Which in a strange way makes that that statement correct: that threat is not unique to humans. Many earth species share the Anthropocene, meteorites etc. as extinction threats. That being said, it would be nice if the website had a list of universal extinction threats - mostly to send a message.
I believe Steven Pinker has something to say about this, let me see if I can find it. Ah yes, here it is:
Also distorting our sense of danger is our moral psychology. No one has ever recruited activists to a cause by announcing that things are getting better, and bearers of good news are often advised to keep their mouths shut lest they lull people into complacency. Also, a large swath of our intellectual culture is loath to admit that there could be anything good about civilization, modernity, and Western society.
It seems he was right in this instances as well, as evidenced by the down votes being applied to your comment.
Actually, everything, at least in my local area, is pretty good. There's no food shortage, we have medicine and vaccines, I voted recently and, at the polling booths, there was no one with guns telling me where to mark the ballot paper. The employment rate is pretty good. I feel safe and secure in my home and on the street.
What is it with everyone trying to scare the crap out me everywhere I turn.
Sure, things could be better, but I don't recall the last time the marauding hoards of barbarians came through and took all the women and children and burned all the crops, so can we all just relax for a moment? We might get along better that way.
We're a pretty persistent pest, we've even learned to write things like "Deliberate concentration and inhalation of contents of can may prove harmful or fatal" on the back of cans of fly spray - that's pretty impressive for a species who posses The Bomb.
We'll make it through these troubling times, just like we've made it through the past, what? 40,000 years?
There's a big difference between solving problems (which means communicating about them) and getting upset with problems. Changing the world for the better is inspiring, not depressing. Whether you get upset with the message is a choice that you have made.
It's not wishful thinking, it's the ONLY right way of thinking.
Everything IS peachy. Fixing problems is the opposite of what life is about. It's fine as a hobby, albeit a rather dull one (I can think of a thousand other things I'd rather be doing, but hey, whatever rings your bells).
I don't think any rational argument can be made once you bring in the subjective perspective of how a person chooses to lead their life, but I'll play along in any case.
In purely hypothetical terms imagine that within 30 years climate change becomes severe enough that it unavoidably affects my life. For example sake, let's assume that I live in Dubai and Dubai becomes uninhabitable[1]. This would limit me on a daily basis and I wouldn't be able to do the things that I want to do.
If that's not your concern, that's perfectly fine. It's also perfectly fine that I discuss these problems with other people who care about them. If you don't care about this discussion it's always trivial to ignore it.
Which in a strange way makes that that statement correct: that threat is not unique to humans. Many earth species share the Anthropocene, meteorites etc. as extinction threats. That being said, it would be nice if the website had a list of universal extinction threats - mostly to send a message.