The young boy looks back from the loading ramp of the giant metal alloy ship, his breath raising clouds of steam in the bitter air made cold by ozone now almost completely diminished. He stares in disbelief at the endless pile of automobiles parked haphazardly here and there like child-worn Jenga blocks falling from a poorly constructed tower in the vehicle owners' frantic rush to get their families to the evacuation ships. on time. How did we get there? » asks the desperate boy. When did everything go wrong in humanity's never-ending quest to become bigger, faster, and more powerful than everyone else? As the nearly city-sized ship reaches the smoky horizon bound for humanity's new home named Kepler-22b, it gazes one last time at the vast oceans, igniting a filthy orange fire as far as it goes. seen since the final disaster which had sealed the fate of humanity on earth. If only they had stopped drilling in the oceans, the boy thinks. And as the distance increases and the bright fires fade, he says a tearful goodbye to the now dying planet his race had called home for millennia and slowly turns to go find his parents. Who are the parents of this distraught boy? Is it you? Or maybe it's your children's children who are experiencing this arguably inevitable reality. Although the scenario presented is sensationally far-fetched, it is entirely possible. Maybe not a mass exodus to a new planet capable of supporting life, and even if we were lucky enough to find such a planet, it probably wouldn't be accessible, nor needed, within this generation's lifetime. But the simple truth remains that Earth's sustainability is rapidly declining due to a multitude of causes. Some of them are the many recent technological advances of our societies over the last century,...... middle of paper ...... leaders of tomorrow.ReferencesCarbone, N. (2011, December 5). NASA discovers a planet in a 'habitable zone' that could support life. Time-based news feed. Retrieved from http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/12/05/nasa-finds-planet-in-habitable-zone-that-could-sustain-life/Fornos, Werner. "Complete." L'Humaniste July-August. 1998: 15+. Academic OneFile. Internet. May 12, 2012. Global energy use: status and trends. (2004). In Encyclopedia of Energy Retrieved from http://www.credoreference.com/entry/estenergy/global_energy_use_status_and_trendsStoll, R. (2012). Green energy is turning to hydrogen. Retrieved from http://www.2facts.com/article/s2000033 Williams, C. (2011, July 28). Off-grid communities: 5 places that are charting a sustainable path. Retrieved from http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/responsible-living/stories/off-the-grid-communities-5-places-carving-a-sustainable-path