Sadly, that passing is of this planet as we humans know it. I am just beyond depressed at the level of damage done by humans that is causing cascading problems around the world. There is no way out of the cycle we've started- it will take the equivalent of several human generations to clear up anything we've created in the way of problems, and too many species, too many ecosystems, just do not have that kind of time.
To top it off, once more I am seeing signs that David Brin's book Earth was not just a piece of fiction but some kind of prediction. There is talk in the scientific community of creating miniature black holes.....the very premise of the book. Someone arrogant enough to think he can control a black hole makes one that seems stable, but it gets loose. A speck the human eye cannot see starts to consume the planet from within. Another main point to the story is a growing lack of privacy. Discover magazine has a big article in it this month about the emerging problem of privacy on a national scale: pictures of top secret places and things within the US government have made their way onto the Internet thanks to satellites like the one Google Earth uses. Certain countries around the world have made a huge stink about being photographed by satellite, but I guarantee, even if we the public ain't seeing it, that information is out there for the right bidder.
I dont' know if Brin was just making educated guesses, or if he had some kind of vision. His book is frighteningly accurate, and gets moreso everyday. It scares me, because the biodiversity of this planet is one of the things that makes it what it is. It is also such a detailed and intricate web that even one strand being removed can cause cascades of effect that may not be immediately evident. As the highest predator on the list, supposedly, humans have the most to lose too. I also think they have the self centered blindness to fail to see anything is truly wrong before it is too late.
I hate to tell everyone, but I am pretty sure it already is.