Save the earth! The slogan follows us wherever we may go. In the lunchroom, it encourages us to recycle. In the parks and public places, it reminds us not to litter. At home, it urges us to turn off the lights. No matter where we go, we cannot escape the phrase: Save the earth.
However, this is important because the earth is in need of saving. We humans have generally made a mess of our world. We have polluted the skies, poked holes in the ozone layer, generated light enough to make the stars fade away into the night and produced enough energy to begin melting the icecaps. If these practices continue, the Earth could run out of time. Right?
I beg to differ.
We are talking about the same Earth here, right? This is the Earth that is age old and born in a den of asteroids and fire. This Earth is a mere ninety-two million miles away from a humungous nuclear powerhouse, splitting and combining atoms, the very essence of our Universe. The Earth has survived asteroids over ten kilometers in diameter. These asteroids would’ve created shockwaves over ten miles high that could’ve traveled around the world in minutes, destroying everything. This Earth has even endured earthquakes of 9.2 on the Richter scale, so powerful they could actually extend the length of the twenty-four hour day and create tsunamis miles high. This is the earth we’re talking about? And we – a race of only seven billion people – are going to save this planet? What a funny notion.
We do not have to save the Earth. The Earth can take care of itself. Some measly holes in the ozone layer won’t kill it. Neither will mass deforestation. We humans need to face a sorry truth: as of now, we are not capable of destroying our planet.
However we are capable of destroying ourselves and we will if we don’t make some huge leaps in conservation efforts. What if everyone biked to school, weather allowing? What if everyone remembered to turn off that light switch before leaving the house? With any luck, in the coming years, we won’t be surrounded by ‘save the earth’ posters but instead by the ‘save the human race’ slogans. Our planet will last many years more. Hopefully, the human race can, too.