Since the Big Bang, some 13.7 billion years ago, countless suns have exploded or dimmed, destroying their planets or leaving them in the frigid darkness of space. Of course, any form of life on those planets could not survive such a catastrophe.
Planets are also prone to destruction from collision with comets, asteroids or other planetoids and their life forms (if they exist at all) are threatened by a gyrating climate, courtesy of such collisions, volcanism or other natural forces (not to mention man-induced global warming). Indeed, life on Earth, as on other planets, is fragile and transient.
As we gaze upon Earth's beautiful landscapes, they appear to be permanent until, as we have seen in recent weeks, extreme events (wildfires, floods, earthquakes) destroy that illusion. Perhaps it is best to regularly turn our attention to the night sky to remind us how insignificant we and our home planet really are.
