There are many ‘challenges’ (they used to be just problems but apparently that’s not upbeat enough these days) to humanity and the survival of our species. Some were there all the time and we are only just finding out about them whilst a great many are entirely man made.

The popular one at the moment is climate change and it is clear that a major international effort, involving a fundamental change in the way we live, is absolutely necessary to prevent (or postpone, depending on your view) catastrophic climate change. What is not so clear is just what can be done, how can it be implemented and what the effects will be. Progress is slow, possibly too slow, but at least the problem is recognised and work is going on in earnest.

Another challenge is on the microscopic scale, super bugs and germ warfare. Two problems in one, super bugs are effectively evolving faster due to the way we live such as world travel, population density and people not taking medicines for a full term etc. There is also the threat from bio weapons where such bug are deliberately developed. Again progress in finding a solution is slow, possibly too small, but the problems are recognised and work is going on.

There is also the threat from geological disasters, such as the imminent explosion of Yellowstone park that will send the world into a darkened, famine ridden decline. If this were to coincide with a couple of big volcanoes then we would not survive. Not much going on to solve that one, a small and hard working number of people trying desperately to make the point heard and get some work done to find a solution, but no real recognition from the worlds governments. Which is bad.

Then there is the issue of heavenly bodies plunging into the earth. It is generally accepted (though not exactly proved) that such an impact was instrumental in the demise of the large dinosaurs. Such an impact seems to occur regularly (well relatively often on a cosmic scale). Currently we have no defence against such an occurrence, indeed if it came from the general direction of the sun then we wouldn’t even see it coming.
It takes us one whole year to orbit the sun, in 1987 we came within four hours of such an impact. The rock in question was only noticed after it had gone past! There is no concerted effort to give us an early warning, there is no system in place to avert the disaster and there is no method in place to deal with it if it did happen. Bit of a worry that.

There are some disasters that we can tackle, given the resources and the time. There are a few, however, that we can not. The only way to minimise risk is to not put everyone into the firing line.
The human race is the first race (as far as I know, which doesn’t say much) that has the ability to get off this planet. Not that we have anywhere else to go to yet.

Whilst the race is confined to one single ecosystem then we all depend on that system surviving forever. Which it probably won’t. It’s a case of all the eggs in one basket.
As I look out the window of my little house in Devon, it’s a bright sunny day, the green leaves and grass seem so vibrant and alive, the sun bathing the stone of the ancient church behind the house, the beautiful blue sky. Today is beautiful, there is life everywhere, and it’s a great time to live in. But it won’t always be like this.

All the big issues of global survival seem so far away but they are not. I don’t know when these things will happen, but they will. I, for one, want my race to be able to survive. I want our history to count for something, all the suffering and striving for a better tomorrow that our forebears have gone through must not end so stupidly when we have the ability to develop a solution.

For as long as there have been armies, people have asked that the money be spent on making peace not war. Now, more than at any time past we know the perils that await us if we do not spend that money on our preservation.

Ralph Hosier