80 by 50

[Fast_Eddie]

Originally Posted by piece-itpete

Consider this: no matter what we will use up the earth.

How do you figure? Using nothing more than the power of the Sun, the Earth had been self sustaining for billions of years. Unless we chose to change that, I don't see any reason it can't go on for billions more.

[piece-itpete]

I got'cha Eddie, but this graph shows the problem.

http://www.ciese.org/curriculum/popg.../worldpop.html

Pete

[Fast_Eddie]

Originally Posted by piece-itpete

I got'cha Eddie, but this graph shows the problem.

http://www.ciese.org/curriculum/popg.../worldpop.html

Pete

Is that my 401k balance? Could have sworn it looked just like that. Oh, wait a minute. That one goes the other way.

Yeah, that one scares the willies out of me too. But not with regard to global warming. Shoot the vast majority of the folks on that graph have almost no carbon footprint at all.

Take care,

Ed

[merrylander]

Originally Posted by Fast_Eddie

How do you figure? Using nothing more than the power of the Sun, the Earth had been self sustaining for billions of years. Unless we chose to change that, I don't see any reason it can't go on for billions more.

Ultimately our sun will go supernova and the resulting red giant will engulf everything, probably as far out as Jupiter.

[piece-itpete]

That did it, I'm cashing out my 401k.

Pete

[Fast_Eddie]

Originally Posted by merrylander

Ultimately our sun will go supernova and the resulting red giant will engulf everything, probably as far out as Jupiter.

I think we have a couple years before we need to worry about that. Hopefully by then humanity has evolved into pure consciousness and will roam the Universe unfettered by these mortal coils.

[noonereal]

Originally Posted by Fast_Eddie

I think we have a couple years before we need to worry about that. Hopefully by then humanity has evolved into pure consciousness and will roam the Universe unfettered by these mortal coils.

I doubt that, however I think we would have colonized enough across the universe by then to make it an event of little consequence to us as a life form.

[Fast_Eddie]

Originally Posted by noonereal

I doubt that, however I think we would have colonized enough across the universe by then to make it an event of little consequence to us as a life form.

Humans have been around for, what, 2 or 3 hundred thousand years? The dinosaurs were around, oh gosh, I think it was more than 100 million years. The sun will die about five *billion* years from now. If you think anything resembling a human being will be around to see it you have a much more lofty view of our importance in the Cosmos than I. If somehow there is a direct line to life at that time from us, whch would be super-cool, I suspect it would be unrecognizable.

[Fast_Eddie]

Originally Posted by piece-itpete

I got'cha Eddie, but this graph shows the problem.

http://www.ciese.org/curriculum/popg.../worldpop.html

Pete

You know what else this chart shows? It shows that there is *no doubt* that Humans have demonstrated an ability to effect change in their environment. How else can you explain the explosion of population? Why in the world would we deny the possibility that we're now doing damage when there is such an overwhelming measure of evidence we are?

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by Fast_Eddie

You know what else this chart shows? It shows that there is *no doubt* that Humans have demonstrated an ability to effect change in their environment. How else can you explain the explosion of population? Why in the world would we deny the possibility that we're now doing damage when there is such an overwhelming measure of evidence we are?

Look, nobody alive today will suffer all that much as a consequence of me driving my Hummer so what's the BFD? As for you bleeding hearts and your "future generations", there might not even be any so who the Hell cares?

John