I was looking at the question " How can the human race survive the next hundred years?" and thinking about the reduction in population through a combination of events leading on to how many must expire to take all of the pressure of of the Earth?
Very grim but interesting.
2006-10-25 07:56:31 · 7 answers · asked by david b 1 in Environment
1) No one knows if there is a non-reversible point.
2) No one knows when it might occur.
3) a theory about how many people must die is rather short sighted. Humans should be able to sustain the current (or larger) population. It doesn't mean that it will be easy. But, will require more cooperation that currently exists.
4) Responses that say there isn't one do not know. Yes, the earth has been cooling and warming. But, we do not exactly why and what ramifications human activity will have on these mechanisms. Maybe our activity is a slight effect, and maybe it is big effect.
2006-10-25 08:00:34 · answer #1 · answered by Your Best Fiend 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Dear 'Grim but Interesting',
No one knows for sure. The ability to answer that question in advance requires the ability to model the earth's climate and simulate it on a computer. The super-computers being built today will allow more accurate simulations of the global climate. Thus scientists will continue to gain insight into the process and the factors that influence climate, and they are narrowing down the possible outcomes. Ask again in 10 years, and you'll probably get a real answer.
Even now, there seems to be a consensus among scientists that global warming is real. As I understand it, the earth is coming out of an ice-age. The earth may be warming up naturally, but humans are accelerating the process. I believe that science will provide us with some answers, and technology will provide us with some options before it's too late. Hopefully we will be willing to consider those options when they are presented. If we do have the power to influence the earth, then the responsible thing to do is to save it and not screw it up.
I don't mean to be an alarmist, but the worst-case scenario is pretty awful, so sometimes it makes sense to prepare for it, even if the risk is low that it will actually occur. I think it makes sense to hope for the best, but also to prepare for the worst.
I think there are ways to move forward, both with industry and progress in general, while at the same time not spewing as much carbon dioxide into the air as humanly possible. That's what's awesome about green technologies, because they offer the best of both worlds: essentially the ability to continue life as normal, plus the promise of a future that we would actually like to live in. It's true that we can't sustain our current practices, and there's no shame in that, but we can pull ourselves out of the gutter and commit to working toward the goal of sustainability.
2006-10-29 07:00:35 · answer #2 · answered by _ 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As others have mentioned, there probably isnt really a non-reversible point in the climate system as you have defined it (a threshold regarding natural resource depletion, contamination of air/soil/water, etc are totally different topics, though). However, many climate scientists think that there is a threshold that pushes the global climate from glacial to interglacial periods. I am a believer of the hypothesis that we have already started into the next glacial period, and that we are beyond the point of no-return of heading into glacial conditions. This would have happened naturally anyway, but I think human-induced atmospheric warming has accelerated the process.
I suppose there could be situations that could be classified as non-reversible points such as 'snowball Earth' or 'hothouse Earth' but I dont find those hypotheses very credible. Human role in the development of those scenarios would be far-reaching speculation at best.
2006-10-26 04:59:11 · answer #3 · answered by ncg2111 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No such thing as a "climate switching point" or non-reversible point.
The climate has been warming up and cooling off for billions of years and will continue to do so for billions of years to come...
The earth can support a LOT more people .....
2006-10-25 08:00:20 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes I can imagine the big wigs living in their separate man made class houses holding court over the barren waste outside.
No more wars or conflicts then as they will have no one to expend.
2006-10-25 21:01:20 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
2056
2006-10-25 10:17:22 · answer #6 · answered by resterrampant 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Even if there is such a thing, nobody knows when it will be. Anybody who says they do know is not being honest.
2006-10-25 08:04:56 · answer #7 · answered by campbelp2002 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋