Is Space Colonization Possible?

As the days go on, and climate change starts to become irreversible, people start to think: where would we go once we destroy our planet? Even though some people don’t believe that the Earth is dying, others see it happening everywhere. In California, the state where it seems to be on fire almost every other month. The North and South Poles have ice caps and glaciers that are melting quicker than scientists have predicted. The population that has been seeing this occur are terrified for the future of the planet, because the damages are soon becoming irreversible. 

In 2001 Stephen Hawking predicted that the human population would become extinct in the next thousand years, unless we establish colonies in space. Space settlements would have to provide mostly, if not all of the resources so humans could survive. To achieve this, we would have to build and develop technology that just simply does not exist yet. But as we have been seeing the planet is dying quicker than any scientist could have expected. If we want the human population to survive, space colonies may be the only way. There are multiple reasons that explain why we should colonize space. 

The article stated that “the Solar System alone has, according to different estimates, enough material and energy to support anywhere from several thousand to over a billion times that of the current Earth-based human population” (“Space Colonization”). Outside of our solar system, there are several hundred billion planets within the Milky Way Galaxy. All of these planets would provide many different places to collect resources and colonize. The only problem is that there is no way to travel outside of our solar system, unless we create a new way to travel. 

Space colonization could solve the overpopulation and resource demand crisis. As we see the population of this planet grow, we see our natural resources dwindle, which causes the influx in fossil fuels. Since space does not seem to end, the resources seem unlimited, which could cause the demand of Earth's resources to decline. The article stated that “Earth would no longer define the limitations of growth” (“Space Colonization”) if the resources in space were made available and life-supporting habitats could be built. 

As we watch the Earth dying, and no one is trying to stop that from happening, we have to start planning for the future. If we want the existence of the human population to continue after we permanently destroy the Earth, we need a plan and somewhere to go. Space seems like the best option because of all of the vast resources, and how it is never ending. If we can successfully create space colonies in the near future humans may be able to live somewhere where their planet is not dying.