The Earth as We Know It

By Maurice Strong The Globe and Mail, Toronto, Monday, May 22, 2000 [Maurice Strong is a former senior adviser to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and to the president of the World Bank. His curb, Where on res publica ar We Going?, was publishedin May 2000 by Knopf.] Where on Earth be We Going? is not merely the title of my book exactly the fundamental question that confronts the human community as we begin this new millennium. The short answer to this is that it is up to us. For human numbers, and the shell and intensity of human activities, have reached the point at which we are impinging on the surroundal and life-support systems on which life on Earth as we know it depends. We are literally the champion architects of our own future. What we do, or fail to do, bequeath determine the sentence of the Earth as a hospitable home for the human species. otherwise forms of life will, of course, be affected and, indeed, many species are already becoming extinct at unprecedented rates. But humans are now the dominant species -- and in many ways the most unprotected to the risks that have been created by the very same processes that have produced wealth and prosperity beyond the dreams of past generations. What a paradox it is that is our mastery as a species threatens our future!

In the course of human experience, there are many instances in which great civilizations became victims of mismanagement of their own environment and natural resources. Tragic as these events were for those involved, life went on and new civilizations emerged, culminating in the technological civilization in which we now live. The difference is that this civilization is global in scale and our failure to manage it effectively and responsibly will have consequences for all of humanity. Dire predictions are never popular, but they are not always wrong. When your doctor gives you an unwelcome diagnosis that your life is at risk, you are surely unwise to overlook it. The... If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: Orderessay

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