Are We Giving Up On Earth?

Space colonization is the idea of permanent habitation somewhere other than our planet, Earth. This concept has become very popular in recent years. There are many people and scientists who back up the idea and say that it may end up being our only option to continue to survive and reproduce as a species. I believe that this is just a way to ignore the problems that humans have made for themselves and come up with an escape plan, instead of working together.

Climate change is a very prevalent issue in our society today. This can be seen by the increasing temperatures, melting glaciers, sea level rising, and more. Although there is some evidence to show that this may have happened to our planet with or without humans, it is clear that humans have the greatest impact on our changing climate. Humans have produced so many greenhouse gases through industrialization that it is inevitable that our planet will continue to experience global warming if there is not a change.

Instead of investing money to make a change for our own planet, people are resorting to escaping to outer space. In order to colonize in space, the costs will be insurmountable. It is said now that in order to send one pound into space, it would cost $640. This means that to send one average American male, it would cost $126,656 to send him up, alone. In addition to humans being sent to space, there would need to be enough materials to provide for a new population. There would also most likely need to be more materials needed on average for each person because outer space is a hostile environment and the population will need a significant amount of protection. Considering all of these costs and the need for increasing technological advances, don’t you think it would be much simpler to invest in our own planet?

Another popular reason to have a back up plan to space was because of the possibility of global nuclear warfare. This is, again, something as humans we can conquer and not avoid by running away. It is known that several countries have access to nuclear weapons and that they could be detrimental to our planet. Thankfully there is a way to ensure that no country will use them, Mutually Assured Destruction. Meaning, if one country uses the weapon, the other will too. This is a dangerous concept because if the weapons are put into use, the whole planet will be inhabitable. In order to avoid this, the world just needs to work together.

In order to save our planet from extinction, there will need to be many changes made and will most likely cost a lot of money. Our population will also have to work together to avoid major consequences. Although this could be difficult, it is a much better option than running away from our own home and spending money that will be spent somewhere else either way. As humans, we need to work together and not give up on our planet.