I know this sounds kind of odd, but bear with me for a moment.
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(PS - picture is from British Artist Tim Simmons.. cool stuff.)
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So pretty much every generation thinks they are in the "End of Days". Normally this is a biblical thing (or other religious holy book thing). Part of it is the way the Bible is written, it is pretty easy to read the signs into most occurrences.
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But see, we haven't hit the end of days yet. And skeptics would scoff at the notion that we are at the End of Days because of the Bible.
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And yet, non-religious people also look to see the portents of the End of Days, just not Biblically. Remember the "Nuclear Count-down Clock" that showed the minutes until "zero hour" and destruction. Remember the Council of Rome and the end of resources. Hell, even Malthus thought the end of days was near in the 1800s due to over population.
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So far, so much bunk. So is it any wonder that people ignore / don't worry about Global Warning. I mean, we have all been down this road before. Even if Global Warming is a real threat to the Earth (and I think it is), there have been so many Chicken Little warnings before that "real" warnings are falling on deaf ears.
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So let's take a step back and ask, why do people want to believe they are living in the end of days. I think it makes us feel a little more special than the people that came before us. Like all of Earth's history (or God's work) is working towards this point - and we are here. Maybe it will be our generation or our children's generation that solve the problems that would otherwise kill everyone. It's like a hideously long movie - we have put so much in it, we want to see how it turns out. (ps- How it turns out, Brad Pitt becomes a little baby and just vanishes one day - talk about a long movie!)
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Just thinking....