Why Human Species Will Go Extinct Soon

by georgebass

Once upon a time, life was like a domino game. Turtles, fishes of all kinds, and many, many other animals disappeared in the blink of a human eye, as you read these lines.

Have you ever heard the quote “Man is the measure of all things?” This is a Greek one attributed to Protagoras, the pre-Socratic philosopher. As many other wisdom sayings out there it can be interpreted in different ways.

Protagoras' quote is definitely anthropocentric, however, which means that the Universe has been created for the well-being of humans so we can do whatever we want to our planet Earth.

You may not realize it, but this human-centered idea has been really, really influential in Western thought. Think about it for a moment, everything we do is driven by our desire to get more and more, to become kinda like gods, isn't it?

“Man is the measure of all things” was a popular ancient saying that used to work OK in times of Julius Caesar, but it isn't valid anymore — it is literally KO nowadays.

Let's face it. There is an awkward limit to growth that we are unwilling to accept, and that's why we'll die off soon, just as the Greeks and the Romans did thousands of years ago.

Greek ruins somewhere in the Mediterranean region
Greek ruins somewhere in the Mediterr...

Homo sapiens sapiens won't remain on Earth polluting the oceans, releasing tons of carbon emissions into the atmosphere, using other living beings as if they were objects, engineering weapons that could devastate entire continents — by the way, these are just a few examples of unsustainable human activities; the list can go on and on. Things are changing forever right now.

Climate Change Is Happening Now

Today, nobody denies that climate is changing due to human activity. The bad news is that it is too late.

Global temperatures have recently started to increase at an alarming rate, and the uptrend is scary. Scientists had never, ever imagined 15 consecutive hottest months on record.

Seriously, climate change is a big issue, and it is here to stay. We are hitting the 2-degree Celsius target this decade — much earlier than scientists had thought — and 2016 will end up being abnormally hot, the hottest year ever since records began.

It is just a question of time that entire cities will vanish under water. Dozens of countries will become deserts. Massive migrations of desperate starving people will occur.

How many of us will die before we realize how the truth was disguised?

Zombies
Zombies

Plastic Garbage Patches Are Killing Marine Life

Of course, climate change isn't the only threat that will cause human extinction in the next few decades; dozens of plastic garbage patches are currently floating in the middle of the oceans, which is creepy.

Can you imagine? It is estimated that by about 2050 the oceans will contain as much plastic as fish.

The average citizen doesn't seem to care about going extinct soon. Just go to any supermarket and take a closer look at the foods you purchase: Everything is packed in plastic, right? We live in a world of freaking plastic.

The problem with it is that doesn't biodegrade; instead, it's broken into smaller, tiny pieces called microplastics. Aquatic wildlife and zooplankton mistake microplastics for food. So, whether you like it or not, plastic is everywhere, even in the food chain.

The new kids on the block of the end of the world, the oceans of plastic debris, are causing tons of species to go extinct.

Pollinator Insects Are Dying Off

Honey bees, butterflies, and other pollinators are massively dying off too. This phenomenon is called colony collapse disorder (CCD), and nobody knows for sure why it is happening.

What scientists do know is that insect pollination is essential for crops to be produced. It was Albert Einstein who once said “If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would have only four years of life left.”

Honey bees
Honey bees

Bats and Snails Are Going Extinct Too

Our friends the bats and the snails are being wiped off the map right now. I'm afraid it's too late to realize that bats were important to prevent huge populations of insects from ruining crops, and hundreds of species relied on snails for food.

You know what? There are so many species going extinct that I'd spend hours and hours if I were to list them all here in this post.

Welcome to the Sixth Mass Extinction!

Once upon a time, life was like a domino game. Turtles, starfishes, fishes of all kinds, and many, many other animals disappeared in the blink of a human eye, as you read these lines.

Then, another mass extinction in history of Earth occurred, this time caused by humans because they'd considered themselves the measure of all things. Their planet wasn't anthropocentric though, and they needed to be prepared to survive.

Sounds too catastrophic? Not in the slightest. There's no tomorrow in my humble opinion. And we're gonna die soon.

When do you think we will become extinct?

Updated: 09/13/2016, georgebass
 
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DerdriuMarriner on 08/20/2022

The film The Coming Convergence came out the year after you updated this wizzley. It describes catastrophes predicted in ancient scriptures about environments becoming ruinous and people becoming extinct.

Would you happen to have read or seen anything about The Coming Convergence?

DerdriuMarriner on 07/18/2022

Nature goes through a cleansing process between each sunset and sunrise. It perhaps has its smaller-scale counterpart in people experiencing that self-cleansing of blood, muscle, organs, tissue every morning around 4 a.m.

Wouldn't it seem like the two self-cleansing processes could stop a sixth mass extinction that particularly focuses on humans no longer existing? It still would seem possible to me that climate change can be lessened in its effects if we stop littering air, land and waters.

DerdriuMarriner on 07/11/2022

Some science fantasy books, graphic novels and movies have among their characters bionic people who have fabricated parts and people-like robots.

Would that be what we leave behind -- in the event of a sixth mass extinction -- or would we not have the time -- within 10 years, by 2025-2075, by 2100 -- to invent or perfect either of the above two scenarios?

DerdriuMarriner on 05/09/2022

Revisiting your wizzley called to mind something that I'd meant to include in my reactions with the first reading.

Does the sixth mass extinction consider animal species as going extinct but -- apart perhaps those in water bodies -- not plants?

frankbeswick on 02/28/2017

An alternative to extinction is a large population decline,which may vary in severity across the world. After this decline there may be an as yet unpredictable number of survivors. I think that as there is a decline in male fertility across the world this decline may be quite slow and steady. But who knows.

DerdriuMarriner on 02/27/2017

GeorgeBass, Thank you for the list of indicators that warn us of human extinction. It is particularly perplexing to me about the amount of stray plastic interfering with land and water life forms.
This month I re-visited a DVD on "City Beneath the Sea." Do you think that living on the sea floor is possible and that people will behave in more eco-friendly, sustainable ways there or on Mars?

georgebass on 09/17/2016

Thank you so much for your comments.

blackspanielgallery on 09/16/2016

Nice article. I find here on Wizzley articles on conservation, solar power, or any other earth saving idea is read multiple times. If you have not yet found Stumbleupon, it reaches many more readers. Keep writing. I see this is but your second. You have a good start.

frankbeswick on 09/15/2016

None of us knows the future. Acts chapter 1 has Christ saying that it is not for us to know the times and seasons that the Father has appointed by his own authority,and on this belief I totally concur. But consider, when the Jehovah's Witnesses come to my door they ask me do I believe in the end of the world. I say that I do, and then they ask whether it will be soon. I answer, "I don't know. It might be five minutes, it might be a million years, but as I am well over sixty, if it does not happen in the next thirty years or so my interest is purely academic. "

In the Lord of the Rings Tolkien has Gandalph saying, " It is not for us to know all the tides of the world, but to do our best in the times that we are living in, keeping our fields free of weeds so that those who come after us have clean fields to till." With this profound truth I am content.

I am going to live as greenly as possible to do my best for the Earth in the time that I have available to me, and after that, unless we are reincarnated, there is nothing that I can do.

katiem2 on 09/15/2016

Good article, I wish everyone was as conscientious about global warming and the trash they accumulate and add to land fills. I have always taught my kids to think about what they use, want, buy in the regard as to what they will then contribute to waste, trash and carbon foot print.

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