| Summary/Abstract |
THE OBSERVABLE HISTORY of humankind shows that it has on many occasions, for intrinsic or extrinsic reasons, teetered on the brink of destruction - and the same holds true for all living things and the planet itself. Long before the advent of the Apocalypse, people have feared for their lives and the fate of the Earth. Scientists have identified several such periods in history (like the extinction of the dinosaurs) when there could have been universal catastrophe. Now scientists acknowledge that we have entered a sixth period (starting in 1945, when nuclear weapons appeared and were used, and the Anthropocene era began).
|