LordTenaim Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 With Global warming, ever more corrupt politicians and so on and so forth is civilisation on the brink of colapse or is it just a passing fad for the human race (being on the edge of colapse that is)? :confused: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bben46 Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 There have been doomsayers for as long as human history. So far they have all been wrong. So called experts predicting the imminent collapse of civilization, the end or the world or some other disaster seems to be the norm throughout recorded history. In my own lifetime, (62 years) I have seen the predictions that we would all die from: a nuclear war 50s through 90s, a new Ice age (really, in the early 70s) A comet hitting the earth - in the 80s - they even named the comet and the exact date. That the world would run out of fresh water in the 80s, Massive earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tidal waves caused by a conjunction of planets in the 70s. That we would run out of food and there would be massive worldwide food riots that would destroy civilization 60s and again in the 80s. And probably a few I have forgotten. I'm not holding my breath over the latest predictions of global warming and oceans rising to engulf major cities. My own prediction is that everyone alive today will die. Mostly from natural causes, sometime in the next 100 years or so. But I don't plan to wait that long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echo Icehand Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 Bben46, I hate to break it to you not so gently, but I live in a port city housing about 15 million people, including 4 million refugees, and 5 million national and non-national immigrants. Due to a low catagory three storm recently, almost two million people had to be relocated within the city, and the city was without power for 50+ hours and water for 120+ hour, and I don't mean sewerage, drinking water and clean water for personal usage. I was a student intern 9 years ago, when my professor told me clearly that if the population of the city continues to grow at the same rate and consumption ratios do not decrees than the city is not going to survive the infrequent catagory 2-3 storm. In the last four years, for the first time since 1906, has the city I live in seen consecutive years of catagory 3. Do you think that catagory 3 would hit a desert city, even once in 7 years let alone 5 times in 4 years. Humans have survived through 16 Ice Ages, the longest of them lasting over 1000 years, but more than 60% of the human population died. All of this was before the age of metals let alone nuclear footballs in the hands of mass murderers. If anyone says we are all dead, then that person is a cowardly idiot, but rest assured that things are going wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AncientSpaceAeon Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 Isn't World War II is worse than this ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vagrant0 Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 If the end were tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, who cares? The reality is that chances are that you will probably be killed in either the initial event or the resulting devastation/pandemonium. And it you aren't, well, life just sucks between the religious nutjobs, the militants, the looters, and anyone else who might be trying to instill their own version of society amidst the chaos. If you live, you live and try to make the best of it, if you die, you die. There's absolutely no sense worrying about it, if you're relatively healthy, smart, and resourceful, you'll probably do alright no matter what comes, if not; you're probably dead, one way or another... just accept it and move on. The worst thing you can do is let this fear of something that probably won't happen rule your life, or be the source for many of your own decisions. *edit* Incidentally, I just became aware of a new series on the Discovery channel called The Colony. It's still your typical reality TV show, where much of it is scripted, pre-arranged, and there's no real danger or sense of reality, but is still kinda interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimboUK Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 Bben46, I hate to break it to you not so gently, but I live in a port city housing about 15 million people, including 4 million refugees, and 5 million national and non-national immigrants. Due to a low catagory three storm recently, almost two million people had to be relocated within the city, and the city was without power for 50+ hours and water for 120+ hour, and I don't mean sewerage, drinking water and clean water for personal usage. I was a student intern 9 years ago, when my professor told me clearly that if the population of the city continues to grow at the same rate and consumption ratios do not decrees than the city is not going to survive the infrequent catagory 2-3 storm. In the last four years, for the first time since 1906, has the city I live in seen consecutive years of catagory 3. Do you think that catagory 3 would hit a desert city, even once in 7 years let alone 5 times in 4 years. Humans have survived through 16 Ice Ages, the longest of them lasting over 1000 years, but more than 60% of the human population died. All of this was before the age of metals let alone nuclear footballs in the hands of mass murderers. If anyone says we are all dead, then that person is a cowardly idiot, but rest assured that things are going wrong. What's going wrong? the climate has never been stable, it's always changed. The difference now is governments see a way to make money through green taxes and the corporations a way to make more money selling us "green" stuff. Notice how they changed "global warming" to "climate change" when they got rumbled? We used to call climate change "weather" and not even governments in the UK would have dreamed of taxing the weather as they do now by calling it "climate change". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AncientSpaceAeon Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 I don't know about the rest of you guys but . . . "Living in a tropical metropolitan with the effects of global warming and green house effect IS NOT FUN !" 95F in my city !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bben46 Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 We have only been keeping climate records for the last 50 to 80 years. And even beyond 10 years ago these are spotty at best. In talking to older people - in their 80s and 90s, I have seen a pattern. I hear from them 'It dosn't seem as hot as when I was a kid, but we didn't have a thermometer either. and there is not as much snow most years, but in (fill in the years ) we didn't have snow either.' However, even 100 years is not enough for a real trend to show. I remember 3 major and 5 minor Typhoons in one year where I lived in the late 50s, but today, even one is considered a sign of global warming. Then when I was living on the coast of North Carolina, we had 4 hurricanes in one year, but none were considered major - except by those who were there at the time. Earthquakes are endemic in certain parts of the world, including Indonesia, as are volcanoes and tsunamis. Before a few years ago these were considered natural disasters and a part of living in those regions. Now they are global disasters obviously brought on by global warming caused by humans. Unfortunately, global warming or climate change has become a religion. I am not saying we should not go green. But we are doing it for the wrong reasons and from ignorance. For example, several countries are now mandating that every light bulb be replaced ONLY with the CFL type. CFLs are an improvement in that they do use less energy - but only if they are left on for over about 4 hours, Less than that cuts their life expectancy by about 60% or more. AND, they have small amounts of mercury that makes them difficult to dispose of properly. CFLs should be used in those locations where the light will be turned on and left on for a period, and not in those places (like my bathroom or my storage room ) where they will only be on for a few minutes at a time. I have a lot of hope for the newer LED lamps that use even less energy and no mercury, But they are not perfected as replacements for home lighting yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AncientSpaceAeon Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 Hey, what do you all prefer ? Freezing winter or Heating Summer ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alkser Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 Hey, what do you all prefer ? Freezing winter or Heating Summer ? Freezing winter :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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