I'm an engineer that makes those drawings and I can't dispute this at all.
We would probably only ever get a real image like this if humanity becomes a multi-galactic race. And I agree, the odds of that are close to zero and sad.
This shows how effective nuclear weapons are as a deterrent. The threat of them is the only thing keeping the war going this long.
Same reason you see chevrons on the back of some modern turbofan engines
This is the great globular in Hercules. One of the first awe inspiring celestial objects I ever looked at through a visual telescope. This is my third time imaging this target and my goal was to go deep and to bring out as many stars as possible without blowing out the core. Captured over 30 hours of integration time from my ROR observatory in my backyard. Also available on Astrobin here.
What about tipping points? I hear about ice cover, ocean currents, and other systems where once we get past a tipping point, additional warming is self sustaining. At that point it doesn't matter if we have our brakes on, we've gone over the cliff right?