for those of you who are unfamiliar with the term, tipping point essentially refers to the point of no return. Basically the Earth functions as a feedback loop so once a certain level of destruction happens, for instance if the the Earth warms to a certain degree, glaciers start melting and ocean temperatures increase which expels even more CO2 into the air then it will continue into a continuous feedback loop on its own, even without our intervention. So the essential question, is can we make it so Earth will not be destroyed or is it too late) She talked about a couple of things I had never really thought about. For instance she noted that we are in one of the largest mass extinctions. Damn. Take that in for just a second. (For those of you who don’t know biodiversity is absolutely essential for our (and the earth’s) survival, if you want to know why comment and I will explain) Basically there are times like this that totally upset my notions of the world and of my very value systems. For one I think I tend to use a defense mechanism when thinking about global warming/climate change. I avoid thinking about the topic, and pretend that the earth’s resiliency or our own technology will save us. And I stop thinking. I stop thinking because I know if I actually think about it, it will depress the crap out of me, I will have to think of the ethical considerations of having children, I will have to consider that my life might end early in an Apocalypse fashion, and I will have to realize that as choosing to be a Sociology major my life may be in vein. I think that  decontextualizing earth makes me and hopefully everyone else realize how unspecial and unmagical our planet really is. Earth is just as prone to greenhouse gases and will have the same effect as planets like Venus. It is not special, it conforms to the laws of science and physics just like Venus, and if we continue to increase the CO2 in our atmosphere it is inevitable that it will reach the same fate. Earth is not magic. I think we cling to these notions that earth is resilient and will find a way because we are scared shitless. (at least I am) By clinging to this logical fallacy we can pretend like we aren’t living in vein. But the hard cold truth is that earth isn’t special, its a planet just like Venus, and its just a coincidence that we live here. It’s scary as shit to actually step past our logical fallacy and illusion that everything will be alright. Because it won’t. Within my lifetime I will see the world degrade in such an intense way it will probably look somewhat Apocalyptic. Yes it’s scary as shit. But it’s the stark reality that we can’t keep pretending won’t happen. We have to cut the bullshit of these logical fallacies that our scientific models of earth’s climate change must be flawed or that technology will save us or the earth will find a way. It won’t. And unless we choose to do something about it, we are solidifying our own demise.