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Article: Ends of the world
- Article from:
- Natural History
- Article date:
- June 1, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright American Museum of Natural History Jun 1996. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Sometimes it seems that everybody is trying to tell you when and how the world is supposed to end. Some scenarios are more familiar than others. Those that are widely discussed in the media include rampant infectious disease, nuclear war, collisions with asteroids or comets, and environmental destruction. While different in origin, each can induce the end of the human species and other life forms on Earth. Note that implicit in such slogans as "Save the Earth" is the egocentric call to save life on Earth, not the planet itself.
Of course, humans cannot really kill Earth. Earth will remain in orbit around the Sun, along with its planetary brethren, long after Homo sapiens has become extinct ...