Earth is approximately 4.6 billion years old. If we compress that vast timeline into just 46 years, modern humans have existed for only the last four hours.

 

Earth is approximately 4.6 billion years old. If we compress that vast timeline into just 46 years, modern humans have existed for only the last four hours. The Industrial Revolution—the moment when large-scale environmental disruption truly began—would have started barely one minute ago.

In that extremely brief span of time, humanity has managed to eliminate more than half of the planet’s forests. Ecosystems that took millions of years to develop have been damaged or erased in moments. This comparison makes one reality impossible to ignore: the pace at which we are consuming natural resources far exceeds the Earth’s ability to recover.

When viewed through this lens, our current trajectory is clearly unsustainable. The planet’s history reflects balance and regeneration, while our recent actions reflect acceleration and loss—raising urgent questions about how long this imbalance can continue.