I don't think the earth will imminently end or ever end. ( We might all die though ) I don't think we'll see colonization in our lifetime. If we ever do it might look like something we've never even imagined.

The fact is, it's not apart of the ecological cycle for us to build cities and factories trains planes automobiles etc. The earth may be able to handle some of this to an extent but the science shows 8 billion people at our current levels doesn't work.