Unfortunately, even if someone could wave a magic wand that causes all of the nuclear weapons on earth to disappear, many believe that due to the depletion of natural resources, the earth would still be in danger of catastrophe, and humankind in danger of extinction. .

             Jonathan Schell's book "Fate of the Earth" is an alarming portrait of the nuclear power in the world. Since the end of World War II, nuclear arms have kept the world's population in a state of constant concern that "something" could happen, whether by design or accident. As tensions continue to build throughout the Middle East, particularly between India and Pakistan, and more recently the nuclear potential of North Korea and China, the nuclear arms race may have subsided between the United States and Russia however, it is still alive and thriving around the globe. As Schell writes, "These bombs were built as weapons for war but their significance greatly transcends war and all its causes and outcomes.They grew out of history, yet they threaten to end history" (Schell 3). The potential for nuclear war seems to increase daily as more countries seek to obtain the ultimate weapon of power, the "Rolls Royce" of combat, the ability to destroy thousands of lives in a flash. Yet with that flash, comes not only the possibility but the probability of more flashes resulting in incalculable damage to life and the earth itself. Schell writes that nuclear weapons "are a pit into which the whole world can fall - a nemesis of all human intentions, actions and hopes" (Schell 3). Yet, many believe that the earth's future is in peril even without the threat of nuclear wars. They believe that the impact of man upon the environment and the planet's natural resources threatens the earth and humankind as greatly as any nuclear war.

             Within recent decades, many environmental indicators have moved outside the range in which they have varied for the past half-million years (Wallstrom pp).