How might the Earth end - 3.19.2007.1

I was just watching a program on the History Channel, Last Days On Earth, which mentions the 7 most deadly events that can end life on Earth as we know it. It’s quite interesting. The order in which the events are listed is kind of funny, in that the most political is the most likely. If you ask me, that’s just bull.

Think about it. The chance of the Earth being struck by a large space-born mass is incalculable. The reason being we have no idea what is happening in space. Seriously. There is maybe 1% of the sky being watched at any particular sky on any given day. Not a heck of a lot. If something is coming at us, we wouldn’t even see it, unless we got really lucky and it was really close.

But even if we did, there is virtually nothing we could do about it. Hollywood movies aside, the reality is that we have nothing that could stop a space-born body. Between the mass and speed that an object might have, nuclear missiles would be little better than throwing a pebble at a howitzer shell and expecting it to be deflected or stopped. Any other solution is a pipedream or far outside our current capabilities. Several ideas, like placing a solar parachute to slow/change the trajectory or landing on the object is beyond the technology we have today. In addition it is so severely under-funded that it’s infessible. Suffice to say that a planet killer (an object about 6 miles in dimensions which is not particularly big at all) continues to be exactly that.

A black hole is just not a reality. While they exist and move in space they are noticeable in effect and by sight. They stand out and are incredibly hard to miss. Even with the limited resources we have, it would be noticed. Were one to be close enough to affect the planet, there is nothing we can do about it and death would follow in a decade or less.

The main events leading to our demise are man-made. Or so we are lead to believe. The chance of nuclear war is virtually assured. The ability to make smaller and deadlier weapons, while maintaining the weapons already created, ensures that someone will start to use these weapons. Add to that fact the thought that machines made decades ago maintain many of these weapons, and over time all machines fail. So either by accident or by purpose nuclear weapons are going to change the world.

While nukes are an eventual problem, an unforeseen problem is genetic manipulation. Unlike the plagues of the past, the future problems are most likely going to be man-made. This may be due to a directed action, or through lack of knowledge. The direct action is some madman making disease XYZ and letting it loose. There are more than enough people with the knowledge and facilities available to do so. It’s surprisingly easy enough, microbiology and genetics are taught at virtually every 4-year college and textbooks on the subject are available in every library and the internet. IF anyone thinks someone isn’t working on this now, wake up. Whether its a fanatic or a government agency, dozens of biological weapons have existed since WWI and the number is just growing. Eventually one of them will get out.

Continued in part 2...