At one time or another, the human race will have to move. Earth is not infinitely sustainable, and with the huge number of cataclysms-in-waiting it might well be soon. The fate of humanity could be likened to a person running around in a minefield: sooner or later that person will land on a mine. Realistically there is one alternative: that would be a huge migration to space and other hopefully sustainable planets. At present there is no technology allowing us to get man on mars; and the fact we haven’t been able to see any other life-sustaining planets isn’t exactly encouraging.

The big issue, even at the moment is the huge population. It is currently around six billion, and that’s quite a bad thing; because given another few hundred years that number would have at the most extreme least quadrupled; and that figure alone is staggering. Where will we house these people? How will they be fed, poverty is already bad enough. All of the world’s resources will be exhausted at an ever increasing race. Perhaps in time the inevitability of war, or disaster will reduce it too fewer, more manageable numbers.

Obviously it is ethically and morally wrong to try reducing the population ourselves, and so we must look to space. The writer doesn’t know too much about the world and space in general, but knows enough to know that we can’t stay here forever. But how will it be done?

We all know science has come a long, long way in the past couple of centuries, and it seems we know it all, just like they thought in the nineteen hundreds. Though even I find it hard to believe that we could travel across the galaxy, even in simple science the issues of radiation and other dangers are apparent; then throw in the thousands of years it would take just to get to the nearest star.

One thing I do have confidence in is that there are other earth-like planets; the odds are good in my eyes. In our galaxy alone there are millions of stars, then even if there are only thousands with planets in orbit, there must be a few with earth like conditions; enough to support life. It’s merely a matter of getting there. Sadly in about two billion years the planet will die, so if we are lucky enough to survive Mother Nature for that amount of time, we need to be off of our home by then.

Unfortunately, our time as a race is limited. If we don’t find a way to get off of Earth we will become extinct. I don’t have to worry so much about this, but it’s a giant problem underlying the fate of humanity, and should be at the least vaguely recognised.

Marley Mason