Earths natural wealth: How long will it last

bubblesmoney

see an interesting article in the new scientist

the visual
http://www.newscientist.com/articleimages/mg19426051.200/2-earths-natural-wealth-an-audit.html

and the article
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19426051.200-earths-natural-wealth-an-audit.html

Conrad

I wonder whether people fully engage with the notion the Earths crust is all we have to live off in the vast emptiness of Space. Let's just keep on consuming and upgrading folks, until nothings left.

PS - don't eat Lobster, clams, scallops or Dover Sole. Your monetary taste sensation is a pretty pathetic excuse for hoovering up species that may exist no where else in the Universe.

Generali

bubblesmoney wrote: »

see an interesting article in the new scientist

the visual
http://www.newscientist.com/articleimages/mg19426051.200/2-earths-natural-wealth-an-audit.html

and the article
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19426051.200-earths-natural-wealth-an-audit.html

This should be the most thanked posting on this board.

Thanks bubblesmoney.

lostinrates

Generali wrote: »

This should be the most thanked posting on this board.

Thanks bubblesmoney.

Heartily agree.

[Deleted User]

Core problem: There are too many humans. We're a species that has exceeded it's environments resources. We are able to feed ourselves too easily, we live longer than we were ever meant to and we're very good at taking resources out of the earth.

However..even if we had very low population numbers, these elements are only available in finite quantities. Would we be bothered if these numbers were 10x their value? Did the Victorians care that 21st century man might run out of tin?

Essentially, there is no solution to getting more of these things other than retrieve these minerals from extra-terrestrial sources. If this is not possible, we will have to find alternatives to each as they run out. Recycling can only help to a degree, since we can't recycling everything.. and if we can't do that, then it will eventually run out.

Sadly, this is all inevitable and a consequence of Newtons 2nd law of thermodynamics -

In any closed system, the entropy of the system will either remain constant or increase.

The earth is a closed system. All organisms take things from concentrated sources and break them up, combine them with other things and eventually dispose of them. Humans just do this on a bigger scale.

Unless we return to a pre-industrialisation standard of living, we will not sustain this planets resources for many more centuries.

Damn, that just depressed me a lot. Glad i won't be around to see the end of the post-industrialised human era. Space, here we come..

We need Multivac to solve our problems (or Maxwell's demons)

Conrad

Ringo, well put

Humans can't help themselves, but in the end they will be forced to change thier ways. My wife thinks I'm bonkers to worry about for example the waste involved in giving cards, christmas crakers, wrapping paper, polystyrene packed gifts and so on

piggeh

It's interesting to read, I guess we'll have some resource wars in future to look forward to. Technological advancements will play a major role though. LCDs could change in their composition (or rather we wont use LCDs), CPUs will possibly change to one of several new techniques (graphite, chemical processing etc).

It does lead to the conclusion generally though, that giving everyone on the planet the freedom to procreate as much as they wish, with the guarantee everyone will be provided for, is a bit of a nonsense, regardless of what advancements we make.

mustrum_ridcully

piggeh wrote: »

It's interesting to read, I guess we'll have some resource wars in future to look forward to. Technological advancements will play a major role though. LCDs could change in their composition (or rather we wont use LCDs), CPUs will possibly change to one of several new techniques (graphite, chemical processing etc).

It does lead to the conclusion generally though, that giving everyone on the planet the freedom to procreate as much as they wish, with the guarantee everyone will be provided for, is a bit of a nonsense, regardless of what advancements we make.

Very true...

I think the heart of the problem is the capitalist system that in its current form demands increasing consumption and people are encouraged to buy the latest new and shiny thing. Because of this things aren't designed to last, I'd go so far as to say they are designed to fail.

I bought a digital set top box for my TV that had a 3 year warranty on it, it died about 2-3 months after the warranty expired. I remember the Ferguson TX colour TV my grandparents had, it must have lasted 20 years before it was thrown out. A modern day TV probably is probably only kept a few years before it's thrown out because it is no longer the latest and greatest shiny thing, so chances are it's designed to last 3-4 years before breaking down.

I know how some people here on MSE love quoting the sale of goods act and how things should last a reasonable time. I bet that what that period is has gone down in the past 10 or 20 years (along with the price).

Well I think we know what the problem is, but how to solve it is another matter...

ad9898_3

I read this article when it came out, I think its a couple of years old now, very thought provoking, never mind peak oil, how about 'peak everything'.

I've been banging on about this for years, the bottom line is our way of life that we have enjoyed for the past few decades, cannot be sustained, either people need to get used to it and plan for an alternative existence, or bury their head in the sand, but whatever people decide, all this is on the horizon, and it's coming inexorably towards us. The next 100 years will be much, much more difficult than the last 100 years.

The earth will not sustain 6 billion + human beings, fact. End of story.

mewbie_2

On the plus side is human ingenuity and the ever increasing rate of development of new ideas / technology.

Here is a better type of battery for example.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7938001.stm

It seems to me we have some simple choices.
1. Live with hope.
2. Start a war.
3. Sterilize or starve everyone we don't like.
4. Start praying.

I'm going for number one. Some will call it head in sand.

A_fiend_for_life

Nothing like a resource war to deplete our resources even further.

Einstein said: "We'll use rocks on the other side".