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10 gut-wrenching pleas from astronauts to save planet Earth

Apr 21, 2017, 21:31 IST

It's amazing how fragile the atmosphere looks from space, said American astronaut Mary Cleave. All we have is a thin film of air to protect us.

That atmosphere is something we all share.

Views from space show the destruction humans have caused since the dawn of the industrial age.

Ongoing human catastrophes, like deforestation, are easily visible, too.

It's also easy to see lakes dry up and pollution spread.

If we don't act now on climate change, things could spiral out of control.

People in power must work together if we want to temper climate change and its disruptive force, the astronauts say.

It's also crucial that we educate future generations to be better stewards than we have been.

We're the only caretakers of Earth, the astronauts say, so it's our job to watch over of the planet.

Dutch astronaut Wubbo Ockels suggested that the Earth has cancer, just like him, in a heartbreaking message.

Ockels died the day after recording his message.

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10 gut-wrenching pleas from astronauts to save planet Earth

It's amazing how fragile the atmosphere looks from space, said American astronaut Mary Cleave. All we have is a thin film of air to protect us.

That atmosphere is something we all share.

"Our atmosphere connects us all. What happens in Africa affects North America. What happens in North America affects Asia." —Dan Barry, American astronaut

Views from space show the destruction humans have caused since the dawn of the industrial age.

"Less than 550 humans have orbited the Earth. Those of us lucky enough to have done so more than once have not only heard about the negative impact that the industrial age has had on our planet, we've seen it with our own eyes." —Michael López-Alegría, American astronaut

Ongoing human catastrophes, like deforestation, are easily visible, too.

"The view from space is just breathtaking. And at the same time we recognize deforestation and wildfires, and so on, which are related to climate change." —Naoko Yamazaki, Japanese astronaut

It's also easy to see lakes dry up and pollution spread.

"We astronauts have been witnessing the continued shrinking of the Aral Sea, the burning rain forests along the Amazon and in Indonesia, the polluted air over industrial zones, and the dirty water at the river deltas." —Ernst Messerschmid, German astronaut

If we don't act now on climate change, things could spiral out of control.

"This is the biggest problem the world has to face right now. And we're at a point now where we really have to take action and make the changes to try to ward off the worst effects which might come down the pipe." —Greg Linteris, American astronaut

People in power must work together if we want to temper climate change and its disruptive force, the astronauts say.

It's also crucial that we educate future generations to be better stewards than we have been.

We're the only caretakers of Earth, the astronauts say, so it's our job to watch over of the planet.

"We are citizens of space, and stewards of Earth. We need to take actions to build [a] global climate alliance in order to protect our environment." —Soichi Noguchi, Japanese astronaut

Dutch astronaut Wubbo Ockels suggested that the Earth has cancer, just like him, in a heartbreaking message.

Ockels died the day after recording his message.

You can watch the astronauts' entire video below.