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Is Earth worth saving?

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Laura Forgrave

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Humans living on other planets has long been a topic of discussion, but one almost exclusively reserved for hard science fiction novels, beginning with the publication of Lucian’s Verae Historiae (“True Histories”), which is considered the first science fiction novel, in the second century (Georgiadou and Larmour 1998; Doody 1996, 26). As technology has progressed and made traveling to other worlds a slightly less distant possibility, some groups are now advocating that moving to another planet should be considered as a serious option for humanity’s long term survival, especially when considering how to best tackle the global challenge of climate change (Tabas 2020). Although less of a ‘solution’ and more of an ‘in emergency break glass’ escape option, there has nevertheless been a surprising amount of discussion on whether the future of humanity lies in the stars, both in the technical talk of researchers and space companies, and in the more public view of popular media.

Opinions on space travel in popular media vary wildly, from a Times Magazine article explaining Stephen Hawking’s belief that humans must move to another planet within 100 years (Zorthian 2017), to a CBC podcast claiming that colonising a planet is a terrible idea (Chattopadhyay 2024). Brad Tabas (2020) coined the term “post-planetary culture” to describe the people who, like Steven Hawking, believe that humanity is destined to live on planets beyond Earth. People who share this ideology prioritize research and technology necessary to escape Earth over climate action here at what we currently consider ‘home’. Many private billionaires, such as Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, agree with this culture, and have gone so far as to form private space companies with the goal of multiplanetary existence. The second item on the SpaceX homepage, after an announcement of their most recent rocket launch, is a picture of Mars, with the title “Making Life Multiplanetary” (SpaceX 2026). Similarly, the website of Blue Origin (Jeff Bezos’ space company) states their intentions to go to space for the “benefit of humanity” right at the top of their home page (Blue Origin 2026). Critics such as Tabas (2020) and Shaw (2022) have even suggested that it is in these billionaires’ best interests for them to focus on leaving Earth and allow climate change to continue. The drastic climate action necessary to stop global warming would require people to buy fewer new items, ultimately resulting in these billionaires making less money (Shaw 2022). By expanding to other planets, the current capitalist economy that relies on rapid consumption of resources could continue, depleting reserves of materials on other planetary bodies once the ones on Earth were gone (Shaw 2022). In the long term, expanding to other planets is not an inherently bad idea, as Earth could be made unliveable by events unrelated to climate change, such as asteroid strikes (Zorthian 2017). However, getting humanity on another planet would be an incredibly massive undertaking, and as a result should not be our first (and definitely not our only) approach for ensuring humanity’s well-being in our changing climate.

Although prominent businessmen may be enthusiastic to leave Earth behind, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center (Funk and Strauss 2018), the majority of Americans are less convinced, with only 42% of respondents saying they would want to orbit the Earth as a space tourist, let alone leave the Earth for another planet. When asked to rank NASA priorities, the three topics related to living on planetary bodies other than Earth were considered the least important (see Figure 1). A Canadian survey (Coletto and Bennett 2026) about the Canadian space program did not have a specific question about traveling to other planets, but the majority of Canadians thought it was important to participate in space missions and expand Canada’s space program for economic and sovereignty reasons. The Canadian survey did not discuss long-term space travel to other planets.

Figure 1 – For each of NASA’s nine missions, this figure shows the percentage of survey respondents who thought the mission was “top priority”, “important but lower priority” and “not too important/should not be done” (Funk and Strauss 2018). The missions are listed from the highest to lowest percentage of respondents who selected it as a “top priority.”

In summary, new space-based technologies open up a potential “Get out of Jail Free Card” for dealing with climate change, helping ensure the long term survival of the human species, but building the infrastructure necessary to move humanity to another planet would be an enormous undertaking that is impossible in the immediate future. Before humankind abandons the Earth, trusting space technology that is still in development while searching for another planet to destroy, we should take the time to consider some other, less complicated ways to combat climate change. In light of the extremely complex future of space travel, maybe reducing our reliance on fossil fuels, shifting to a circular economy, and reducing our overall carbon footprint is a safer bet. 

References:

Chattopadhyay, Piya, host. 2024. The Sunday Magazine. “The case against colonizing space.” CBC, July 14, 2024. Podcast, 15 min., 3 sec. https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-57-the-sunday-magazine/clip/16081365-the-case-colonizing-space. 

Coletto, David, and Kelly Bennett. 2026. “Abacus Data Poll: 68% Of Canadians Think Canada Should Have Sovereign Launch Capabilities.” Abacus Data. July 16, 2026. https://abacusdata.ca/canadians-think-canada-should-have-sovereign-launch-capabilities/.

Doody, Margaret Anne. 1996. The True Story of the Novel. Rutgers University Press. https://www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/the-true-story-of-the-novel/9780813524535.

Funk, Cary , and Mark Strauss. 2018. “Majority of Americans Believe It Is Essential That the U.S. Remain a Global Leader in Space.” Pew Research Center. June 6, 2018. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2018/06/06/majority-of-americans-believe-it-is-essential-that-the-u-s-remain-a-global-leader-in-space/.

Georgiadou, and Larmour. 2018. Lucian’s Science Fiction Novel True Histories: Interpretation and Commentary. BRILL. https://brill.com/display/title/2484.

Shaw, Debra Benita. 2022. “The Way Home: Space Migration and Disorientation.” New formations: a journal of culture/theory/politics, 107 (2022): 118-138.https://muse.jhu.edu/article/881496. 

SpaceX. 2026. “SpaceX.” SpaceX. 2026. https://www.spacex.com/.

Tabas, Brad. “Hatred of the Earth, Climate Change, and the Dreams of Post-Planetary Culture.” Ecozon@ 11, no. 1 (2020): 63–79. https://doi.org/10.37536/ECOZONA.2020.11.1.3188.

Zorthian, Julia. 2017. “Stephen Hawking: We Have 100 Years to Colonize a New Planet.” Time. May 4, 2017. https://time.com/4767595/stephen-hawking-100-years-new-planet/.

Comments

9 Responses to “Is Earth worth saving?”

  1. Laura Forgrave Avatar
    Laura Forgrave

    I am personally really passionate about climate change and how people’s opinions on climate change are influenced by media. I decided to relate that topic to exploring other planets, which is something we will be discussing in our first RP. As we have been talking about different perspectives on science in Life Sci, I found it interesting to explore some of the different opinions people have about both climate change and space travel in this article.

  2. Audrey Ferris Avatar
    Audrey Ferris

    Hi Laura!
    This was a really interesting blog and is particularly interesting to me as a third-year since we are currently examining possible climate change solutions! A couple of suggestions that I have for you are the following:
    – Make sure to center your figure and figure caption!
    – I think it’s super interesting that you mentioned how our capitalist society contributes to global warming, and I think you should expand (if word count allows) on some of the environmental mechanisms that contribute to climate change to give more depth to your post.
    – Make sure all your in-text citations are at the end of your sentences, as some of them are placed in the middle of sentences.

    Overall, super cool post; I look forward to reading the final edits!
    -Audrey

  3. Alice Buckley Avatar
    Alice Buckley

    Hi Laura!

    I really liked your blog post, the discussion of different beliefs and biases was really interesting. I had a few suggestions:
    – The first sentence is a bit long, it would be better at grabbing the reader’s attention if you shortened it.
    – I agree with what Audrey commented above, would you be able to add some more details about the science? Maybe talking about different conditions on planets, how we might be able to fix the climate instead of looking at space, or what a sustainable future could look like. Or if you want to continue the perspectives route, you could talk a bit about human tendencies to want to avoid fixing solutions and instead escape.
    – Let me know if you want help shortening anything, I’d be happy to help you cut things down!

    Looking forward to reading your final post!
    Alice

  4. Ava Elcsics Avatar
    Ava Elcsics

    Hi Laura,

    I enjoyed reading your blog post, especially how you connected different perspective to space exploration

    Some suggests include:
    – Revising and condensing some of the sentences particularly within the second paragraph. Some of the sentences are on the longer side and can be condense to make the text flow better. For example when you wrote. “As technology has progressed and made traveling to other worlds a slightly less distant possibility, some groups are now advocating that moving to another planet should be considered as a serious option for humanity’s long term survival, especially when considering how to best tackle the global challenge of climate change (Tabas 2020)”, you could remove some unnecessary words like, “slightly” and “now”. In addition, I would suggest splitting this up into to separate sentences to make it more concise for the reader to understand.
    – I am unsure what you mean when you said “hard science fiction novels” within your first paragraph and “private billionaires” within the second paragraph. I suggest explaining what this means within your paragraphs.
    – I also agree with Audrey and Alice, you could enhance this post by taking more of a scientific approach. This could be done by explaining why humans may need to vacate earth and giving some examples to explain how the process of moving to another planet will be difficult.

    Overall this was a very interesting read.

    – Ava

  5. Aveline Desousa Avatar
    Aveline Desousa

    Hi Laura!

    I thought this was a super interesting blog post to read, and I really liked how you connected climate change with current discussion in the world. I have a few suggestions that I hope will help during your editing process:
    – Your second paragraph is slightly larger than the other paragraphs, so I would split this one into 2 or 3 sections. I would suggest creating a break before the sentence “Critics such as Tabas (2020) and Shaw (2022) have even suggested that it is in these billionaires’ best interests for them to focus on leaving Earth and allow climate change to continue.”
    – I found the sentence “As technology has progressed and made traveling to other worlds a slightly less distant possibility, some groups are now advocating that moving to another planet should be considered as a serious option for humanity’s long term survival, especially when considering how to best tackle the global challenge of climate change” a little hard to follow, so I would consider removing “a slightly less” so it flows better
    – I think you could enhance your blog by adding a section describing how science/technology has developed to allow us to now view other planets as a potential solutions for the climate crisis with more specific examples

    Best of luck with the editing process!
    – Aveline

  6. Griffin Suk Avatar
    Griffin Suk

    Hello Laura,

    This was a very interesting read! I was hooked the moment I read the title. I just have a few comments to consider when editing your blog post:

    1. I suggest changing “Critics such as Tabas (2020) and Shaw (2022) have even suggested that it is in these billionaires’ best interests for them to focus on leaving Earth and allow climate change to continue. The drastic climate action necessary to stop global warming would require people to buy fewer new items, ultimately resulting in these billionaires making less money (Shaw 2022). By expanding to other planets, the current capitalist economy that relies on rapid consumption of resources could continue, depleting reserves of materials on other planetary bodies once the ones on Earth were gone (Shaw 2022).” to: “Critics such as Tabas (2020) and Shaw (2022) have suggested that it is in the best interest of billionaires to focus on leaving Earth and allowing climate change to continue. Halting climate change entails a reduction in the amount of goods produced and sold, shrinking profits. Focusing on the potential to move to other celestial bodies allows for consumption to continue at its current rate.”
    2. I would suggest changing the paragraph: “Although prominent businessmen may be enthusiastic to leave Earth behind, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center (Funk and Strauss 2018), the majority of Americans are less convinced, with only 42% of respondents saying they would want to orbit the Earth as a space tourist, let alone leave the Earth for another planet.” to: “Although businessmen may be enthusiastic to leave Earth behind, the majority of Americans are less convinced. Only 42% of respondents would want to orbit Earth as a space tourist or leave the Earth for another planet (Funk and Strauss 2018).”
    3. I would suggest removing some adjectives and adverbs to shorten the length of your post, as well as some phrasing. This can help you fit in more information. For example, you could remove “Like Steven Hawking” in P2S2, “have gone so far to form” -> “have formed” in P2S4, and remove “now” in P1S2.

    Overall, this was a very well-done and creative blog post! I found it to be quite an interesting read.

    Happy editing,

    Griffin Suk 🙂

  7. Abbie Johnston Avatar
    Abbie Johnston

    Hi Laura,

    This is an interesting topic. I like the hook you used in your first sentence. I just have a couple of suggestions for you.

    1. This sentence: “Although less of a ‘solution’ and more of an ‘in-emergency break-glass’ escape option, there has nevertheless been a surprising amount of discussion on whether the future of humanity lies in the stars, both in the technical talk of researchers and space companies, and in the more public view of popular media.” I don’t think you need to add the ‘’ surrounding ‘solution’ and ‘in emergency break glass’.
    2. For your figure, don’t forget to center it, and don’t forget to cite it.
    3. In this sentence, “In summary, new space-based technologies open up a potential “Get out of Jail Free Card” for dealing with climate change, helping ensure the long-term survival of the human species, but building the infrastructure necessary to move humanity to another planet would be an enormous undertaking that is impossible in the immediate future.” I would cite it, and for the “Get out of Jail Free Card,” I don’t think it needs to be capitalized unless you are quoting something. If that is the case, I would definitely cite the sentence.

    Overall, great job!
    – Abbie

  8. Sayana Suthaharan Avatar
    Sayana Suthaharan

    Great job with your blog draft Laura, I think that you chose a highly engaging topic. I just have a couple of suggestions, that you can use to potentially improve your final draft.

    – I would recommend changing your title slightly and putting “The Earth” as well as capitalizing the rest of the words

    – My second suggestion would be to take out “living” in P1S1 for better readability

    – My last suggestion would be to make sure your Figure caption is italicized and making your References a header.

    Nonetheless, you did a great job! Can’t wait to see your final copy!

    Sayana 🙂

  9. Audrey Thompson Avatar
    Audrey Thompson

    Hi Laura,

    I really enjoyed reading your blog! This is such a cool topic, I loved how you presented both sides of the arguement instead of immediately stating that space colonization is a bad idea. I just have a few suggestions that may help strengthen your blog:

    1) I think the main arguement could be made clearer earlier on in the blog, so the reader knows your position from the beginning. I think this would also help grab readers attention sooner.

    2) I really like the title ‘Is Earth Worth Saving?’, but I think you could reference that question more throughout the blog rather than mainly at the end. I also noticed in your title “worth” and “saving” are not capitalized. I think capitalizing them would make the title look more polished.

    3) I think the blog would be stronger overall if you discussed some of the scientific reasonings as to why us as humans may eventually need to leave Earth.

    Overall, I really liked your post!

    Thanks, Audrey

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