By Mary O’KEEFE

McCoy: This is the probe‘s way of saying, “Hello” to the people of Earth?

Spock: There are other species on Earth. Only human arrogance would assume the signal must be meant for mankind.

“Star Trek” has always been able to make its point with just a few words. The “arrogance” of mankind is one of those lines that Trekkies, like me, quote all the time. The dialogue comes from the 1986 film “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home,” directed by Leonard Nimoy, who came up with the story with Harve Bennett.

This weekend I watched this film again, for probably the 50^th time. Seeing the Enterprise crew come together with the same focus on message with a comic flare is just perfect. “Star Trek” has this way of sharing a great story – well told but then it starts you thinking.

When I was a kid and discovered “Star Trek,” the original series, on reruns, I always ended up at the library researching something from the show that piqued my interest. Later it became a nightlong search on the Internet.

In “Star Trek IV,” humpback whales were extinct so when the probe coming from the whale’s mothership sent out a signal, presumably checking up on their fellow whale species, there was no answer because there were no whales. That is when Capt. James T. Kirk, Mr. Spock and the crew of the Enterprise (on a Klingon ship – watch the film) traveled to Earth’s past to get humpbacks and bring them back to the future.

So of course after “Star Trek VI: The Voyage Home” I began researching extinction.

I am extremely lucky to have a paleontologist son, Charly, who can take all the research I have done and not only explain the parts I don’t understand but bring a real perspective to the subject of extinction.

According to the Center for Biological Diversity, Smithsonian Institution, a sustainable development report from the UN and an article in National Geographic –and Charly – scientists agree that today’s extinction rate is hundreds, or even thousands, of times higher than the natural baseline rate.

Now granted, it is difficult to pinpoint the exact extinction rate because many endangered species have not been identified or studied yet. However, by looking into the past, taking what they know of the present and modeling the future, scientists can come up with a pretty accurate position of how fast across the globe we are losing species to extinction.

In a 2019 report by the chair of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, Sir Robert Watson said, “The health of ecosystems on which we and all other species depend is deteriorating more rapidly than ever. We are eroding the very foundations of our economies, livelihoods, food security, health and quality of life worldwide.”

Extinctions, even mass extinctions, have happened in the past, like the loss of most of the dinosaurs due to a catastrophic event. This is known as the K-T extinction that was a global extinction event about 66 million years ago responsible for the elimination of about 80% of all species of animals. There are a few theories as to the event that occurred; however, there is a lot of evidence that supports the “asteroid theory” and multiple impacts having occurred after the discovery of a couple of craters buried beneath sediments of the Yucatán Peninsula and Boltysh, Ukraine.

Another mass extinction happened at the end of the last Ice Age, 10,000 years ago; however, this is one in which humans played a role. It was not just due to the changing climate; it was also due to an incredible amount of overhunting. This is known as an anthropocene extinction, which is an ongoing current event in which a large number of living species are threatened with extinction or are going extinct because of environmentally destructive human activities, according to AccessScience.

Bees may be an unfortunate example of anthropocene extinction. The human use of insecticide and herbicide, along with the warming of the planet, have caused all types of bees to decline worldwide. It has been estimated that globally one in six bee species is regionally extinct and more than 40% are vulnerable to extinction.

Bees are vital pollinators and without them plants that provide fresh produce would decline substantially. If they continue to decline or fall to extinction other plants would die off.

So apparently the Earth of “Star Trek IV” ignored the whale hunting resulting in the extinction of humpback whales so when the whale mothership came from another galaxy to check up on their fellow whales on Earth there was no answer to their signal. The signal that had to be answered began destroying the planet.

There have been other films about extinction and reverse extinction, like the “Jurassic Park” series; however, the one common theme running throughout is that extinction has disastrous consequences.

The human use of insecticide and herbicide along with the warming of the planet has caused all types of bees to decline worldwide. It has been estimated that globally, one in six bee species is regionally extinct and more than 40% are vulnerable to extinction.

And we never know; maybe a probe from another galaxy could show up sending a buzzing sound and waiting for a response, which cannot be given. “Star Trek,” as always, has a lesson we must learn – that human arrogance can easily be our downfall.

Temperatures will continue to rise with today’s high at 77 degrees Fahrenheit. Friday and Saturday will see temperatures in the mid 80s. It will cool down a little, to the upper to mid 70s, Sunday through Tuesday. There is no rain in sight for the area but winds will be from 10 to 15 miles per hour with gusts to 20 mph today through Friday.