4 ms·

Humans have never had the numbers they’ve had right now. It would be very hard to eradicate 8 billion individual organisms.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
Simon_ORourke 3y ago
What do you mean hard? I do this all the time with some bleach and a scrubbing brush.
- huytersd 3y ago
  Global scale bleach events are rare.
  - AndrewKemendo 3y ago
    This offered me a good laugh. Thank you.
account-5 3y ago
We're trying our best though. EDIT: for those downvoting, I'd like to discuss why you don't agree. I mean, climate change, war, etc. What else can you call it?
- echelon 3y ago
  No amount of climate change short of Venusian runaway heating will scour the earth of humans. If we launch all of our nukes, we might collapse civilization, but even that would likely leave humans around. We might get stuck in our gravity well for a long time, though. Whatever makes us go extinct will either be cosmic or something we haven't invented yet.
  - account-5 3y ago
    I think the amount of climate change that kills off our food or the atmosphere we breath might do it.
  - huytersd 3y ago
    An appropriate virus would do it. Spread through the air, 5 year incubation rate, 90%+ mortality would do it.
  - rhelz 3y ago
    // venusian runaway...// We cool our bodies by sweating, a process which ceases to work at about 95 degrees at 100% humidity, or 115 degrees at 50% humidity. Its been estimated that an average temperature of above 122 degrees F would kill off all mammalian life on the planet. Currently the earth is warming at about 1/3rd of a degree F per decade.
    - echelon 3y ago
      Seeing how the summer mean daily maximum in my city is 95.8 deg F and the mean humidity averages 80%, I think we already cross your threshold frequently. It hasn't killed us yet. I would frequently go running in the afternoon during "heat stroke" days. I love that weather. Hot and humid summers are personally invigorating. I grew up with them. I'd like to see your sources. > Currently the earth is warming at about 1/3rd of a degree F per decade. Every decade our technological capability increases dramatically. We're already working on climate engineering. Nothing here will extinct us.
      - rhelz 3y ago
        // I'd like to see your sources // See the July 19, 2022 Issue of the Scientific American, "How Hot Is Too Hot for the Human Body?" // I would frequently go running // Recall, it's 95 degrees at 100% humidity. The more humid the air, the less sweat will evaporate. I don't care if you are Jesus Christ Usane Bolt Superstar, above 95 degrees at 100% humidity, if you run long enough you will get heatstroke. // Nothing here will extinct us // Extinction has happened to every other species of Homo. Every. single. one. I wonder how many of them accurately predicted when and why they would go extinct....
- cgh 3y ago
  War? We live in one of the most peaceful times in human history.
  - account-5 3y ago
    With one madman this week threatening nuclear war that would wipe out civilisation on this planet, so yes war.
    - cgh 3y ago
      I assumed the original poster was talking about extant wars, not threats. This doesn’t even rate compared to say the Cuban missile crisis or even just the normal state of the world in the ‘80s.
- bloopernova 3y ago
  You're being downvoted for several reasons, and I find them all maddening and infuriating. First, you've got those folks who are in deep denial about how much we've utterly fucked our climate, i.e. "don't look up, just vote down!" Included in this group are those who think/feel "things got better over the past 100 years, so the next 100 years must be better too!" Then you've got the astroturfers who are paid to minimize any discussion of climate disaster for whatever reason; governments, political movements, oil companies, etc. I see those in comments on the larger newspapers, they swarm in and state contradictory "facts" that confuse people and shut down discussion. Personally, after the experience of COVID-19, the inability of governments to give up the easy money from oil etc, and the lack of reaction to extreme weather events, I think humanity is utterly doomed. If anyone survives, I don't think there will be more than a couple million people left at the end of this century. People talk about "oh we'll just do X, Y, and Z to fix things" while forgetting that we'll have to do those things while dealing with: Ecosystem and food supply collapse. Resource wars. Massive refugee migrations. Worsening climate. We are our own great filter.
  - Geisterde 3y ago
    Dude its called air conditioning, and we can grow the world economy to put it in every hut in africa within the decade if people are free, its impossible to "reverse" the effects havent you heard?
    - taway_6PplYu5 3y ago
      I wonder what generates the power for this air conditioning? Do we also air condition the farms?
      - Geisterde 3y ago
        Food production is up year over year, why are you worried about that?
    - bloopernova 3y ago
      I can't make much sense of your comment. It sounds like you're proposing that we air condition anywhere affected by warming. What about farmer's fields? Oceans? Do you know how many people work outside to keep you in air conditioned comfort? Even if that were possible, humanity has shown that we will only do something worldwide when we're absolutely forced to. We will not be able to do that while dealing with the disasters that come with global climate catastrophe and ecological collapse.
- andrewjl 3y ago
  Your comment would carry more weight if human population wasn't increasing each year. The best counterargument to the population trend argument is that we're in the midst of a Wile E. Coyote period. Along with that though one still needs to account for: - What's different about weapons today versus say 1970s? - Why climate change, despite being a serious (and to be clear: actual risk), isn't amenable to solutions like the Montreal protocol that've succeeded in the past?
  - account-5 3y ago
    I have absolutely no idea what you mean by "Wylie E Coyote period", can you explain? I did DDG it but couldn't find much. Without that I'm unsure I can properly comment why I need to account for your other points. But sure the Montreal protocol and even the response to COVID 19 shows what can be accomplished should everyone work together. But it wasn't too late in either case then, and they were easier to solve. Today's weapons are definitely scarier than 1970s weapons. Either way, I wasn't attempting a definitive list with my two items and "etc", I'd consider overpopulation as big a threat as climate change, the fact it's increasing each year is part of the problem.
    - astrange 3y ago
      > I have absolutely no idea what you mean by "Wylie E Coyote period", can you explain? I believe that would be after you've run off a cliff but before gravity has noticed.
    - andrewjl 3y ago
      > I have absolutely no idea what you mean by "Wylie E Coyote period", can you explain? The sibling reply expressed this as well. Wile E. runs off a cliff, the forward momentum keeps gravity in check but only for a short time. The fact that human population continues to grow isn't by itself sufficient evidence that there are no existing parallel, possibly embryonic, trends developing that'll change that later. The period where both of these are true would be similar to when Wile E. is no longer on solid ground and hasn't yet fallen. It's a temporary and (on a relative basis, which could exceed human lifespan for sufficiently complex or slowly moving trends) brief period. To be clear, I don't think it's an accurate view of where we are today. On the other hand, had the changes we've seen since 1970s not come to pass, it'd be harder to say. (An example that is climate change specific is the exponentially decreasing cost curve for solar energy.) > Either way, I wasn't attempting a definitive list with my two items and "etc" So long as the focus is on the definitive then IMHO there is value in looking hard here. Otherwise, why bother? > Today's weapons are definitely scarier than 1970s weapons. Can you say more?

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

Simon_ORourke 3y ago

What do you mean hard? I do this all the time with some bleach and a scrubbing brush.

huytersd 3y ago
Global scale bleach events are rare.
- AndrewKemendo 3y ago
  This offered me a good laugh. Thank you.

account-5 3y ago

We're trying our best though. EDIT: for those downvoting, I'd like to discuss why you don't agree. I mean, climate change, war, etc. What else can you call it?

echelon 3y ago
No amount of climate change short of Venusian runaway heating will scour the earth of humans. If we launch all of our nukes, we might collapse civilization, but even that would likely leave humans around. We might get stuck in our gravity well for a long time, though. Whatever makes us go extinct will either be cosmic or something we haven't invented yet.
- account-5 3y ago
  I think the amount of climate change that kills off our food or the atmosphere we breath might do it.
- huytersd 3y ago
  An appropriate virus would do it. Spread through the air, 5 year incubation rate, 90%+ mortality would do it.
- rhelz 3y ago
  // venusian runaway...// We cool our bodies by sweating, a process which ceases to work at about 95 degrees at 100% humidity, or 115 degrees at 50% humidity. Its been estimated that an average temperature of above 122 degrees F would kill off all mammalian life on the planet. Currently the earth is warming at about 1/3rd of a degree F per decade.
  - echelon 3y ago
    Seeing how the summer mean daily maximum in my city is 95.8 deg F and the mean humidity averages 80%, I think we already cross your threshold frequently. It hasn't killed us yet. I would frequently go running in the afternoon during "heat stroke" days. I love that weather. Hot and humid summers are personally invigorating. I grew up with them. I'd like to see your sources. > Currently the earth is warming at about 1/3rd of a degree F per decade. Every decade our technological capability increases dramatically. We're already working on climate engineering. Nothing here will extinct us.
    - rhelz 3y ago
      // I'd like to see your sources // See the July 19, 2022 Issue of the Scientific American, "How Hot Is Too Hot for the Human Body?" // I would frequently go running // Recall, it's 95 degrees at 100% humidity. The more humid the air, the less sweat will evaporate. I don't care if you are Jesus Christ Usane Bolt Superstar, above 95 degrees at 100% humidity, if you run long enough you will get heatstroke. // Nothing here will extinct us // Extinction has happened to every other species of Homo. Every. single. one. I wonder how many of them accurately predicted when and why they would go extinct....
cgh 3y ago
War? We live in one of the most peaceful times in human history.
- account-5 3y ago
  With one madman this week threatening nuclear war that would wipe out civilisation on this planet, so yes war.
  - cgh 3y ago
    I assumed the original poster was talking about extant wars, not threats. This doesn’t even rate compared to say the Cuban missile crisis or even just the normal state of the world in the ‘80s.
bloopernova 3y ago
You're being downvoted for several reasons, and I find them all maddening and infuriating. First, you've got those folks who are in deep denial about how much we've utterly fucked our climate, i.e. "don't look up, just vote down!" Included in this group are those who think/feel "things got better over the past 100 years, so the next 100 years must be better too!" Then you've got the astroturfers who are paid to minimize any discussion of climate disaster for whatever reason; governments, political movements, oil companies, etc. I see those in comments on the larger newspapers, they swarm in and state contradictory "facts" that confuse people and shut down discussion. Personally, after the experience of COVID-19, the inability of governments to give up the easy money from oil etc, and the lack of reaction to extreme weather events, I think humanity is utterly doomed. If anyone survives, I don't think there will be more than a couple million people left at the end of this century. People talk about "oh we'll just do X, Y, and Z to fix things" while forgetting that we'll have to do those things while dealing with: Ecosystem and food supply collapse. Resource wars. Massive refugee migrations. Worsening climate. We are our own great filter.
- Geisterde 3y ago
  Dude its called air conditioning, and we can grow the world economy to put it in every hut in africa within the decade if people are free, its impossible to "reverse" the effects havent you heard?
  - taway_6PplYu5 3y ago
    I wonder what generates the power for this air conditioning? Do we also air condition the farms?
    - Geisterde 3y ago
      Food production is up year over year, why are you worried about that?
  - bloopernova 3y ago
    I can't make much sense of your comment. It sounds like you're proposing that we air condition anywhere affected by warming. What about farmer's fields? Oceans? Do you know how many people work outside to keep you in air conditioned comfort? Even if that were possible, humanity has shown that we will only do something worldwide when we're absolutely forced to. We will not be able to do that while dealing with the disasters that come with global climate catastrophe and ecological collapse.
andrewjl 3y ago
Your comment would carry more weight if human population wasn't increasing each year. The best counterargument to the population trend argument is that we're in the midst of a Wile E. Coyote period. Along with that though one still needs to account for: - What's different about weapons today versus say 1970s? - Why climate change, despite being a serious (and to be clear: actual risk), isn't amenable to solutions like the Montreal protocol that've succeeded in the past?
- account-5 3y ago
  I have absolutely no idea what you mean by "Wylie E Coyote period", can you explain? I did DDG it but couldn't find much. Without that I'm unsure I can properly comment why I need to account for your other points. But sure the Montreal protocol and even the response to COVID 19 shows what can be accomplished should everyone work together. But it wasn't too late in either case then, and they were easier to solve. Today's weapons are definitely scarier than 1970s weapons. Either way, I wasn't attempting a definitive list with my two items and "etc", I'd consider overpopulation as big a threat as climate change, the fact it's increasing each year is part of the problem.
  - astrange 3y ago
    > I have absolutely no idea what you mean by "Wylie E Coyote period", can you explain? I believe that would be after you've run off a cliff but before gravity has noticed.
  - andrewjl 3y ago
    > I have absolutely no idea what you mean by "Wylie E Coyote period", can you explain? The sibling reply expressed this as well. Wile E. runs off a cliff, the forward momentum keeps gravity in check but only for a short time. The fact that human population continues to grow isn't by itself sufficient evidence that there are no existing parallel, possibly embryonic, trends developing that'll change that later. The period where both of these are true would be similar to when Wile E. is no longer on solid ground and hasn't yet fallen. It's a temporary and (on a relative basis, which could exceed human lifespan for sufficiently complex or slowly moving trends) brief period. To be clear, I don't think it's an accurate view of where we are today. On the other hand, had the changes we've seen since 1970s not come to pass, it'd be harder to say. (An example that is climate change specific is the exponentially decreasing cost curve for solar energy.) > Either way, I wasn't attempting a definitive list with my two items and "etc" So long as the focus is on the definitive then IMHO there is value in looking hard here. Otherwise, why bother? > Today's weapons are definitely scarier than 1970s weapons. Can you say more?