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thomhartmann

(3,978 posts)
Fri Nov 30, 2018, 06:16 PM Nov 2018

The Extinction Domino Effect That Could Annihilate Life on Earth Has Already Started

Is the extinction of the human race the final domino to fall in a chain of extinctions and species die offs that may have always started? What can we do to save the planet before the domino ends all life on earth?


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The Extinction Domino Effect That Could Annihilate Life on Earth Has Already Started (Original Post) thomhartmann Nov 2018 OP
idiotic premise. "all life on earth" is not going to end from human causes nt msongs Nov 2018 #1
Maybe not all. But a good 95 percent of it could die off. StevieM Nov 2018 #4
Thank you. violetpastille Nov 2018 #2
It's a dumb premise. DRoseDARs Nov 2018 #3
I don't know if we have the time to colonize another planet before climate change dooms us. StevieM Nov 2018 #5
Tbh we'll probably survive ourselves. Technological civ. will collapse, but we'll still exist. DRoseDARs Nov 2018 #6
You should read this in order to understand why I am so scared. StevieM Nov 2018 #7
Yes life finds a way...But... Duppers Dec 2018 #10
When's the last donco Nov 2018 #8
Earth will be just fine cvoogt Nov 2018 #9
K&R bdamomma Dec 2018 #11

violetpastille

(1,483 posts)
2. Thank you.
Fri Nov 30, 2018, 06:48 PM
Nov 2018

Yet, I do not think it is only fossil fuel that is causing extinctions.

I learned only yesterday that 2/3 of the rivers in New Zealand, (which we think of as the last redoubt, right?) are so polluted that not only can you not drink from them, they cannot be swum in or even waded in.

This is because of the unregulated dairy industry in NZ. If the water is poisoned, then the biome is poisoned.

And there are other examples of industries besides fuel that are polluting our delicate ecology. Textiles, tech. etc.
https://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/our-smartphone-addiction-is-costing-the-earth-1299378

If we can draw the brakes on ALL consumption...if we live as our grandparents did, more simply..we can earn our bugs back. Bug by bug. Each decision we make to conserve, may mean one more bug, one less latte =one more bug.
One less cheap teeshirt one less crust of bread stolen from a hungry child...

As the great Depeche Mode once said, "Everything counts in large amounts." and we can all make a difference if we decide to go in that other, less consumer direction.

A modest proposal. Fuck Christmas. Fuck it. Let's walk to our nearest patch of nature and swear to it that we ain't buying shit.

"Sorry kids, I love you too much to trade your futures for roomfuls of plastic crap."
"It's your favorite for dinner honey! Lentil loaf!"

Kidding not kidding.




 

DRoseDARs

(6,810 posts)
3. It's a dumb premise.
Fri Nov 30, 2018, 08:17 PM
Nov 2018

Life on Earth has survived and recovered and flourished from far worse than anything Humans have done. Humans might not survive Humans, which is why it's imperative we successfully colonize off-world, but life on Earth will continue for a very long time even through the nastiest past extinctions. That line from Jurassic Park remains true: Life finds a way.

StevieM

(10,499 posts)
5. I don't know if we have the time to colonize another planet before climate change dooms us.
Fri Nov 30, 2018, 08:55 PM
Nov 2018

I don't doubt that life will survive, as it has other mass extinctions. But in 200 years it is entirely plausible that the human race will be extinct.

 

DRoseDARs

(6,810 posts)
6. Tbh we'll probably survive ourselves. Technological civ. will collapse, but we'll still exist.
Fri Nov 30, 2018, 09:27 PM
Nov 2018

It would take a complete collapse of the biosphere of multi-cellular organisms to effectively reset the clock on life and I just don't see that happening. Even our worst-case anthropogenic scenarios, devastating for us to be sure, don't come close to past events. And with the vast numbers of Humans alive, some will survive to form new pockets of civilization. They'll be able to rummage though the remains of our civilization to jumpstart their own development. Who knows, Humans surviving past the 6th extinction might still colonize beyond Earth before the end of the millennium, having access to much of what we have already learned.

This is what really bothers me about doom-and-gloomers. They oversell the apocalypse, which means people get paralyzed by fear or they shrug their shoulders in indifference because there's nothing we can (or will) do. No. This is wrong. We have to prepare for what's coming and ensure as much of what we can of the continuance of technological civilization. We need to face the reality that things are going to get nasty despite our hand-wringing, half-assed attempts, and denials. We aren't going to stop 2 degrees C from happening. We aren't going to stop at 2 degrees C either. We fucked up. We are continuing to fuck up. We will continue to fuck up. All that we can do, because it's much too late to do what we should have done, is prepare for the consequences and try to survive the new normal. Billions will perish but not all at once. Decades of starvation, disease, war. All until a new equilibrium is attained. Some pockets will survive, others will develop as survivors find one another.

I would hope something of a miracle happens that we avert the worst of it, but I think we're pretty much committed to this course and live in one of the darker timelines. We need to be realistic about what has happened, what is happening, and what will happen. And how Human civilization is going to live through it.

Duppers

(28,088 posts)
10. Yes life finds a way...But...
Sat Dec 1, 2018, 01:35 AM
Dec 2018

Last edited Sat Dec 1, 2018, 11:44 AM - Edit history (1)

Bill Nye on Terraforming Mars: “Are You Guys High?”

https://futurism.com/bill-nye-mars-terraforming-high

"Nye isn’t alone in his thinking, either — noted astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, another well-known science advocate, also believes any plans to make Mars livable for humans are absurd."

And here: https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/science/2018/11/19/bill-nye-mars-were-not-going-live-there-make-like-earth/1905447002/

And here:
"Neil deGrasse Tyson Says Humans Will Never Colonize Mars"

https://futurism.com/neil-degrasse-tyson-humans-colonize-mars

This is exactly what my hubs, a PhD NASA physicist, has been saying all along: the idea is preposterous -- especially given that we aren't even taking care of planet Earth enough to sustain human and most other life here.

We simply don't have the resources to create the biological diversity on Mars that we have here and it's exactly that biological diversity that is needed to sustain us. Colonizing Mars is an extremely unrealistic pipe dream.

NASA ppl know this too but have to come up with acceptable and exciting ideas simply to get continued funding from a very naive Congress.

Gawd, we cannot ask that NASA come up with ideas to help combat global climate change, the undeniable #1 threat to existence of most all life. And we're facing this before the end of this century. But what can we expect from a Congress and a population who still believe in a Sky Daddy who is not going to let bad things happen to them.

People should be reading more science and less science fiction. Seriously.


cvoogt

(949 posts)
9. Earth will be just fine
Fri Nov 30, 2018, 11:24 PM
Nov 2018

Humans on the other hand.. Earth doesn't care about humans... but humans should care for Earth like their lives depend on it, because they do! Mars is less hospitable and the moon would suck to live on.

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