Re: Biological Annihilation Is Underway
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Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 14
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Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 14 |
How distressing.
I found this bit of information particularly interesting:
"Conservatively, scientists estimate that 200 species have gone extinct in the past 100 years; the “normal†extinction rate over the past two million years has been that two species go extinct every 100 years because of evolutionary and other factors."
100 years....almost perfectly coincident with the invention of the automobile and our voyage down the road of ever-increasing fossil fuel consumption.
Last edited by ryck; 07/12/17 09:02 AM.
ryck
"What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits" The Doobie Brothers
iMac (Retina 5K, 27", 2020), 3.8 GHz 8 Core Intel Core i7, 8GB RAM, 2667 MHz DDR4 OS Sonoma 14.4.1 Canon Pixma TR 8520 Printer Epson Perfection V500 Photo Scanner c/w VueScan software TM on 1TB LaCie USB-C
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Re: Biological Annihilation Is Underway
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Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 7
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Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 7 |
Considering the impact of humans (many scientists now call our point in time the Anhropocene period), our species should be listed as endangered. We have succeeded in making too many people, who chase too many finite resources, who produce too much waste that cannot be neutralized by the environment. Add to the mix that greed, both governmental and private, prevents politicos from doing anything about it.
Too many of us forget (or never knew) that our understanding of the mechanisms that support life is limited, at best. Any attempts at reverse engineering our planet would be pure experiment. We don't know how to do it. We live on a spaceship that depends upon interactions of organisms to sustain life for all.
I am sure that life will survive us. After all, there have been mass extinctions in the past and life has rebounded. It just won't include us.
Jon
macOS 11.7.10, iMac Retina 5K 27-inch, late 2014, 3.5 GHz Intel Core i5, 1 TB fusion drive, 16 GB RAM, Epson SureColor P600, Photoshop CC, Lightroom CC, MS Office 365
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Re: Biological Annihilation Is Underway
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Joined: Aug 2009
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I work for the Department of Redundancy Department
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Re: Biological Annihilation Is Underway
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Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 7
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Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 7 |
That's too good.
Jon
macOS 11.7.10, iMac Retina 5K 27-inch, late 2014, 3.5 GHz Intel Core i5, 1 TB fusion drive, 16 GB RAM, Epson SureColor P600, Photoshop CC, Lightroom CC, MS Office 365
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Re: Biological Annihilation Is Underway
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Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 4
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OP
Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 4 |
Indeed. That "Gaia Gotcha" is dead on!
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Re: Biological Annihilation Is Underway
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Joined: Aug 2009
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what I really love is how she says it with such a warm smile on her face...
I work for the Department of Redundancy Department
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Re: Biological Annihilation Is Underway
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Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 4
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OP
Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 4 |
what I really love is how she says it with such a warm smile on her face... But isn't that exactly what loving mothers do ... no matter how imbecilic the behavior of their offspring?
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Re: Biological Annihilation Is Underway
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Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 7
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Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 7 |
Remember that commercial? "It's not nice to fool Mother Nature!"
Jon
macOS 11.7.10, iMac Retina 5K 27-inch, late 2014, 3.5 GHz Intel Core i5, 1 TB fusion drive, 16 GB RAM, Epson SureColor P600, Photoshop CC, Lightroom CC, MS Office 365
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Re: Biological Annihilation Is Underway
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Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 14
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Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 14 |
Any attempts at reverse engineering our planet would be pure experiment. Reverse engineering the planet is one thing. However, it seems that, even when honest efforts are made simply to reverse engineer our behaviour, the efforts can be negatively affected by our other mistakes. I think about the significant thrust to get automobiles changed from internal combustion to electric. The irony is that more than 40% of the electricity needed to charge the new vehicles will be coming from coal-fired plants.
Last edited by ryck; 07/13/17 09:01 PM.
ryck
"What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits" The Doobie Brothers
iMac (Retina 5K, 27", 2020), 3.8 GHz 8 Core Intel Core i7, 8GB RAM, 2667 MHz DDR4 OS Sonoma 14.4.1 Canon Pixma TR 8520 Printer Epson Perfection V500 Photo Scanner c/w VueScan software TM on 1TB LaCie USB-C
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Re: Biological Annihilation Is Underway
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Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 16
Moderator
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Moderator
Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 16 |
The irony is that more than 40% of the electricity needed to charge the new vehicles will be coming from coal-fired plants. Of course you are assuming a chemical battery energy source for electric cars. A more practical, albeit longer term solution would be hydrogen fuel cells rather than batteries. BMW, Mercedes, and I believe it is Toyota are experimenting with hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in California and elsewhere and the Germans are running a full cell powered high speed train I regular service. — Of course that still leaves the question of the power required to obtain the pure hydrogen and compress it.
If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?
— Albert Einstein
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Re: Biological Annihilation Is Underway
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Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 14
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Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 14 |
I am sure that life will survive us. After all, there have been mass extinctions in the past and life has rebounded. It just won't include us. And it may be a microscopic animal, called a tardigrade (Water Bear), who gets to turn out the lights.
Last edited by ryck; 07/14/17 01:27 PM.
ryck
"What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits" The Doobie Brothers
iMac (Retina 5K, 27", 2020), 3.8 GHz 8 Core Intel Core i7, 8GB RAM, 2667 MHz DDR4 OS Sonoma 14.4.1 Canon Pixma TR 8520 Printer Epson Perfection V500 Photo Scanner c/w VueScan software TM on 1TB LaCie USB-C
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Re: Biological Annihilation Is Underway
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Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 4
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OP
Joined: Aug 2009
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