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So, I’m going to share some thoughts here, and some facts. Just as I’ve already posted, facts will generally be bolded, and my thoughts-no matter who they are in agreement with – will be italicized. This will avoid confusion, I hope, between what is factual and what I believe or think to be the truth.
By way of example then, the earth has a mass of 1.32X 10E25 lbs.
How much is that? Is it “a lot?” Well, as my H.S. physics teacher Mr. Schrader taught me to ask, Compared to what?
The earth’s atmosphere has a mass of 1.32X10E18 lbs. That’s 1/1,000,000 of earth’s mass
Most authorities (the USGS, the oil industry, OPEC, other governments)put the world’s remaining recoverable crude oil at a mass of 3.0X10E18lbs(estimated remaining world recoverable:1.0 X10E12 barrels, at approx.. 300lbs/barrel-roughly a little less than 3/10,000,000 of earth’s mass.
According to this site, world population is just over 7 billion. At an average of 110 lbs., the mass of all people on earth is roughly 7.7X 10E10 lbs.-and increasing, but still much less than half of the mass of the earth’s atmosphere-about 5/100,000,000 of the earth’s mass.
And, of course, the mass of atmospheric CO2 is 3.0X10E12 lbs., approx. double what it was 120 years ago, when it was only 1.5X10E12, or 1900 times the mass of people on earth-today, of course, the CO2 in the atmosphere is roughly 4000 times the mass of all the people on earth.
My point? Or, at least, my thoughts….well, we’ll get to those in a bit, but some more perspective…
My great-grandfather, and most Cuffees before him back to about 1760 or so, were whalers. They sailed around the world-opened new whaling grounds in the Pacific back around 1820, and helped drive much of the world’s cetacean population to near-extinction. In fact, the whales may wind up extinct yet.
Per this Wikipedia page, you can look to the following for animals extinct because of human activity:The following 59 pages are in this category, out of 59 total. This list may not reflect recent changes (learn more).
The journal, Science, in this 2006 article, , predicted that the world will basically run out of wild-grown seafood by 2048, almost entirely due to fishing-or overfishing-trying to meet increased demand, while pollution and other environmental factors continue to further reduce piscine populations.
The area where I live and work, the desert southwest, is an extreme drought-more to the point, though, it simply lacks the water to support all of its uses and users-something that would be true even if it weren’t going through a drought: According to recent federal forecasts, nearly half the lower 48 United States are experiencing drought- this, coupled with a 99% population increase since 1950, and a 127% increase in water usage, leads to several grim forecast models for U.S. water usage-with shortages in areas far afield from the desert southwest, like New York, and Washington, D.C.
And, of course, there’s this disaster-an island of plastic in the North Central Pacific-the Great Pacific garbage patch was actually predicted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association back in the 80’s, and is having several far-reaching and lasting environmental impacts.
Short version-mankind has an impact on our environment, and it’s not always good:sometimes species nearly get wiped out because they provide material for an Industrial revolution, and sometimes species disappear altogether, simply because they're tasty (though some of them may have been ill-adapted for longevity) and some things, like our atmospheric carbon burden, are real, measurable and have lasting effects: in the case of CO2, it only starts with the acidification of lakes and oceans. Additionally, the resources we consume are finite-they can, just like the dodo and passenger pigeon, go away, and likely will-oil especially, though the U.S. is becoming a net-exporter of oil, which for us is a good sign-on the other hand, part of that is due to natural gas, and fracking thereof, which uses large amounts of water.
Long version-we are in an era of diminishing resources, and increased degradation of the environment, and there is little we can do to stop either. We are on a path to having more people, less energy resources, less water, less food, and poorer quality air (which leads to even less water and, consequently, less food), and diminished quality of life for all. These things,truth and facts, are not exactly "good for business," and so, business lies to you., which is the reason I've provided so few references: see for yourself, and make up your own minds, but seek facts, and come to your own truth-don't just blindly swallow someone else's-including mine....(especially my math, which can be a little wonky at 03:20 A.M. :lfao: )
By way of example then, the earth has a mass of 1.32X 10E25 lbs.
How much is that? Is it “a lot?” Well, as my H.S. physics teacher Mr. Schrader taught me to ask, Compared to what?
The earth’s atmosphere has a mass of 1.32X10E18 lbs. That’s 1/1,000,000 of earth’s mass
Most authorities (the USGS, the oil industry, OPEC, other governments)put the world’s remaining recoverable crude oil at a mass of 3.0X10E18lbs(estimated remaining world recoverable:1.0 X10E12 barrels, at approx.. 300lbs/barrel-roughly a little less than 3/10,000,000 of earth’s mass.
According to this site, world population is just over 7 billion. At an average of 110 lbs., the mass of all people on earth is roughly 7.7X 10E10 lbs.-and increasing, but still much less than half of the mass of the earth’s atmosphere-about 5/100,000,000 of the earth’s mass.
And, of course, the mass of atmospheric CO2 is 3.0X10E12 lbs., approx. double what it was 120 years ago, when it was only 1.5X10E12, or 1900 times the mass of people on earth-today, of course, the CO2 in the atmosphere is roughly 4000 times the mass of all the people on earth.
My point? Or, at least, my thoughts….well, we’ll get to those in a bit, but some more perspective…
My great-grandfather, and most Cuffees before him back to about 1760 or so, were whalers. They sailed around the world-opened new whaling grounds in the Pacific back around 1820, and helped drive much of the world’s cetacean population to near-extinction. In fact, the whales may wind up extinct yet.
Per this Wikipedia page, you can look to the following for animals extinct because of human activity:The following 59 pages are in this category, out of 59 total. This list may not reflect recent changes (learn more).
The journal, Science, in this 2006 article, , predicted that the world will basically run out of wild-grown seafood by 2048, almost entirely due to fishing-or overfishing-trying to meet increased demand, while pollution and other environmental factors continue to further reduce piscine populations.
The area where I live and work, the desert southwest, is an extreme drought-more to the point, though, it simply lacks the water to support all of its uses and users-something that would be true even if it weren’t going through a drought: According to recent federal forecasts, nearly half the lower 48 United States are experiencing drought- this, coupled with a 99% population increase since 1950, and a 127% increase in water usage, leads to several grim forecast models for U.S. water usage-with shortages in areas far afield from the desert southwest, like New York, and Washington, D.C.
And, of course, there’s this disaster-an island of plastic in the North Central Pacific-the Great Pacific garbage patch was actually predicted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association back in the 80’s, and is having several far-reaching and lasting environmental impacts.
Short version-mankind has an impact on our environment, and it’s not always good:sometimes species nearly get wiped out because they provide material for an Industrial revolution, and sometimes species disappear altogether, simply because they're tasty (though some of them may have been ill-adapted for longevity) and some things, like our atmospheric carbon burden, are real, measurable and have lasting effects: in the case of CO2, it only starts with the acidification of lakes and oceans. Additionally, the resources we consume are finite-they can, just like the dodo and passenger pigeon, go away, and likely will-oil especially, though the U.S. is becoming a net-exporter of oil, which for us is a good sign-on the other hand, part of that is due to natural gas, and fracking thereof, which uses large amounts of water.
Long version-we are in an era of diminishing resources, and increased degradation of the environment, and there is little we can do to stop either. We are on a path to having more people, less energy resources, less water, less food, and poorer quality air (which leads to even less water and, consequently, less food), and diminished quality of life for all. These things,truth and facts, are not exactly "good for business," and so, business lies to you., which is the reason I've provided so few references: see for yourself, and make up your own minds, but seek facts, and come to your own truth-don't just blindly swallow someone else's-including mine....(especially my math, which can be a little wonky at 03:20 A.M. :lfao: )
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