ABSTRACT
Earth is, by all accounts, a wonderland planet. Let’s take that first from rocket science. Viewing Earth from space, the astronaut Michael Collins recalled being earthstruck: “Earth is to be treasured and nurtured, something precious that must endure”. Life is so far known only on planet Earth, where over billions of years, there has been an explosion of life, moving through several billion species, reaching humans in an evolutionary process. Human dominance is so extensive that Earth has entered a new age, the anthropocene epoch. Enthusiasts for increasing human powers advocate that humans can and ought to manage their planet in their self-interest, engineering Earth resourcefully for increasing human benefits, bringing about the end of nature. Human activity is putting such strain on the natural functions of Earth that the ability of the planet’s ecosystems to sustain future generations can no longer be taken for granted”.
