 Originally Posted by Xei
Nature doesn't 'want' us to be here, by the way. In fact, nature killed virtually every organism on the planet once, by poisoning them with oxygen. Nature doesn't care.
Xei is right about this. Nature (whether "God-Nature" or the more mundane variety) doesn't "care" about humans or any other organism. Balance happens by way of natural selection.
We evolved to prefer a certain mix of gases to breathe precisely because those were the gases we had all around us. Offspring that couldn't process these gases well died off, and we were selected for breathing the air that existed.
Plants are a part of the equation that makes up the composition of air, as they keep CO2 levels lower than they would be, and oxygen higher. We are part of the equation as well, as we keep oxygen levels lower than they would be, and CO2 higher. Plants and mammals evolved together to be part of this system of balance.
The good news is that we generally adapt quickly enough to keep our survival going. I'd hate to see a hot Earth that kills off much life (just an example), but if it happens, those who are better adapted at living in hot weather will be selected for, and the population will continue. It's actually change in climate that drives evolution, and the more drastic the change (up to a point), the faster the adaptation, although at a larger cost in terms of lives.
The Earth tends to seek balance, but that doesn't mean there is only one possible way for it to be balanced. If we manage to throw ourselves into a globally warmed Earth that is intolerable and we all die out, other life forms will emerge that are selected for the new balance, and they will owe their very existence to our self-destruction. And the Earth.... it won't care bit.
To put it into perspective, here are some things that HAD to happen in order for homo sapiens to emerge:
1. Countless eruptions of volcanoes
2. The comet that destroyed dinosaur life and changed our climate
3. The most recent ice age that forced our ancestors to learn to adapt
I'm not ready to have humans disappear, but I'm comforted in knowing that when we do, there will be plenty of life left over to take our place.
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