Environment - June 2006

Dr. Pianka’s talk at the TAS meeting was mostly of the problems humans are causing as we rapidly proliferate around the globe. The bulk of his talk was that he’s waiting for the virus that will eventually arise and kill off 90% of human population. In fact, his hope is that the ebola virus which attacks humans currently (but only through blood transmission) will mutate with the ebola virus that attacks monkeys airborne to create an airborne ebola virus that attacks humans. He’s basically advocating for the death of all but 10% of the current population! And at the risk of sounding just as radical, I think he’s right.

Humans are far too populous. We’ve used up our resources, and we’re destroying the Earth at an accelerated pace. The more technology we create, the more damage we’re capable of doing. We now consider keeping the forest natural to save a species of catepillar more important that using that space for humans to live and till. And I’m in complete agreement with that. It’s the harsh reality that many people alive right now should be dead. And even harsher to think that the world would be better off with them dead too. Or think of all the babies being born every hour with abnormalities that 50 years ago would have kept them from living. Now, those lives can be saved, and we pat ourselves on the backs at how smart and charitable we are as a species that we can create and sustain life. Life has a built-in mechanism that keeps species from becoming too overpopulated, and it wasn’t until humans started messing with the system that it went out of whack. Now that we’ve killed off the majority of all top predators, we now must take on the duty of keeping populations in check and at the same time, allowing other species a fair chance at reproduction.

It wouldn’t have been so bad 15-20 years ago when we reached that threshold of sustainability if we as humans would have learned to control our population size then. But instead, we saw the Earth’s resources as unlimited and our authority over them exclusive, and we continued to reproduce when we should’ve stop. Dr. Pianka made a very profound comment during his presentation; he said that China has the right idea by limiting reproduction at 1. We’re past the point of replacement reproduction as a species. We’re too many for the number we’re at now! We need to decline in population. A virus is probably the fairest method of extermination (though still not completely fair, I admit) because it’s nondiscriminatory as to whom it targets. Rich, poor, black, white, brown, nice, mean, religious, agnostic - we’d all be targeted equally.

It’d be nice if humans could learn to manage our population as successively as we’ve learned to manage the population of literally every other species on this planet with whom we share. We’re very skilled when it comes to killing off deer, snakes, rabbits, and fish for population control. But we’re a stupid species when it comes to managing ourselves. An insightful observation was made during the talk that education should be the key to learning how to take care of the Earth, but the problem is that the educated have fewer children and the uneducated have many children. So eventually, the uneducated will take over the Earth. It may have already happened.

2006-06-27 19:35:19 · 13 answers · asked by lacoste 3

2006-06-27 18:54:08 · 15 answers · asked by stupidity1 1

2006-06-27 17:00:20 · 6 answers · asked by jadee_kiwi 2

i need the answer urgently for my project

2006-06-27 16:16:18 · 4 answers · asked by aamodita s 2

2006-06-27 15:45:58 · 12 answers · asked by duckie 1

Show me a picture of this insect

2006-06-27 15:26:36 · 4 answers · asked by maretoti 1

2006-06-27 13:35:52 · 13 answers · asked by smilelaugh 2

I think Al Gore would rock as a video game character. It could be like a 3rd person shooter. He could go around inventing the internet, discovering global warming and rescuing disenfranchised voters. You could earn bonus points by making him seem more lifelike than a tree while giving speeches.

2006-06-27 12:44:52 · 7 answers · asked by Clint E 1

Although the bird is symbolic to the states, surely the climates of Northern Mexico and Southern Canada are well suited to the eagle.

2006-06-27 11:18:01 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous

Why or why not. Give sources please.

2006-06-27 09:53:43 · 22 answers · asked by mikayla_starstuff 5

2006-06-27 09:50:04 · 18 answers · asked by egger 3

2006-06-27 09:42:31 · 12 answers · asked by Anonymous

way to extract hydrogen from water?

2006-06-27 08:23:32 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous

i have seen two of them inside at work within two days, and i work with children, i want to know if they are poisonus (cant spell). if i saw a picture i would recognize it.

2006-06-27 08:04:41 · 11 answers · asked by crazystrawberryblonde 2

2006-06-27 06:46:06 · 4 answers · asked by crobin1214 1

Other than recycling!

2006-06-27 06:25:22 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous

I found one in my house, it's brown soft bodied bug about 2inches long w/ 3inch wings, long antenea, and 6 legs.

2006-06-27 06:09:20 · 3 answers · asked by amber p 1

2006-06-27 05:42:03 · 10 answers · asked by Camillee Peellie 1

2006-06-27 04:57:15 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous

Any non-political groups similar to
Cluster of Research into Endocrine Disruption in Europe(CREDO)
http://www.credocluster.info/workshop.html
http://www.credocluster.info/edproblem.html
( human fertility rate, reproductive system problems,
masculinization, feminization, congenital malformations in children and hormone-related cancers...)

Japan Citizens Against Chemicals Pollution
http://www.ne.jp/asahi/kagaku/pico/

groups which really concern about the chemicals harms done to our environment, societies & OUR HEALTH?

2006-06-27 04:17:18 · 3 answers · asked by Another_HumanBeing 1

Serious Project must finish 9 more projects tomorrow hand in damm it pls u must tell me i left 8 hours only!

2006-06-27 02:44:40 · 1 answers · asked by Anonymous

Back when i was younger i can remember going outside and seeing loads of them, now you're lucky if you see a few...whats going on?

2006-06-27 02:41:45 · 8 answers · asked by Petunia247 2

2006-06-27 02:32:32 · 13 answers · asked by Anonymous

For all of you runners & walkers out there, do you notice that the big fat earthworms leave the nice cool ground & come out on the street and sidewalk during June & July? I've even tried to put them back in the grass, but they seem to be determined to get out on the pavement. Are they being food for the birds and such? Is it just a normal part of the food chain or what? This has stumped me for many years.

2006-06-27 02:26:24 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous

For jc project pls thanks

2006-06-27 02:26:13 · 2 answers · asked by Anonymous

For jc project pls thanks

2006-06-27 02:26:05 · 2 answers · asked by Anonymous

For jc project pls thanks

2006-06-27 02:25:48 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous

It's becoming tiresome hearing about deforestation, pollution, animal extinction, overfishing, nuclear waste, using water for recreational purposes even though we know that fresh water is limited, climate change, etc. I'm sick and tired of what we as human beings are doing to the environment, myself included, and now i read that Stephen Hawking was saying that the survival of the human race is by "spreading to other planets", to do what, destroy them as well, isn't that stupid and selfish of us? My question to you is do you agree with the notion that human beings are a virus and a bacteria of planet Earth? And do you agree that the only way the planet can be saved is if we all perish?

P.S. please don't tell me that it's immoral to exterminate human beings.

2006-06-26 23:30:53 · 24 answers · asked by lacoste 3

2006-06-26 22:44:19 · 7 answers · asked by Elito 2

2006-06-26 21:40:25 · 14 answers · asked by simmoatbrayton 1