GL/2010 1

HUMANITY IS DISAPEARING, SO WHAT?

The Earth is fragile and unique

GL/2010 2

The universe is empty with a few exceptions !

The Sun is essential to life

its diameter is 1 392 000 kilometres. If the Sun was as big as a grapefruit, the Earth would be as big as a pinhead.

GL/2010 3

What would be the distance between the grapefruit and the pinhead to have the equivalent of 149 600 000 km?

GL/2010 4

15 metres

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Pluto is at the boarder of the solar system at what distance would it be ?

GL/2010 5

605 metres !

Pluto is only 5/10thmm and is hardly visible : .It is so far from the Sun that its average temperature is -229°C.Life is impossible.

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Where would be the Sun’s nearest star ?

GL/2010 6

Proxima Centauri is a red dwarf, it is situated at 4.22 light years from the Sun (speed of light: 300 000Km/S)

4050 km !_____________

The Space is exactly like that – First you place a

« Sun/grapefruit », you fly during 4050 km and you place the second star. Between the two there is absolutely nothing -

emptyness !

GL/2010 7

If humanity throws the Earth away, there will be no other Earth, if another one exists it will be too far for our rockets!

GL/2010 8

Our Sun belongs to the Milky Way, it is OUR Galaxy, look at it !

GL/2010 9

This photo is showing a galaxy like ours, we can see it from above.

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This photo was taken by Hubble space telescope, it is showing the inside of the Universe, each point is a galaxy.

GL/2010 11

The photo’s field of view is the size of a button which would be positioned 25 meters from an observer.

At the end of its life a star explodes and becomes a Supernova and it sends its atoms everywhere

GL/2010 12

In 1054, the Chinese observed the explosion of this star which has become the Crab Nebula. Each colour is made by a different gas._______________________________________________________

On this photo of Orion Nebula made with the help of filters, oxygen is green, hydrogen is blue and sulphur is red.

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Human beings are made of 65% oxygen, 18% carbon and 10% hydrogen – so we are all made of « star dust » !

GL/2010 14

Pioneer probes left the earth in 1972. This golden plate was nailed on them so that extraterrestrials could see it! The two Pioneer probes went out of the solar system in the 80’s. _____________________________

GL/2010 15

But Humanity declared war on Nature

GL/2010 16

Night life on Earth seen from a satellite. It shows human activities.

GL/2010 17

Urban lights Oil wellsForest firesFishing by lamplight(You fish at night on boats, and you light up the sea to lure fishes)

During the last 100 years people have burnt more than half of the oil that Earth spent 100 millions years to make.

GL/2010 18

Deforestation of Borneo primary forest.

GL/2010 19

People fish twice as many fish as being bornt. « Fish supplies » cannot be renewed.

GL/2010 20

Fishing by lamplight is so productive that it is emptying the oceans.

Human beings rejects twice as much greenhouse effect gas as nature can absorb. The excess of gas remains trapped in the atmosphere

GL/2010 21

This picture was taken from the space shuttle, it shows the very thin coat of atmosphere around the Earth, only 100 km.

The greenhouse effect gas even if they come from nature itself are responsible of global warming.

GL/2010 22

Global warming can be seen with the melting of glaciers

GL/2010 23

Grinnell Glacier ‘s melting in Montana (USA) 1938 1981 1998 2005

In the past, the Earth had 5 major climate changings leading to massive extinctions of many animal species.

GL/2010 24

60%50403020100 542 500 450 400 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0

million years

Disapeared species

The Cretaceous period (dinosaurs,ammonites)

It looks as if a sixth massive extinction of animal species is at work at the moment, it would be better if human beings were not part of it! The world population is 6,860 billions

of people on June 20th 2 010 4 babies are born every second We will be 9 billions a little before

2050 Evolution live: http://www.geopopulation.com

GL/2010 25

The fear of a demographic explosion is going away, human fertility is going down and the growth of the population is stabilizing little by little

GL/2010 26

The question is « how are we going to be able to feed correctly the world population ? »

GL/2010 27

Even if we do not consider religious ideologies, human beings are the first beings able of compassion, they deserve to stay on the planet!

GL/2010 28

Even people who have the highest responsabilities are aware of our fragility !?

GL/2010 29

GL/2010 30

Humans have created beautiful things

GL/2010 31

Girl With a Pearl Earring. Johannes Vermeer. Around 1665

Many thanks to Hubert Reeves for his kindness, his wisdom and his receptiveness

GL/2010 32

If you want to learn more : http://www.hubertreeves.info/

Making this diaporama, I hope I transmitted accurately what professor Hubert Reeves presented during his Forges-les –

Eaux Conference on June 14th 2010. Gilles Lemaistre

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