I wrote this post as part of the Love to Lead project. If you would be kind enough to vote for me, we will both be in with the chance of winning a laptop.
We, the human race, live in a time of climate change, and if the experts on this matter are to be believed then within a relatively short period of time life on this planet will become, if not unsustainable, then extremely difficult. Therefore, the colonisation of another planet makes a great deal of sense. However, this could not happen overnight.
As far as we know, there are no planets within travelling distance which would be suitable for human beings to simply land on and set up home. In order to make any given planet amenable to human life, a programme of environmental engineering would need to be put in place to alter the climate, atmosphere and terrain to the sort of conditions we could live in. This is not something which could happen in a short time frame, it would take centuries before the chosen planet had been optimised, for want of a better word.
Of course, small numbers of people could live within artificially created environments, but it would not be possible to sustain large populations in such a manner. While some may feel that this could be described as humans populating a new planet, I don’t think it really can. The word population suggests a growing, evolving society, not a small enclave which is subject to restrictions (in terms of movement and numbers for example) which stunt the natural growth one would expect to see in an earth based society.
If we had unlimited time, I believe it would be perfectly likely that human beings would populate another planet. We are resourceful and adaptable, and have managed to thrive in what are often less than ideal circumstances. However, it appears that we do not have unlimited time, and the time we have available is not enough for us to be able to embark on such a grand scheme. Therefore, I think it unlikely that humans will ever populate another planet.
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Kate
Mum, blogger and editor based in the north of England; interests include fog knitting, cat herding and jelly juggling. If you want to get in touch for any reason you can find me on Twitter, LinkedIn or drop me a line via the contact page on my portfolio. Alternatively, you can follow this blog via it's Facebook page, or subscribe to the feed.
Jack Yan
I think you’ve hit the nail on the head there. Proof of global warming is staring our leaders and Governments full in the face but nothing will be done about it until its too late. The same will happen when the time comes to move to another planet. It will all be sadly too late.
That is it. Initially, when I read the question I thought it could be a possibility, but the more I thought about it, the more I realised the time scale involved made it unlikely to ever happen.
Got your eye on that laptop too?
The one who’s in first place I think has figured out how to vote more than once a day.
Oh yes! The things I could do with a laptop, such as hiding in the airing cupboard but still being able to use the internet LOL
I didn’t know you could vote for yourself. This is why I never win competitions, it never occurs to me to do things like that. And ‘they’ say honesty is the best policy. Huh! Just goes to show what ‘they’ know.
Great singing bablefish I just stumbled upon that site (and saw your post on the front page). I thought it was something from ages ago not new and fresh. Well done you on getting thier first.
Oh no, it’s new, but I don’t think I’ve got a chance of winning the laptop – as Kim said, the person in first place seems to be doing some extra-curricular voting. Plus, I went to the ‘no’ side, and the ‘yes’ posts seem to be more popular. Oh well, even if I don’t win at least I can say I maintained some integrity.
you got my vote!
Thank you