Doomsday !

When Stephen Hawking has something to say, the world listens. He is probably the world's foremost theoretical physicist who has been driven to live his life in a wheelchair by a crippling disease. He is so respected in the world of science that his predictions for the future must be taken seriously.

Stephen Hawking has warned that life as we know it on planet Earth may be impossible just a hundred years from now.  By then, global warming will render Earth uninhabitable.   He suggests that we had better get a move on in establishing a new home somewhere else far overhead.

We have already set foot on the Moon and there are plans for a mission to Mars in the foreseeable future, but so far our ability to seriously establish even a small colony in space remains in the realm of science fiction.  Even the closest planets thought to have both an atmosphere and water are beyond the present life span of humans, even if we somehow managed to travel at the speed of light.

The last few years have been presenting an unmistakeable message about how our world is changing.  The glaciers are retreating and it seems inevitable that the Arctic will be ice free in summer before we reach the middle of this century.  Year after year temperature records are broken and there is every expectation that the rise in sea levels will accelerate.  Storm intensity increases and tropical diseases invade cooler climes.  Deserts are increasing in size and the food that sustains us is subject to change as rainfall patterns shift.

Our number are ever increasing and famine now stalks many lands.  War and famine are sending refugees to seek survival across national borders and we are seeing rejection growing in the developed countries of the world.   The population of planet Earth is well past seven billion people and shows no sign of slowing down.  Here in Australia we have passed the twenty-four million mark and migrants flood in at the rate of about a third of a million each year.   We are fast reaching an over populated Earth.

What is exacerbating this situation is what we see when we watch the television news.  In so many countries from which this refugee flood is emanating each woman seems to be accompanied  by many children.   This procreation continues - at the rate of a baby each passing year - even when food is insufficient for the present numbers to survive.   There seems no end to the capacity being produced because contraception is entirely lacking - or is banned by religion.

It seems that education - and contraception - go hand in hand.   These same religions which refuse contraception on religious grounds see their educated followers reduce child numbers in developed countries.   Part of the reason is that child mortality in the undeveloped world is so high that greater numbers are required to ensure at least some survive to later care for aged parents.

Unfortunately, religion holds the strongest sway in the minds of the uneducated and with education comes the reasoning that it is only sensible to produce children the parents can feed, educate and prepare for their place in the world.   Each of the religions that shun contraception seem to thrive where the custom and lifestyle present do the most harm.

We could save planet Earth - if we could control our numbers.   Unfortunately, it is the very same religions that we look to for salvation that preach unbending dogma that defies common sense.  Unfortunately, it seems that Stephen Hawking's warning will fall on deaf ears.  Doomsday may be closer than we think  !