| This home is part of a larger home. |
We have not yet reached the age of interplanetary trade or interstellar trade or any other extra-terrestrial trade.
Import to or export from the Planet Earth is very rare.
The most common import to the planet Earth is energy in terms of sunlight.
We need this import to support life.
Because of this import, the planet Earth accumulates energy.
Accumulated energy may be stored in terms of combustible chemicals, including wood, paper, leaves, and petroleum among others. It may also be stored in terms of kinetic potential energy like water trapped in upland lakes and water trapped and pressurized underground. It may also be stored in terms of temperature.
The planet Earth also exports energy in terms of reflected sunlight and light generated within the planet including those due to the activities of living things.
We need this export to regulate the temperature which will eventually affect life.
Of the light generated by the activities of living things, only a very small fraction is exported.
Activities of all living things on Earth affect the amount of energy exported from the planet Earth.
Of all living things having activities, it is men who have activities that have the greatest impact on energy export.
Men may live with minimal impact on this export and still meet their needs. The impact greatly increased only when men strived to get their wants. It tremendously increased when men strived really hard to satisfy their greed. The greed was never satisfied even in the slightest.
The key to preserving the planet Earth is for men to be satisfied with only meeting their needs.
Men borrow comfort from nature's future. The more we borrow, the more we will pay. Right now we are required to pay and are paying our loans of comfort by suffering the discomfort. But we are still borrowing very heavily. Expect more discomfort as our minimum amount due increases.
We availed of our loans of comfort in terms of: using fossil fueled vehicles to proceed to our destinations instead of having to walk; Using refrigerators and air conditioners to remove heat from where we want it removed and transferring it to hotter places where energy will eventually be stored as raised temperature; and a lot other comfort we can dispense with or minimize use of
