Mankind can not exist without the Earth – in the name of this universal truth the United Nations has embraced the initiative to declare 2008 the International Year of Planet Earth. Our favourite planet, which came into existence roughly 4.5 billion years ago, has certainly seen better days, and we are not thinking of the collision with the asteroid that resulted in the Moon being formed from the Earth’s material. The series of scientific and popular events of the Year of the Earth represent, after all, a debate about the future. Round the world, you can ponder over ten questions grouped around the central theme of what is going to happen to the ” third rock from the sun”. A selection of subjects includes: What will happen to the reserves of drinking water, to natural resources and with climate change? What is the effect of megalopolises on nature, and what lies in store for the planet with the growth of its population? With regards to this latter question concrete predictions already exist, according to which by 2050 there might be 9 billion of us living on the planet compared to the present figure of 6 billion. Supposedly, the Earth will still be able to sustain this number of people, but how nature will change, and what fuel, for example, will you use to fill up your car round about the time you reach pensionable age, can only be guessed at.
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