UN issues 'final wake-up call' on population and environment?

Question

Thank God! I get so tired of hearing this nonsensical rant.

Somehow I think this is just a lie and they will continue to issue "final" wake up calls for the next 100 years.

This story is old and tired. Same rubbish they have been saying since the early 1960's. Do they believe if they say it often enough, one day it must be true?

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/10/25/europe/environ.php

Answer 1

Is it something along the lines of if we carry on in our current irresponsible fashion, we will be subject to floods famine, plages of locusts or frogs and the rivers will turn to blood.

Claims like that have been aroung for a very long time and will still be around long after we have passed on.

Answer 2

It is true and it is happening now. The signs of trouble are all around us, you need to open your eyes. This is exactly the sort of information the world needs and it is gratifying and humbling to see it finally come to the mainstream media.

Global Warming is just another scientific theory; one that happens to be the best scientific explanation of the observed phenomenon. It’s just like other scientific theories that explain things like why you get gangrene when a surgeon doesn't sterilize his instruments – germ theory. Why a nuclear bomb explodes – particle physics. Why radiocarbon dating is valid - also particle physics. Why the earth is round and revolves around the sun – astrophysics. Why bacteria become resistant to antibiotics – natural selection.

The trouble with science is that you can’t pick and choose which parts to believe.

So the question is not “Do you believe in Global Warming” or “Do you believe in Evolution”. The real question is “Do you believe in science".

The vast majority of scientists, the ones who's science makes all the myriad things we use and rely on everyday to make the modern world go round, and are correct on 99,999,999 things, are just wrong on this one - AGW.

And we don't have a credible alternative explaination for you, they're just wrong.

It's those silly scientists who have been flummoxed, hoodwinked and snookered. It's those great seers - the cornucopian economists and utopian theists who are correct.

Give me a break. I'll put my bets on science.

No magic technology will be found. Our excesses will always outstrip our attempts to mitigate them. As has been the case throughout human history, up to this very moment, our knowledge will always lag behind our wisdom. No one is going to come down and save us at the 11th hour.

It's up to us to accept responsiblity for what we've done.

Here's some more pesky doom and gloom science for you.

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=00037A5D-A938-150E-A93883414B7F0000&pageNumber=1&catID=2

Answer 3

I think you're missing the point. The planet has finite resources upon which our lifestyles are totally dependent. We're depleting those resources at an ever increasing rate and once they're gone that's it.

Oil is a good example. There's more of it left than many people realise but the reserves are getting increasingly difficult and expensive to tap. Ultimately it will run out and when that happens the planet effectively stops - no power or light, no transport, no cummunications. It's not just oil but many of our mineral resources.

We're utilising these resources faster than ever and are inviting our own social and economic demise if we fail to act soon and develop alternatives.

You pointed out in one of your earlier answers that each person has the equivalent of 5 acres of land. As an American citizen and assuming you live to an average age of 75, during your lifetime you'll produce over 2000 tons of greenhouse gases and over 50 tons of garbage. If this was spread out over your five acres it would form a layer of garbage that would bury anything growing on it and a layer of greenhouse gases nearly 300 feet thick. Are you seriously trying to tell me that that wouldn't have an impact?

Answer 4

grrzbr1 - Just posting a personal insult is not a good answer.

And, while I disagree with Mr Jello here, he actually has more of a point here than he usually does. There _have_ been many radical claims about overpopulation over the years, starting with Malthus, who ignored the role of advancing technology.

But I agree that this time it's for real. Because we're seeing the effects, it's not just theory.

Answer 5

Well, just don't set your alarm then. I usually wake up earlier than most, and without an alarm clock.

Ask Bush about the repetition game. He's really good at it. As for ranting, there's a lot of that in this category, and a fair share of the ranting emanates from you.

Answer 6

I may not be a scientist; but even I can see there are serious problems and overpopulation. I am always glad to read the optimistic answers written by the scientists.

Answer 7

I doubt very much anything they say could be 'final'

Answer 8

It just confirms that it is a good thing you don't have a girlfriend.

Answer 9

If it's "rubbish" then why did you bother posting it?