NASA Astrobiologist and renowned scientist Dr. David Grinspoon brings
readers an optimistic message about humanity's future in the face of
climate change.
For the first time in Earth's history, our planet is experiencing a
confluence of rapidly accelerating changes prompted by one species:
humans. Climate change is only the most visible of the modifications
we've made--up until this point, inadvertently--to the planet. And our
current behavior threatens not only our own future but that of countless
other creatures. By comparing Earth's story to those of other planets,
astrobiologist David Grinspoon shows what a strange and novel
development it is for a species to evolve to build machines, and
ultimately, global societies with world-shaping influence.
Without minimizing the challenges of the next century, Grinspoon
suggests that our present moment is not only one of peril, but also
great potential, especially when viewed from a 10,000-year perspective.
Our species has surmounted the threat of extinction before, thanks to
our innate ingenuity and ability to adapt, and there's every reason to
believe we can do so again.
Our challenge now is to awaken to our role as a force of planetary
change, and to grow into this task. We must become graceful planetary
engineers, conscious shapers of our environment and caretakers of
Earth's biosphere. This is a perspective that begs us to ask not just
what future do we want to avoid, but what do we seek to build? What kind
of world do we want? Are humans the worst thing or the best thing to
ever happen to our planet? Today we stand at a pivotal juncture, and the
answer will depend on the choices we make.
