“We cannot live without our planet, but the planet can live without us.” — Maxim kurbangaleev

Maxim Kurbangaleev explains why global environmental problems should concern both society as a whole and each individual. What will happen to the planet in the near future? Does humanity have a solution?

Environmental problems have been on everyone’s lips for the past few years. More and more people have been thinking about the impact they have on the world around us. However, world events (sanctions, economic crisis, political terror) have partially reoriented the news agenda. 

Maxim Kurbangaleev: Is the planet self-cleaning?

Even 30 years ago, TV channels broadcast scientific programs about wildlife, where environmentalists raised the alarm and said that dozens of animal and plant species were disappearing from the Earth due to human activity. Maxim Kurbangaleev shares his feelings about this situation:

“Many skeptics believe that species extinction is a natural process that has always been on our planet. I partially agree with them. However, one species has never destroyed about 70% of life on Earth before. The number increases exponentially every year. I started to reflect upon this issue quite a long time ago and realized one simple truth: we cannot live without our planet, but the planet can live without us. If we do not understand it today, we will not be here tomorrow.”

According to Maxim Kurbangaleev, the Earth has a kind of immunity that works when one of the species becomes destructive to the rest. In the human body when a virus enters, the temperature usually rises, burning out viruses and bacteria and returning the body to a healthy state. “The natural system works the same way,” believes Maxim Kurbangaleev. When evolution turns the wrong way, natural disasters regulate the number and diversity of species. Although there are many cases of extinction that occurred due to external factors (let us mention asteroids and dinosaurs), more often it happens because of disturbances in the ecosystem of the planet.”

“There is an example of how a species can destroy itself. There were trees that began to dominate the Earth in the process of evolution. Their bark became polymer, similar to modern plastic, which is why other plants simply could not compete with them. However, the animals could no longer feed on their hard bark and fruit. A whole chain of extinctions was launched. First birds and insects, then larger predators died out, and then those trees “strangled” themselves because they grew too large. Humanity should not thoughtlessly increase its power, otherwise we can repeat the destiny of those trees,” says Maxim.

“Ecology are what we cannot live without”, — Maxim Kurbangaleev

In addition to extinctions, scientists anxiously inform us about the change of magnetic poles. Such a movement has already happened more than once in the history of our planet. It can happen again at any time. Why are unstable magnetic poles so dangerous?

Scientists began tracking the position of the poles in the first half of the 19th century. Since that time, researchers have repeatedly noted the movement of the North Magnetic Pole towards the South Pole and vice versa. Since the 1990s, their movement has increased four times, and now they are shifted by 65 km per year. 

“To understand what awaits us with the so-called polarity reversal, we need to note that ice ages were also associated with changes in the magnetic field of the planet,” continues Maxim Kurbangaleev. The territory of present-day Europe was in ice, and Siberia was a steppe with a hot climate. Nobody knows how things will turn out this time. Do not forget that modern civilization is tied to the work of space satellites and other electronics which are sensitive to radiation. I think the consequences will be much more serious for us than for our caveman ancestors. It is unclear whether humanity will be able to adapt to these changes quickly or not.”

Scientists have found that over the past fifteen hundred years the Earth’s magnetic field has not only changed, but also weakened. “The planet’s protection from solar radiation and cosmic rays is weakening. According to rough estimates, in 300-500 years it will decrease to 6%, which means almost complete extinction of life on Earth. In just 3-4 generations, you know? Like most people, I have children, I will have grandchildren, great-grandchildren and so on. That is the first thing I am worried about. I hope that the best representatives of humanity will survive. But do you remember the movie “Don’t look up”? Most people ignored the problem, handling their daily affairs. As a result, only rich, feeble old people survived. We should not forget about it. The planet, climate, ecology are what we cannot live without.”

What to do?

“As I said, I personally worry about future generations, not only for my children and grandchildren, but for humanity as a whole. I read a lot of articles and scientists’ opinions, and once I made a promise to myself to do everything possible to leave the planet in a better state than it is now. So that future generations do not have to solve our problems,” continues Maxim Kurbangaleev.

According to Maxim Kurbangaleev, humanity will be able to overcome the cataclysm associated with a change in the Earth’s magnetic field safely if it reaches the first level of development on the Kardashev scale.

Nikolai Kardashev is a Soviet astrophysicist. In his opinion, global civilizations are divided into levels depending on the development of technology and energy use. In a nutshell, the more advanced the technology is, the more energy can be used. The more energy is used, the more technology develops.

 Level 1 civilizations fully utilize the energy of their planet; level 2 – the energy of their star (in our case, the Sun); level 3 – the energy of the galaxy. “We have not even reached the 0.5 level. Previously, we burnt wood, now we burn oil and gas, but in fact nothing has changed. We produce and consume more energy, but still with the help of exhaustible resources. We need to think more globally, grow dramatically, use sunlight, geothermal sources, and thermonuclear energy. All these projects are developing slowly,” laments Maxim. We have all the resources to develop our civilization. I will give an example for clarity: one day of war, as one of the American analysts calculated, costs us $ 500 million; Hadron Collider – 1.5 billion or just 3 days of war. Let’s not engage in war, let’s evolve into more advanced civilizations for our own sake and for the sake of future generations!”