We are all going to die

How would the governments of our planet prepare six billion people for the end of the world? They wouldn't." That's the tagline for Hollywood's new Apocalypse movie, "2012." The movie, not yet released, appears to combine scientific theory with ancient prophecy: 2012 happens to be the year in which the Mayan calendar ends. Some believe that this is not a big deal. Others, most notably New Age theorists, believe that the Mayans were on to something, and that the date 12/21/12 will mark the end of mankind on this Earth.

Sony Pictures, which is producing the movie "2012," has skillfully (and I would say shamelessly) tapped into the hysteria, even creating a Web site for the fictional "Institute for Human Continuity," a nongovernmental organization that "proves" we will all die in 2012, and offers a "survival lottery": sign up for the movie's listserv, and you're guaranteed a spot in a plush post-apocalyptic community.

Now, the relationship between Apocalypse and Hollywood is not new. "The Day the Earth Stood Still," "Armageddon" and every zombie movie ever made taps into our visceral fear as a species: that everything we take for granted can be easily swept away.

But I find "2012" an especially irritating premise because, in stating the fiction that an ancient Mayan numerological error is going to kill us all, it blinds us to the facts: namely, that global warming is going to kill us all.

After all, if we're so afraid of dying, we should really focus on the right culprit. That's why I'd like to share with you the words of James Lovelock, one of the scientists who helped discover the hole in the ozone layer: "Enjoy life while you can. Because if you're lucky it's going to be 20 years before it hits the fan." You see, Lovelock believes that by 2040, climate change will kill almost all of us, leaving only somewhere between 500 million to a billion people alive. Although that's not as bad as the Institute for Human Continuity's prediction that 94 percent of all humans will be killed in 2012, it's still not a rosy picture. The forecast becomes darker when Lovelock shares his opinion that there is absolutely nothing we can do to stop global warming at this point. We have to start planning for catastrophe.

Now that I've completely depressed you, I'd like to mention that not everyone agrees completely with James "Debbie Downer" Lovelock. While it is now beyond the realm of debate that global warming is occurring, it's more difficult to see into the future and judge its effects. But take a second to internalize what I'm saying: Global warming poses an existential threat to the human species. Swirl that statement around in your soul. It's disquieting. And hopefully you are rendered more uncomfortable, not less, when I point out that the highest casualty figures will come from developing countries, those that don't have the infrastructure or funds to organize a successful nationwide warning-and-evacuation system. As Americans, we have a better chance than some to weather the global warming tide. But even if global climate change ends up having no appreciable effect on us, it's still going to be a life-changing phenomenon for billions of people.

I don't agree with Lovelock; I don't think global warming is going to kill us all. But then again, I'm a political science major: I'm not an expert in scientific phenomena. But I do know a little bit about people: I know that, when we watch any Apocalypse movie, we root for the protagonists to stay alive. We want humankind to make it; we want to survive. This is true no matter what philosophy we may hold dear-religious or agnostic, fatalist or optimist, we all believe in our hearts that humankind should exist, that we belong here on this Earth.

I don't have any recommendations for how to avert ancient Mayan prophecy, so I am not going to worry too much about 2012. But when it comes to global warming, there's still so much we can do. From recycling used goods and reducing energy consumption, to advocating for institutional change at the local or even federal level, to researching new environment-friendly technologies... this is not a column about how we should reduce the effects of global warming. It's a column about why we should reduce the effects of global warming. Because Apocalypse movies all start with the beginning of The End. They hardly ever show you what comes before, about the chances that people had to avert catastrophe and create a different future. We are a generation of people with the chance to avert catastrophe. Let's create a different future, and leave Apocalypse for the movie screens.