We are great wonders in the universe

　　Several weeks ago, I expressed my opinion about the relationship between humankind and nature. In my point of view,we are only extremely small parts of Mother Nature and should not interfere with the eco-system or violate its laws.

　　I hold the belief that in the face of the unfailing power of Mother Nature，the existence of we humanbeings is just like a very tiny drop of water in the vast ocean. We are not powerful and wise enough to make the conquest of nature really meaningful to our existence and development. Actually, we have never been able to be master of our planet earth,let alone the whole universe! And what seems incredible is that it is this" drop of water" that makes the Earth radically different from what it used to be. Perhaps humankind is the most intelligent and creative creature that has ever lived in the solar system. There is nothing more wonderful to be a so complicated organism that can have such a deep understanding of the spectacular world full of wonders!

　　Man has for centuries tried all possible ways of putting natural resources and energy to use. Industrial revolutions driven by new technologies gave rise to the unprecedented changes on the surface of our planet,making what used to be impossible possible. However，as the saying goes：Every coin has its two sides. Science and technology is undoubtedly a double—edged sword.Advanced technologies have indeed promoted our social development，but at the same time caused adverse environmental changes. Air pollution, global warming,the shortage of drinking water and food,severe deforestation and fast-growing population all pose great threats to the sustainable development of our civilization. In the solar system，most places are either too hot or too cold for life to gain a foothold.Take Venus for example, a planet sharing many similarities with the earth.The planet Venus is a hellish world with the temperature on its surface above 470 degrees celsius. And what is really important about the irreversible fate of Venus is that we should be fully aware of the serious consequences of the greenhouse effcet being out of control!Or it may be very likely that our home planet will become a lifeless rock like Venus and Mars!

　　Most of us are inclined to take it for granted that the Earth will remain unchanging and be suitable for living on all the time.But it is very misleading. According to scientific research，the environment on the Earth used to be too hostile for life to survive about four billion years ago.That is to say,what we take for granted is actually very precious and vulnerable! It takes the Earth over three billion years to make the evolution of life successful enough to generate the organisms with such extremely complicated structures like us!

　　That‘s where the rub is.I believe nobody wants to see our earth become a dead planet as a result of the severe global warming and all sorts of pollution. After all,there is only one Earth in the universe.The Earth is a really beautiful and unique planet worthy to be cherished and protceted by all the people living on it. So if we humans want to survive the next thousand years, we‘d better take environmental protection seriously！

　　To put it simply,it is very irresponsible of us to continue our over-exploitation without taking the interests of next generations into account. We should not be too selfish because what we are doing now may have a far-reaching impact on our grand children.Great civilization is too invaluable to suffer its disappearance so we humanbeings must be fully aware of the importance of cherishing the chance of being in unique existence in the universe!

　　以下为中文翻译：

　　我们是宇宙的伟大奇迹

　　几周前，我表达了自己对人与自然间的关系的看法。在我看来，我们人类仅仅是大自然中极其微小的部分，并且我们不应该干扰生态系统或是违背自然界的法则。

　　我相信，在大自然无穷无尽的力量面前，我们人类的存在就好似宽广大洋中的一滴微不足道的水滴。我们还没有强大和聪明到可以将征服自然变得对我们的存在和发展确实有意义的地步。实际上，我们从来没有能力成为地球的主宰，更别说整个宇宙了！但是，令人难以置信的是，正是“这一滴水珠”让地球和过去有了天壤之别。也许，人类是太阳系之中曾经生活过的最富智能，最有创造力的生物。（这世上）没有比成为一个如此复杂的有机体更令人愉快的事了，这个有机体是如此的复杂以至于他可以对其周围充满奇迹的世界有一个深刻的理解。

　　在近几个世纪中，人类已经尝试了所有可能的方式去运用自然资源和能量。由新技术驱动的几次工业革命，在我们居住的星球表面引

　　发了前所未有的巨大变化，让过去的不可能成为可能。但是，正如一句谚语所说：每个硬币都有它的正反面。科学技术毫无疑问也是一把双刃剑。先进的技术的确促进了社会的发展，但同时也导致了负面的环境变化。空气污染、全球变暖、饮用水及食物的匮乏、严重的毁林行径和快速增长的人口，都对人类文明的可持续发展造成了巨大的威胁。在太阳系中，大多数地方要么太热，要么太冷，生命都无法在那些地方立足。以金星为例，一颗与地球有着许多相似点的行星。金星是一个地表温度超过470摄氏度的地狱般的世界。金星不可逆转的悲惨命运对我们的重要启示是：我们人类必须认识到温室效应失控的严重后果！否则，我们的家园很可能会变成像火星和金星一样的没有生命迹象的岩石！

　　我们大多数人都倾向于认为地球会长期保持现状并且将永远适合生命生存，这似乎是理所当然的，但这十分有误导性。根据科学研究，在大约40亿年前，地球环境对生物的生存来说太过恶劣。也就是说，我们认为理所当然、稀松平常的世界其实是非常珍贵和脆弱的存在。为了使生命的进化足够成功来产生像你我一样极度复杂的有机生命体，地球花费了超过30亿年的时间！

　　这就是问题的关键。我相信，没有人愿意看到我们的地球由于严重的全球变暖和各种污染，变成一个死寂的星球。毕竟，宇宙中只有一个地球。地球确实是一颗美丽而独一无二的行星，它值得每一个生存在它之上的人去珍爱和保护。所以如果人类要在下一个千年中继续生存下去，我们最好还是认真对待环境保护。

　　简而言之，不考虑下一代的利益而继续进行过度开发的行为是非常不负责任的。我们不能太自私自利，因为我们现在的行为就可能会对我们的子孙产生巨大的影响。伟大的人类文明是无价的，它太珍贵了，以至于我们不能够接受它的消失。所以，我们人类必须充分意识到珍惜自己作为宇宙中独特存在的重要性。

　　（作者辛宇，英文作品，不喜勿喷！）