World may be doomed by 2020 says National Geographic

[SGOS]

Geologic history suggests cycles of mass extinctions have occurred.  I think it's a safe bet that they will continue.  But I even wonder if man will still be here when the next one comes.  We are good at adapting, but our longevity so far, even when we include us with the hominids that came before us pales in comparison to previous dominant species.

[Baruch]

Geologic history suggests cycles of mass extinctions have occurred.  I think it's a safe bet that they will continue.  But I even wonder if man will still be here when the next one comes.  We are good at adapting, but our longevity so far, even when we include us with the hominids that came before us pales in comparison to previous dominant species.

Humans will never be as cool as dinosaurs, at least to little boys ;-)

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Drive from the southern tip of Texas to the Canadian border, then tell us we'll cover the Earth. We could house ten times the population of the Earth today in the Rockies.

The rest could just Stand on Zanzibar.

[Baruch]

Drive from the southern tip of Texas to the Canadian border, then tell us we'll cover the Earth. We could house ten times the population of the Earth today in the Rockies.

The rest could just Stand on Zanzibar.

Yes, no food supply problem, we will just eat each other like the Andean plane crash.  And no sewage problems either, just crap on your neighbor's head.

[Feral Atheist]

My money is on that man will annihilate humanity in an argument over which imaginary sky daddy is the real sky daddy.

If there is any question about how stupid mankind is, consider for a moment if you will, that out of 330,000,000 people Hillary and Trump are the best that can be fielded for president.

[Cavebear]

We may indeed be about to replay the Permian catastrophe, when life was reduced by about 95%. So what?

The Earth will soon replenish itself from whatever organisms are left to continue the struggle. Mass extinctions seem to be a way for evolution to ratchet up the sophistication of the biosphere. After each such event, the best and brightest, the most adaptable forms that remain are more advanced than the survivors of the previous events, and so life stars over from a higher point of organization.

Its all just part of the natural life cycle of living planets, I think.

Not unless we sterilize the planet with radiation bombs.  Each natural extinction event seems to cause less death.  The ones who survived the previous ones are more suited to survive the next.

[Baruch]

Not unless we sterilize the planet with radiation bombs.  Each natural extinction event seems to cause less death.  The ones who survived the previous ones are more suited to survive the next.

Cockroaches can survive nuclear radiation, and scorpions can survive an ice age.  Apes not so much.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Yes, no food supply problem, we will just eat each other like the Andean plane crash.  And no sewage problems either, just crap on your neighbor's head.

Just  go (Soylent) Green.

[Cavebear]

Just  go (Soylent) Green.

But keep in mind that cockroaches are tropical bugs and can't survive without the warmth of our buildings. in the North and far South/  If WE go away, so will they.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

But keep in mind that cockroaches are tropical bugs and can't survive without the warmth of our buildings. in the North and far South/  If WE go away, so will they.

I'm going polar bear, so I don't care.

[SGOS]

Yes, no food supply problem, we will just eat each other like the Andean plane crash.  And no sewage problems either, just crap on your neighbor's head.

Avogadro's law of human dispersion states that empty areas of land fill in with humans, the emptier the faster.  This is true in Montana over the last 50 years.  Chicago seems about the same, but not less dense, however.  So it would seem the population is growing, not just rearranging.

[Baruch]

This is why swampland in Florida is such a good buy ... osmosis of retired people.

[Ro3bert]

Two thirds of vertebrate species will be extinct, counted from 1970, according to this article.

These are mainly specialised and exotic animals though, you won't see rats on the list.

Nor cockroaches. 

[Baruch]

If humans survive all our challenges, that proves we are a cross between rats and cockroaches ;-)

[Mike Cl]

Two thirds of vertebrate species will be extinct, counted from 1970, according to this article.

These are mainly specialised and exotic animals though, you won't see rats on the list.

You are right, Sal.  In fact we have one that will be in the White House soon.