the article should just tell you to read The Children of Men.  That plus some Shakespeare will get you the same conclusions.  

There is also a lesson here for those who think that unless there is a personal afterlife, their lives lack any meaning or purpose. What is necessary to underwrite the perceived significance of what we do, it seems, is not a belief in the afterlife but rather a belief that humanity will survive, at least for a good long time.

Plus, the light from our actions travels outward through the universe for billions of years. 

So, what we do in this life echoes in eternity.