In his most recent book Our Fragile Moment, Michael Mann notes that when we look at the Goldilocks conditions of our planetary home that seem to be “just right” for the existence of human beings and the flourishing of human civilization, we might be tempted to think that the earth and everything therein were created this way to be just right just for us. But such a human centered view of our terrestrial home ignores the fact that for the vast majority of earth’s 4.5 billion years of existence, it has not been hospitable for creatures like homo sapiens.

It took a lot of cosmic luck and a lot of evolution for homo sapiens to make it to our current Goldilocks moment here on Earth. It is only in the last few hundred thousands years that climate conditions and evolution led to the existence of human beings, and it is only in the last 10,000 years that climate conditions allowed for human civilizations to develop and flourish. This is only a blip in geologic time.

It is pretty clear that the earth was not made just for us. It is estimated that life on earth formed around 3.5 billion years ago, and I hope that there will be life on earth for billions of years to come. Our time on earth as a species is just a moment by comparison, but it is our moment. It is our fragile moment, and it is very much up to us how much longer this fragile moment for human civilization will last. Will the human moment be a flash in the pan moment, or will we be able to extend our fragile moment for multiple generations into the future?

Extending our fragile moment requires that we understand as much as we possibly can about what allowed for our moment to emerge so that we do not do anything that will prematurely end the conditions favorable for our moment to flourish as a species on earth. Fortunately, through science we have been able to learn much about how events and conditions of the past have led us to the present, and this can be helpful as we work to extend our moment as a species into the future.

By studying the earth’s past we have come to know what conditions are good for the flourishing and diversify of life, and we also know what conditions have not been favorable as well. We know that rapid changes in the chemistry of the atmosphere and the oceans are not good for the flourishing of life. We know that increased acidification of the ocean is not good for marine life. We know that the plate tectonics of the earth are sometimes more favorable and sometimes less favorable for the flourishing of diverse life forms on earth. And we know that natural cycles and natural events will periodically create challenges for life to adapt, evolve, and innovate. Living on earth is not easy even in relatively stable times. It is a constant struggle for survival, and the fact that we as humans have created civilizations to not only survive, but to sometimes also thrive, is an amazing achievement of our species.

But here’s the deal: in the midst of our relative thriving as a species within human civilizations, we have recently managed to have such a impact on the planet that we are recreating in the present many of the conditions that have been so problematic for the flourishing of life in earth’s past – conditions that we know contributed to five previous mass extinction events. We know what rapidly changing the chemistry of the atmosphere and oceans can do to diminish life, yet we continue to rapidly alter their chemistry. We know that increased acidification of our oceans is devastating for marine life, but we continue to acidify our oceans at a pace never seen before. We know that rapid changes in climate are bad for life, but we are causing a more rapid change in climate than humans have ever experienced. We know that biodiversity loss can cause a cascading effect that leads to even more biodiversity loss, but we continue activities like deforestation and the destruction of other habitats that are increasing the extinction of species all over the earth.

It is no longer a lack of knowledge that is recreating the conditions that have led to the previous extinction events. We now know what we are doing. What we have been lacking is the collective moral and political will to move in new directions that will protect and further the conditions for not only continued flourishing of life on earth, but also for the continued flourishing of human civilization.

Though our current situation is undeniably one of dire urgency, the good news is that moral and political will are renewable resources (hat tip to Al Gore), and we are seeing significant shifts in attitudes and practices around the world to preserve a livable climate and extend our fragile moment for at least a few more moments and hopefully many more centuries into the future.

Michael Mann reminds us that this is not the time for doomism. This is the time for doing, and there is so much that we can do. We don’t have much time to avoid some really horrific consequences, but if we do act collectively, we can make a future that will be so much better than what the future will be if we do not act.

And here is even more good news, so many of the actions that we need to be taking are truly better for our personal flourishing and the flourishing of our communities. They are life-giving actions that reconnect us to one another and to the earth. They are peacemaking actions that will create conditions that will lead to less conflict and violence in our world. And they are justice creating actions that will lead to more just and equatable distribution of wealth and resources so that more persons will experience greater opportunities for the experience of well-being. The actions we need to take are those that will more fully express loving our neighbors as ourselves as we work together to live and love into the vision of beloved community.

So what does climate past teach us about our climate present and what we can do about our climate future? Scientifically, it calls us to pay attention to preserving as much as possible the conditions that led to our fragile moment of flourishing on Earth. Politically, it calls us to tap into the renewable resource of our political will to take the collective action needed to preserve a livable climate. And morally and spiritually, it calls us to love each other and future generations of all life enough to give them a chance to evolve more fully into beloved community in this our fragile moment.