To: letters@nytimes.com
Re: Global warning Date: Sat, 17 May 2003 |
Dear Sir/Madam,
So, Martin Rees,
Britain's Astronomer
Royal, gives civilization as we know it only a 50-50
chance of surviving the
21st century ('Our
Final Hour': Global
Warning, NYT, May 17, 2003).
That suggests to me that
he is not quite as bright
as he is made out to be. Just a little
“uncommon sense” has
convinced me that the
chances of civilization
“as we know it”
surviving the 21st century
are zero. What is
uncertain is whether the
mind-boggling changes
which will most certainly
occur, facilitate our
survival and prosperity or
our demise. Civilisation, i.e. its materialistic, growth-dependent economy (based, as it is, more on our animal than our human nature) is quite unsustainable. The question is whether we have it in us to achieve sustainability ourselves in the coming decades, or whether nature does it for us. Either way, civilisation “as we know it” is not an option. The 22nd Century
will be a very different
world to the one we live
in today. It is up to us
whether or not our
descendents will be round
to experience and enjoy
it. |