This video of astronauts pleading to save the Earth may bring you to tears

Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

Astronauts have a front-row seat to the indescribable beauty of Earth. But that view comes with a catch, if not a grave responsibility: They can also watch our planet's destruction play out from 250 miles up.

To that end a group of current and former astronauts just released a gut-wrenching video which pleads world leaders to save the Earth.

It's designed for policy makers and heads of state who are currently gathered in Paris for talks about how to combat climate change and limit its disruption.

The stakes couldn't be higher: The Paris climate talks aim to reach an international agreement that will cut emissions and stop global temperatures from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures. Any more than that could cause irreversible damage to the environment.

The troubling part is that we're already halfway to that dangerous tipping point — and astronauts are already seeing the consequences.

Only a few hundred astronauts have glimpsed Earth from orbit, and some say the experience triggers a cognitive shift that makes you more aware of the fragility of the planet and feel more deeply connected to the many human lives below.

So it's no wonder why they're so alarmed by the deforestation, smog, hurricanes, dust storms, wildfires, and other human-exacerbated catastrophes they've seen from on high.

The new video urges to think about Earth the same way they do — and urges world leaders to take meaningful action.

You can watch the astronauts' plea to the planet below. But fair warning: It brought at least one of these writers to tears.

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