Hothouse, Ice, and Impact: The Triple Threat to Global Technological Society
The Illusion of Planetary Calm and the Geologic Accident The complex, technological civilization built by humanity has flourished against a recent backdrop of relative climatic and geological calm. However, this perceived stability often relies on a profound denial of the Earth’s true, dynamic, and dangerous nature. Citizens in prosperous nations frequently dismiss great natural catastrophes as ephemeral events occurring only in distant lands, a lack of true empathy bolstered by insulation from disaster. Yet, the dynamism of the Earth—the very geophysical features that make it life-giving—also renders it extraordinarily hazardous. Mankind exists and thrives only by what amounts to a geological accident. The catastrophic events that await our race are not exotic anomalies, but merely “run-of-the-mill natural phenomena writ large,” deeply rooted in the planet’s 4.6 billion years of history. ...