Member-only story
We Are Not Screwed — Maybe
We are in danger perhaps, but that’s a different story.
Humans first appeared on the earth scene around 7 million years ago, give or take. This is when early humans along with the chimpanzee, diverged from a common ancestor. In these 7 million years there have been approximately 26 different humanoid groups living and dying off at various times. We, homo sapiens, are the survivors. Our nearest cousins, the chimps are still here but only at our leaving.
Our other cousins, the Neanderthals died off about 25,000 to 35,000 years ago. The reason for their extinction has still not been determined but there are numerous theories, all having some credibility including one in which we, the new kids on the block so to speak, killed them off.
So, humans, in some form or other have been around for 7 million years surviving plate tectonics, earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, tsunamis, meteor showers, magnetic pole reversal, ice ages, droughts, solar storms, hurricanes, tornados, avalanches, pandemics, wars, genocides and rising and dropping sea levels and species extinctions and we are still here.
