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Global Human Extinction Within the next 100 Years?

post #1 of 26
6/24/10 at 7:51pm
Thread Starter 
A very reputable scientist named Prof. Frank Fenner of Australia forecasts extinction of the human species within the next 100 years and sees no redemption through mitigating action. If it were just any scientist one might just take this with a grain of salt but, Prof. Fenner's place within the scientific community is prestigious. I am putting a web address to click upon for those interested in this article. Species have come and gone on this planet. I don't see our species as having special dispensation. Let us do the right thing by our planet and control population growth. Hope springs eternal for we bipedal mammals.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37902504...cience-science
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post #2 of 26
6/24/10 at 8:08pm
My husband would probably hope for 50 years..... *LOL* No, really, when I see things like that oil spill, it makes you wonder.
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post #3 of 26
6/24/10 at 8:35pm
I can see famines, water wars, even plagues as being highly likely, but I can't imagine every human gone a hundred years from now. Dystopia seems more likely than apocalypse at this point.
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post #4 of 26
6/24/10 at 10:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by N_Tesla View Post

A very reputable scientist named Prof. Frank Fenner of Australia forecasts extinction of the human species within the next 100 years and sees no redemption through mitigating action. If it were just any scientist one might just take this with a grain of salt but, Prof. Fenner's place within the scientific community is prestigious. I am putting a web address to click upon for those interested in this article. Species have come and gone on this planet. I don't see our species as having special dispensation. Let us do the right thing by our planet and control population growth. Hope springs eternal for we bipedal mammals.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37902504...cience-science

I know.

However Professor Fenner is an optimist compared to the WWF (that's the World Wildlife Fund, not the World Wrestling Federation) which has released a paper that due to our "plundering the planet at a pace that outstrips its capacity to support life. " We will run out of resources by 2050. "

So you really Only have 40 years left before we go Soylent Green, or God knows what. . . At least according to the WWF!

AND according James Keating, professor of meteorology at Penn State in a mere
half-billion years there won't be enough carbon dioxide for photosynthesis and all pants will die.

In a billion years temperatures will become so high the oceans will evaporate.

Plus most scientists agree that In 4.5 billion years the sun will turn into a red giant and The Earth will be fried.

And in about 100 billion years the temperature of the expanding universe will be too cold to maintain life anywhere.

*************

BUT

********************


IN THE MEANTIME,
IN BETWEEN TIME
AIN'T WE GOT FUN?



Cheers,

Mario
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post #5 of 26
6/24/10 at 10:14pm
Who needed pants anyway?
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post #6 of 26
6/24/10 at 10:15pm
(duplicate of smarty-pants comment)
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post #7 of 26
6/24/10 at 10:47pm
*LOL* I caught that about 'pants' - yeah , who needs them !
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post #8 of 26
6/24/10 at 10:49pm
True. Especially if it gets really hot
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post #9 of 26
6/24/10 at 10:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mario Justiniani View Post

So you really only have 40 years left before we go Soylent Green, or God knows what. . .

"Eat the world! Let them know it's Christmastime again" ( They deserve a head start, after all... )
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post #10 of 26
6/25/10 at 12:44am
Hey, Mario (especially Mario, since I know what you may be thinking...) and all dear fellow Basenoters, let's take out the Remy Martin Louis XIII bottles we kept stocked up for special occasions and start partying!
Both in a more serious, but still non-scientific tone, the article does not surprise me at all, insofar as I studied the currently existing context (social, political, economic, environmental) regarding quite probable future events and crises.
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post #11 of 26
6/25/10 at 2:15am
2012 !
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post #12 of 26
6/25/10 at 3:03am
I might consider Fenner's prediction to be more credible if (1) it contained actual numerical data and clearly described scenarios in support of his hypothesis, (2) it were published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal (rather than The Australian), and (3) it were also the point of view of a plurality of other eminent scientists ... some of whom are not literally almost 100 years old.

He states that the two problems are population explosion and "unbridled consumption." Both of these problems can be handled quickly if they had to be, and by government authority. The majority of the world's population is at least partially dependent upon some form of centralized distribution system for its physical needs, and therefore thrives only at the whim of prevailing government authority. Many people do not like that fact, but it's true. And China has demonstrated that national population increase can be reduced well-below exponential growth.

My own feeling is that Fenner made his hyperbolic statement in order to draw needed attention to a serious problem, and knew that his status as a scientist would guarantee that it would not be ignored. So ... mission accomplished.
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post #13 of 26
6/25/10 at 5:47am
Quote:
I might consider Fenner's prediction to be more credible if (1) it contained actual numerical data and clearly described scenarios in support of his hypothesis, (2) it were published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal (rather than The Australian), and (3) it were also the point of view of a plurality of other eminent scientists ... some of whom are not literally almost 100 years old.

Ditto.
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post #14 of 26
6/25/10 at 6:43am
Not a bad plan!

Reine
long live the cockroach!
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post #15 of 26
6/25/10 at 9:51am
I am skeptical of scientists - credible or not - whose predictions are clearly outliers among the scientific community. I'm pretty sure there were scientists in 1950 who predicted that humans would be extinct by 2000. Others said we'd have colonies among the stars. Instead, we have iPhones.
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post #16 of 26
6/25/10 at 1:20pm
if you are really interested in this, watch a documentary called "Collapse". it is riveting. you will absolutely not be able to shake it for at least a week after watching...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAyHIOg5aHk
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post #17 of 26
6/25/10 at 2:35pm
Fun thread. I'm going to start wearing my Vintage Tabarome more often now.
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post #18 of 26
6/25/10 at 3:09pm
Malthus only beat him by 200 years...
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post #19 of 26
6/25/10 at 3:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by LiveJazz View Post

I'm pretty sure there were scientists in 1950 who predicted that humans would be extinct by 2000. Others said we'd have colonies among the stars.

Out here in L.A., we do have colonies among the stars. Most of the time, it's just an annoyance.
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post #20 of 26
6/25/10 at 6:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by StylinLA View Post

Fun thread. I'm going to start wearing my Vintage Tabarome more often now.

Now THERE'S a healthy response! :-)
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post #21 of 26
6/25/10 at 7:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by StylinLA View Post

Fun thread. I'm going to start wearing my Vintage Tabarome more often now.

LMAO

Me too. I may visit the fridge right now, while it's still running.

Personally, I find Homo sapiens to be one of the most exuberently resilient pests that carbon has ever constructed. In fact, I doubt that even humans could wipe out humans. Thankfully, the exceptional design of the universe ensures that our more sensible silicon-based daughter forms will be the ones who get to meet the neighbors. Three cheers for c, non-zero lambda, and the periodic table!
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post #22 of 26
6/26/10 at 2:02am
Quote:
Originally Posted by thaifighter View Post

Malthus only beat him by 200 years...

Yes but the greatest of mathematicians, Sir Isaac Newton predicted the world will end on 2060!

Multiple choice:

The world will end when:

1 It's Dec 21st, 2012 (When some Mayan god whose name translates to " Y2K " ended their calendar)

2. It's 2060 just like Newton calculated. ( Based on Biblical passages. )

3. It already ended in the 60's (Groovy, Baby!) and this all anti climatic. Sir Isaac was off by 100 years.

4. I get a job and can afford copious quantities of Vintage Tabarome and Remy Martin Louis XIII Cognac.

5.The Holy Name of Shiva is chanted enough times; whereupon the stars will go out one by one.

6. 99 High Level Scientologists sit through "War of The Worlds." Starring co-religionist Tom Cruise 99 times.

7. 365 Basenoters post for 365 days without once being told that the server is too busy.

Cheers,

Mario
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post #23 of 26
6/26/10 at 11:18am
Mario, you are a treasure! :-)
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post #24 of 26
6/26/10 at 11:22am
  • kbe
  • offline
  • Gender:
I both crave and fear #7 Mario
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post #25 of 26
6/26/10 at 11:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mario Justiniani View Post

Multiple choice:

The world will end when:

1 It's Dec 21st, 2012 (When some Mayan god whose name translates to " Y2K " ended their calendar)

2. It's 2060 just like Newton calculated. ( Based on Biblical passages. )

3. It already ended in the 60's (Groovy, Baby!) and this all anti climatic. Sir Isaac was off by 100 years.

4. I get a job and can afford copious quantities of Vintage Tabarome and Remy Martin Louis XIII Cognac.

5.The Holy Name of Shiva is chanted enough times; whereupon the stars will go out one by one.

6. 99 High Level Scientologists sit through "War of The Worlds." Starring co-religionist Tom Cruise 99 times.

7. 365 Basenoters post for 365 days without once being told that the server is too busy.


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post #26 of 26
6/29/10 at 11:52am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Haunani View Post

Mario, you are a treasure! :-)


Thanks, so are you!. Looking at this thread I feel we have many " treasures. "

Well, if our time is up, it's up. " Collapse. " sounds like an interesting film. Hell, if the world is so messed up, maybe our personal lives aren't so bad after all! Gotta watch it. It might cheer me up.

Besides, I like it when we're told that Osama had nothing to do with 9/11 but we used this as an excuse to invade Iraq for their oil because we're such an evil empire.

Are you kidding me? The USA an empire?
*sigh*
Promises, promises---

If the ancient Romans could see how we screw up, often as a result of the best of humanitarian intentions, they'd laugh their asses off. Now That was an Empire! They didn't mess around.

Where was I?

Oh yes, doomsday.

Well, at least we can take comfort knowing that we can save the planet:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eScDfYzMEEw

Cheers,

Mario
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