preview

Essay on The Fate of Humanity by Technology

Decent Essays

The Apocalypse. The Day of Final Judgment. The Armageddon. Throughout the history of humankind, the concept of the end of the world and an afterlife constantly lingered and drove humans to fear the gods. Most believed that a catastrophic event caused by divine or supernatural powers would end the world and plunge humans into the mysterious abyss of the afterlife. In recent years, however, it is becoming more apparent that the technologies and innovations of human creation will eventually be the root cause of their demise. Technologies created during the 20th and 21st centuries alone have contributed to multitudes of problems, including mass pollution, atmospheric deterioration, overwhelming poverty, and the constant threat of complete …show more content…

Such a massive output of waste needs to be dumped somewhere, and so increasing amounts of lands are used as landfills that pollute nearby populations of animals, plants, and water supplies. Nuclear disasters such as the Chernobyl event can leave an environment devastated by radiation for several decades on end. The most rapidly progressing damage humans are causing to the environment is the issue of global warming. According to an article by edf.org, “[humans] extract and burn fossil fuels… [causing] the release of carbon dioxide and other heat trapping ‘greenhouse gases’… Though natural amounts of CO2 have varied from 180 to 300 parts per million (ppm), today’s CO2 levels are around 400 ppm. That’s 40% more than the highest natural levels over the past 800,000 years” (Why Are Humans Responsible). The massive amounts of greenhouse gas production along with the rapid deforestation of the earth is changing earth’s atmosphere into a natural oven that will soon set the world “on fire.” The climate changes have not only become more common, but also much more deadly. The 2003 European heat wave is a prime example global warming and its effects on human populations, causing 52,000 Europeans to die in a single summer. The unusual heat wave anomaly that hit European is common attributed to global warming and its early representation of its destructive abilities (Feanny and Porter).

Get Access