It isn't supposed to make you feel better at all; just to make you aware of the fact that the Earth will probably survive even if you, me and all of our descendents don't.
Not in the slightest. It is the conscious mind that gives meaning to the world around it. There is no splendor in nature that is not in the eyes of those watching it. We have seen no evidence of any intelligence beyond our own. If we die, all meaning goes out of the world.
Ironically, this is the same foolish anthropocentric sentiment that is preventing most people to care about the environment. Congrats, you're part of the problem.
I care about the environment, because it supports humanity. If at any point it fails to do so, whether by its own shifting or by our destruction of it, our course of action should not be to sit back and say "Oh well, I guess our death is for the greater good of the universe.". Our duty would then be to grasp the environment and mold it to best suit our needs.
