The threat of annihilation to humanity is a very old part of our psyches and cultures. We came very close to getting snuffed out in europe during the Ice Age and many world religons record, or predict catastrophy; Hinduism has Vishnu the destroyer, Tuetonic/ Scandinavian people Gotterdammerung, Christianity the Tribulation and Hopi predictions of this world ending. We've endured everything from biblical blights of locusts, The Black Death, The Holocost, nuclear bombs and accidents. Quess what? There were survivors. Those european reindeer hunters went on to live in flea infested cities and then kill their nieghbors in two horrific world wars. Now we're doing our best to trash the planet globally. The attitude " we will all die in a major catastrophy anyway" is a self indulgent reaction not unlike burrowing deeper in the blankets when the alarm goes off. It's easier to hope the party won't end and that somebody else will solve the problems without to much inconvenience to us. These are the people who buy surplus gas masks and think the problem is solved.