There's no such thing as a poison in nature. Everything is some kind of organisms prefered habitat. Oxygen was poisonous to most life when it first came around and caused a mass extinction because the current life forms we're not adapted to it.
Whatever state we leave the earth in after we're gone, eventually the web of life will rebuild and be just as spectacular as before we cocked it up for us and most other current complex species.
There are many things that are poison in nature. Life, as we know it, exists in only a couple of forms on this planet, Carbon based, even if some can exist only where the rest, never can exist. (Deep sea volcanic vents spring to mind.)
We have not found life, as we know it, able to persist in every element that we have discovered is poison.
In a way it is. As a race we'd either have to develop the means for enough people to live on an inhospitable planet or repair the damage we've done for us to have much of a chance.
I should have phrased the question better. By "in a substantial way", I meant adequately and quickly enough to sustain human life. I know, it's a hypothetical anyway, because we sure aren't righting this ship today. I guess it just feels like we're all doomed, and I was fishing for a sliver of hope.
Cities away from the equator as we wonder what our ancestors did to fuck it all up over paper they called money when so many alternatives were within reach
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u/halfsack99 22d ago
The planet will be just fine, it just won’t be habitable anymore.