by Isabella Blakeley(’26)

Scientists estimate that 15 cities may be underwater by the year 2030. Venice, Italy, Bangkok, Thailand, and Savannah, USA could all be unlivable cities within the next two decades. The rising water levels have led some scientists to plan for an inevitable extinction event. More specifically, scientists are wondering how to keep the human population alive even after the expected unsurvivable blow to the environment. One possible option is to move to a planet that has similar characteristics to Earth. While this may keep our species alive, some people have questioned the ethicality of doing so. 

New technologies, like the inflatable heat shield, or even the new James Webb Telescope have made it easier for NASA scientists to scope out possible inhabitable plants. These rapid advancements in technology have made it more efficient to understand atmospheric images to judge if a planet could contain carbon-based life. At the same time, they are also looking for planets that could potentially support our population. Back at home, the environment is slowly getting worse. With climate changes and the overuse of natural resources, our planet is heating up at exponential rates and will make it soon unlivable. One of the most brilliant minds of our time, theoretical physicist Steven Hawking, claims that humanity will only have 100 years to find a new planet to call home if they wish to survive. He says that over the next 1,000 to 10,000 years the likelihood of an extinction-level disaster increase drastically. According to the technological developments and the imminent danger to humanity, it is clear that now is the time to start colonizing other planets. One problem with this is the ethical dilemma of life: why does our human life take precedence over other life on other planets?

If we move to another planet, most likely that planet will have all the luxuries that we have come to enjoy on earth. This means that there would be life living on the planet that we colonize. On one side of this ethical debate, humans, as New Scientist states, are part of the natural world and have a right to terraform other planets. Terraforming, or the act of transforming an alien planet, especially for the use of humans, has been the center of controversy for many decades. However many specialists state that terraforming is a right that will allow us to explore further into space and open up the possibility for new resources and materials. This would advance our society and our population as a whole. One could even argue that colonizing other planets could help the alien population or life thrive on their home planet. In addition, an opinion piece claims that colonizing other planets could become touchpoints for alien communication and expansion which could help the universe as a whole thrive. 

But are humans really entitled to objects retrieved from celestial planets? And if so, should we expect that aliens have the moral right to colonize us? Most likely, colonizing an alien carbon-based planet would cause the destruction or total annihilation of all alien life. In addition, the decision to move to another planet with present technology would leave behind a great number of people on Earth, which if we don’t change anything, will leave them in a desecrated world. Who would we decide to take on this voyage? And would we be exposing them to challenges that would lead them to their demise? Kelly Smith, a philosopher at Clemson University says that “There’s this idea lurking behind all of this that the universe has a natural way of doing things and that humans come in and mess it up”. Kelly Smith argues that human expansion outwards is unnatural and creates problems, thus, asking the question, is human expansion unnatural and therefore immoral? 

As technologies advance the door to space exploration is thrown wide open. However, this new opportunity raises many moral and ethical questions. Terraforming new planets can give our species new opportunities such as resources and materials. It could even help us catapult into space discovery and save our population. However, colonizing a planet would desecrate the natural ecosystem and any life previously living there. In addition, switching planets with current technology would leave most animals and humans to face their own extinction. Whether moving to a planet is ethical or not, the climate of our own and most current planet is failing. If we do not find a solution soon, we will either move planets or become extinct by our own doing.