**We humans are peculiar animals.** We take the world for granted. We think this world is only for us to live.

And in this process, we don't realise that we have cause an enormous amount of damage that it is beyond repair.

The earth was formed roughly 4.6 billion years ago and humans first appeared only 200,000 years ago. The first few civilisations appeared around 10,000 years ago.

Humans still lived in harmony with nature. But since the industrial revolution and colonialism happened, we have managed to create havoc on this planet.

![pexels-photo-220993.jpeg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmSFaVuwLkTgNV8jyFbworjSaF5Z6yyaqSEzCjH6HZ4Mkw/pexels-photo-220993.jpeg)

We started cutting down trees, started expanding towns, population exploded, towns grew into cities, cities into megacities and with this explosion, we started consuming precious resources at an alarming rate.

Coal, petroleum, natural gas started depleting. Carbon emissions increased and so did the temperature.

As a result, polar ice caps started melting which in turn increased the sea level, many species started to get extinct, low lying areas started to inundate.

![hurricane-earth-satellite-tracking-71116.jpeg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmNUSrcnDZqFGNycgrR94u18QURq1qQ9FSouydfc7c87X9/hurricane-earth-satellite-tracking-71116.jpeg)

More water from the sea started evaporating, which means more powerful hurricanes.

Coral reefs started dying.

Holes started forming in the ozone layer due to which, skin cancer became common.

We killed animals for sport. Cut down trees to plant more 'economic' trees which would sell at a higher price.

Dumped waste in the sea due to which aquatic life has disturbed.
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All that I have mentioned, we did to other species. What we do to our own species is even more horrifying.

The two world wars itself killed over a 100 million people around the globe.

Hitler alone killed 6 million Jews, 9 million other enemies including 1.5 million children. [Source](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust)

![nuclear-weapons-test-nuclear-weapon-weapons-test-explosion-73909.jpeg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmbHH61GAqVLDhzWgYoEH5FDJFunjJbV8Tygu4xXjHxJqy/nuclear-weapons-test-nuclear-weapon-weapons-test-explosion-73909.jpeg)

The two atom bombs dropped by the USA in Japan killed and affected over 200,000 people and wounded many others.

Numerous other wars have been fought which brought many more casualties.
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Humans might be the only specie that has killed so many of their own.

And with the build up of tension between due to North Korea's threats the world is again on the verge of a war.

**But this time, if there is another war, there will be no winners to celebrate.**
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We are blessed with the knowledge of nuclear power. Yet we use it to inflict damage rather than to use it for electricity generation.

Nikola Tesla had a brilliant idea of providing electricity for free. But he was shunned and his research papers were destroyed.

Humans are indeed peculiar 'animals'...

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