Concern for Earth’s Environment

The answer to the question posed at left isn’t incorrect, but it’s rare, and perhaps even weird.

We all “live here,” but that’s not the reason most people in the early 21st care about the Earth’s capacity to support life.  After all, very few relatively affluent Americans are personally threatened by environmental collapse.

The probability that you or I will suffer and/or die prematurely due to some issue associated with human society’s apathy to climate change, ocean acidification, and loss of biodiversity is very low.  On the other hand, the probability that future generations will face unprecedented suffering from these phenomena is close to 100%  We either care about these people, or we don’t.