Last Saturday marked the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, which brought mankind to the Moon and one step closer to other planets. Now, 50 years later, we are planning to use the Moon as a stepping stone for our next leap into space--Mars. The dream, of course, is that we will one day be able to live on a new planet.
The idea that we may settle on a "New Earth" is an appealing one. Just ask Hollywood. With movies like Intersteller, The Martian, Mission to Mars, etc., Hollywood would have us believe that this is the future for the human race. And considering the various catastrophic problems scientists predict that Earth faces in the next 100 years (flooding, food shortages, increased temperatures, pollution), it may seem like a good idea for us to have an escape plan.
But what would it actually entail? Hollywood seems to think we simply need to pick up our potatoes and move to Mars. But man cannot survive on potatoes alone, as dietitians (or anyone on a low carb diet) will tell you. Survival of the species depends on a varied diet, and 75% of our crops are produced by pollinators (including blueberries, almonds, chocolate, and coffee). Presumably, then, we will need to bring pollinators like bees with us too.
But not all bees are created equal. Honey is produced by honeybees, but chocolate is produced by stingless bees. In order to produce foods like tomatoes, we’ll need bumble bees, while squashes are predominantly produced by gourd bees. Other pollinator bees include leaf cutter, mason, mining, and solitary bees.
Also, depending on a single type of organisms for all of your foodstuffs is the road to disaster. After all, Buzz survived his jaunt to the moon but how will bees fair under other gravitational conditions? Space colony collapse could spell the end of the human race. Luckily, bees aren’t the only pollinators. In fact, some foods are produced exclusively by animals other than bees. Enjoy agave and tequila? We’ll need bats. Like bananas? We’ll need bats and birds. Love coconuts? We’ll need insects and bats. Like figs? We’ll need fig wasps.
What will keep all these insects in check so that we aren’t overrun but ensure that the healthiest pollinators survive? Typically, this has been the job of predators like birds, frogs, and newts. It is therefore probably a good idea to bring some of those with us too, to prevent a single sick bee from destroying entire colonies, and, in turn, our food supplies. What stops the predators’ populations from growing out of control and eating all of our bees? Other predators, like cats, foxes, and bigger birds.
Presuming we end up on a planet that isn’t identical to Earth, we’ll probably be spending most of our time indoors where we can control things like gravity, atmosphere, and weather. This will cause us to be vitamin D deficient, since we receive most of our vitamin D from sunlight. To counteract this, we’ll need supplies of fish like salmon, tuna, and Atlantic cod. We’ll need huge vats of salt water for these animals, plus the various smaller fish and crustaceans that they eat.
Lastly, it’s hard to imagine a world where the likes of Chris Evans, Paris Hilton, or Queen Elizabeth leave their dogs behind. Of course, dogs are not vegetarians. To bring man’s best friends along, we’ll need to have sources of meat like cows and chickens.
In addition to food, we’ll probably need some oxygen, so planting bigger, non-food producing trees will be a good idea. Forests have typically been created by animals that eat trees’ acorns etc., so we’ll want to bring some squirrels and mice with us. Good thing we’re bringing all those foxes and cats along to keep their numbers at bay.
We’ll also need a variety of organisms to create soil. After all, having saplings but no soil will not help us much. So we’ll need some decomposers to break down fallen trees and dead vegetation, such as slugs, mushrooms, and worms.
Once we’ve packed our space ark with insects, bats, frogs, birds, mice, squirrels, foxes, cats, dogs, cows, chickens, and slugs, we’re essentially saying to all other animals that they’re on their own. This will likely lead to the extinction of animals like polar bears, pandas, seals, rabbits, sea turtles, horses, giraffes, goldfish, elephants, whales, and any other creature we have deemed “unnecessary” to our newly created food web. Assuming that we’ve left to avoid the unstoppable catastrophe on Earth, humans will be the cause of the greatest extinction event on the planet.
Sorry about Earth, lil guys--you're on your own.
Not to mention the people. It will be up to those with space crafts and New Earth domes to determine who gets to move and who has to stay behind. It is unlikely, after all, that there will be enough resources to house all 7 or 8 billion humans. Money will be worthless at that point, so people won't be able to buy passage. Plus, travelling to New Earth will involve space travel, which any NASA astronaut would tell us not everyone is physically cut out for.
People will therefore be selected just like the animal species were--survival on a fledgling New Earth will require all people living there to have specific, specialized skills too. This means only people who live in a country with the capabilities to reach New Earth have a chance of being chosen, and of them, only those who are healthy, young, and have whatever specific skills current New Earth residents lack (doctors, engineers, biologists, laborers, etc.) will be selected. Everyone else will be doomed to the same fate as all the hedgehogs and sea horses.
Sorry about Earth, lil guy....
Now, consider yourself. Are you healthy enough to be considered for emigration to New Earth? Are you also a doctor, or a phycist? And are you young enough to be considered, and will you still be young enough once New Earth has been discovered and it is ready for human populations? What about your family? Your friends?
New Earth is a nice idea, and it could be the future for mankind. But it only ensures the survival of the species, not the survival of everyone. This is why rather than hope that we can find a new place to destroy over time (becuase let's face it--if we can't take care of the Earth we have, what makes us think we'd do better next time?), it is important for us to strive to save the Earth we have.
No comments:
Post a Comment