--- title: "Professors Warn of “Horrifying” Self-Destruction of Human Civilization" description: "Humans have known about climate change for decades. So why are we choosing to destroy our planet — and with it, ourselves?" date: "2022-11-12" modified: "2022-11-12" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/professors-self-destruction-civilization" categories: - "Climate Change" - "Environment" - "Science & Energy" tags: - "climate change" - "Fossil Fuels" - "global warming" - "the digest" --- # Professors Warn of “Horrifying” Self-Destruction of Human Civilization ![Humans have known about climate change for decades. So why are we choosing to destroy our planet — and with it, ourselves?]() *\Image: Getty Images/Futurism\* ## Self Destruct Button We live in a technologically advanced global society and we've known about climate change for decades. So why, as a group of professors posit in a [damning essay for *The Conversation*](), are we "choosing to destroy" our planet — and with it, ourselves? The essay was written as the world prepares for the [upcoming COP27 conference](), the latest of the UN's annual climate change summits. The academics, who hail from the University of Newcastle and the University of Sydney, aren't exactly optimistic that world leaders will actually get anything done this time around. "Like watching a slow-motion train crash, the world's leading climate scientists have for decades warned of the dangers of ever-increasing greenhouse gas emissions," they write, referencing the fact that the [US government]() [and Exxon]() have each been aware of the potential for manmade climate catastrophe since the 1970s. "Why do we condemn today's children and future generations to live on a dangerous and hostile planet?" ## Fossil Fuel Hegemony Their answer is alarming. "Fossil fuel hegemony," the experts write, referring to what they consider to be a "prevailing assumption organized by corporate and political elites" that "endless economic growth fueled by fossil energy is so fundamental and commonsensical it cannot be questioned." In other words, fossil fuel reliance is so widely accepted that it's become a both lived and ideological way of global life. Fossil fuels, under this hegemony, aren't just tools. They're a "natural state of being," and to question their dominance is to question the fabric of society. Indeed, this hegemony has proven to be a powerful political tool. Just look at how former president Donald Trump was able to galvanize the working class with his promise to reinvigorate the coal industry. The facts went out the door, and coal became a symbol for a way of life that once was — and by Trump's logic, a world that was [taken away](). (Trump [was unable]() to "bring back" the coal industry, because coal is a dwindling, nonrenewable, and increasingly non-viable resource.) ## Looking Ahead The experts did offer some tangible solutions to this deeply complicated — and dire — global issue. Ultimately, though, they say the answer has to be rooted in degrowth, or a "planned and equitable contraction of rich economies" until sustainability can be reasonably achieved. But that, as we've held witness to for decades now, has been out of reach since 1977. **READ MORE:** *[A technologically advanced society is choosing to destroy itself. It's both fascinating and horrifying to watch]()* \[*The Conversation*\] **More on climate change:** *[Greta Thunberg Says Un Climate Conference Is a Scam and She's Not Attending]()* ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()