Will This Be Us One Day?

The planet earth has a life span of eight billion years, give or take a few million.
People have been around for approximately forty thousand years--a virtual

blink in the cosmos. It is sad that we as a species are ravaging the natural 
world so fast that we are jeopardizing our survival. If we wipe ourselves out,

it would be the height of folly, but the earth will survive even us. It will eventually

restore itself. It might take a few thousand years, and it won't be just

as it was before, but its life is stronger than death.

Charlotte Davis Kasl

Yesterday a co-worker and I were watching the latest pictures of Mars on the computer, and I thought, "How special is this. Here we were, sitting in an office watching pictures of a planet that is located 35 million miles from us, at the closest point in its orbit, and it was like someone had filmed a dessert on our Earth." The pictures were magnificent. Yet, as I stood there watching in awe, I couldn't help but wonder if we were being given a prophetic glimpse at the future of our great Mother Earth. Is this where we are heading?

To cherish what remains of the Earth and to foster

its renewal is our only legitimate hope of survival.

Wendell Berry

Personally, I believe the Mars once was once a thriving planet,  teeming with life; in fact, much like our Earth. That is, until its inhabitants destroyed it just as we are in the process of destroying our own beautiful planet right now. Greenhouse gases. Polluted waters. Overpollution. As a people, we throw tons of garbage away every year without even thinking of recycling. We destroy natural habitats in our quest for fuel to heat our homes and drive our cars. We chop down trees and destroy forests for paper and building. As a result, animals are going extinct, and once they are extinct, they will be gone forever.  

Could it be that by allowing the Curiosity to land and take these pictures at this precise time is the Universe's way of reaching out to us?  Is she showing us what is to come if we don't learn to live within our limits? The truth is, if we don't stop all this madness and start thinking about tomorrow, there will be no tomorrow. We have an obligation to our future generations to come. As it stands now, what future will they have. Our Earth is definitely getting warmer and our desserts bigger. We are becoming the planet Mars. Are we just going to sit here and watch it happen?  Or are we going to do something about it while we still have a chance?