Human Extinction Inevitable..?

[Flood]

As much as I agree with what you said Xevious you can't deny that fact that we, humans, have helped speed up the process of many of the changes you've mentione for exemple the holes in the ozone layer and the excessive amount of CO2 in the air.

[Xevious]

We humans couldn't make a dent in this planet as a collective system if we wanted to... and I'm not talking about how the system appears, but how it functions. Sure we release tons of CO2 in the atmosphere, but nature cleans out most of it, and it is still only a triffle compared to what nature herself puts out, and that doesn't just include our little planet. I don't think it is any coincidence personally that the sun got a lot more active about the same time global warming started in the mid 1800's... or that the Sun is bigger by a few arcseconds than it was a back then. OR, maybe if you noticed, ALL the planets in the solar system which are entirely dependant upon the sun for their weather energy, and have changing weather patterns, all have global warming. CO2 isn't even the most important greenhouse gas... it is way down on the list, and only accounts for a smaller percentage of the greenhouse effect in our atmosphere. Sure the ice caps are melting, but didn't they used to be in California? They have been melting a long time before factories showed up. Yeah, the Earth is getting warmer, but there have been LOTS of times in Earths past that it has gotten a hell of a lot warmer than it is now... and we wern't here to do it.

I'm drifting off topic, but my point is that those who truly believe that we humans are apart from nature are delisional. As long as we exist, we will always be connected to nature in some form, and nature will always adapt itself, shape our enviornment, and ultimately have the final say as to what we humans can and cannot do.

As far as we humans going extinct is concerned, we are an incredibly adaptive species. We always adapt, no matter what ecosystem we are living in. We always find a way to survive. We always will.

[KOE]

[quote]No matter how we bemoan our fate, we can not go backwards. Nor can we unlearn what is known[quote] Dark ages anyone? If the war/disaster is big enough technology won't survive. Its nice to have a gun, but if your struggling to survive, do you sit and make a bullet, or 20 spears? Do you take the time to teach your children, or do you gather food to keep yourself and your species alive?

Xevious i agree with you 100%. I think its arrogant for humans to assume that we understand how the world works and all the changes that happen are our fault. History shows that climate patterns change.

[Maveric]

i was thinking to myself just a second ago, the human race is good, how can it end, it may do a lot of damage during its lifespan but its always going to be here, then i read dr lous post about the average species lifespan of 50million years, and thought how long has the human race been about? and how long has it got to go before it reaches the average species life expectancy?

it put it all in perspective, i think the human race is developing far to quikly for its own good, can you imagine where we would be in 30 million years time, the human race struggles to avoid wars every 10 years or so, what the f*ck do you think can happen in the space of 30million years.

[edgar]

we mayb survive but the question is, what will be the QUALITY of our lives......if we keep messin up the earth

[Dr Lou Natic]

This just in:
10% of the large fish population(tuna, marlin, etc) is left from just 10 years ago. 10 years. 10 years ago those populations would have been way under what they should be anyway and since then we have depleted 90% of those. Thats insane.
And we aren't going to slow down. So don't expect to see tuna on the shelf in your supermarket soon.
What does this have to do with the subject? It demonstrates how unbelievably unintelligent humans are as a collective. People think technology goes hand in hand with intelligence but in reality, our technology gets smarter faster than we do. We aren't prepared for the technology we possess. We are like a mindless machine that can't contemplate such things as the future.
I learned of this situation with the overfishing on a documentary just now and what really struck me were the fishermen.
Their work is being restricted by new laws in an(rather vain I might add) attempt to restore fish populations. Now here's the funny part, THEY'RE COMPLAINING ABOUT IT! They think they're being discriminated against. Are they retarded? Do they not realise that if they keep going like they are now that they simply won't have work at all in 3 years because there WILL NOT BE FISH?
They are humans.
This society(working for money) has become the most important thing to all of us to the extent that we can't see beyond a dollar. It is very true that you can't eat money but most people just don't truely understand that. Money will kill us all. On our last days we will all be dragging these giant sacks filled with money behind us as we scavenge for rancid meat. Squabbling over dried out cheese left in an ancient pizza box. We will be wild again but we will be so out of practice that we will quickly be outdone by our experienced competition. Left to die in the streets of our once thriving cities.
I can't think of a more appropriate fate for the most conceited and ego-tystical species in the history of earth.

[Clockwood]

Give humanity another hundred years and we will be beyond extinction's reach. We are only vulnerable while we are stuck on this rock. Once exponential we get exponential population increase going in an interplanetary medium nothing I can think of could stop us. We just breed too fast.

[Dr Lou Natic]

I agree with that. If humans get off earth they can live however they want without repurcussions. They will be living in an environment designed by them and for them.

Its a race though and I don't know who will win. Earth might just get us before we can escape it.
I hope it does, we don't deserve to live forever.

[Xevious]

Will the quality of nature today be of concern to future generations? 150 years ago most of Texas was a grassy plain. Changes in weather and the introduction of other plants has completely altered the eco-systems. Today, it is overgrown with cactus and cedar. Just about all the native species however, survived. They adapted to their new enivornment.

Texans who live today know only the Hill Country in which they grew up, while grandma and grandpa recount stories of grassy plains, flowing streams, and fertile farmland.