[b]Earth 'will expire by 2050'[/b]

[i]Mark Townsend and Jason Burke
Sunday July 7, 2002
The Observer [/i]

Our planet is running out of room and resources. Modern man has plundered so much, a damning report claims this week, that outer space will have to be colonised

Earth's population will be forced to colonise two planets within 50 years if natural resources continue to be exploited at the current rate, according to a report out this week.

A study by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), to be released on Tuesday, warns that the human race is plundering the planet at a pace that outstrips its capacity to support life.

In a damning condemnation of Western society's high consumption levels, it adds that the extra planets (the equivalent size of Earth) will be required by the year 2050 as existing resources are exhausted.

The report, based on scientific data from across the world, reveals that more than a third of the natural world has been destroyed by humans over the past three decades.

Using the image of the need for mankind to colonise space as a stark illustration of the problems facing Earth, the report warns that either consumption rates are dramatically and rapidly lowered or the planet will no longer be able to sustain its growing population.

Experts say that seas will become emptied of fish while forests - which absorb carbon dioxide emissions - are completely destroyed and freshwater supplies become scarce and polluted.

The report offers a vivid warning that either people curb their extravagant lifestyles or risk leaving the onus on scientists to locate another planet that can sustain human life. Since this is unlikely to happen, the only option is to cut consumption now.

Systematic overexploitation of the planet's oceans has meant the North Atlantic's cod stocks have collapsed from an estimated spawning stock of 264,000 tonnes in 1970 to under 60,000 in 1995.

[url=www.observer.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,750783,00.html]Full Article[/url]

I wonder if there is any bias in this study? Considering the source I'd have to say no.


At first I thought it was going to be the World Wrestling Federation.

Let's send the WWF, Earth First, PETA, and the Sierra club on the first voyage.

Why is it so hard to beleive that we are going to run out of resources?

I say all the better, we should have had colonies on the moon during the 70's anyways.

And look at it this way, maybe we can start our own country called AR15.com where there are no gun restrictions whatsoever.

Hey, a guy can dream can't he?

This is one of the leftists favorites.. It has been going on for over 50 years.. Ever so often one of them will publish a paper saying Such and such is going to occur by such and such date if we don't stop being capitalists...
It is the hallmark of a statist.

The only people who fall for this one are the ignorant as they seem to also not realize that Capitalism solves the problem of supply very well..

We can run out of resources, but depending on the resouce , Capitalism and Technology (which walk hand in hand) will have a alternative..

Trees will still grow and eco system will still be fine and the sky is not falling.

Ben

Yes outer space should be colonized.......

We should SEND all those enviro-whackies out first. Then we can start emptying CA.

WWF........ How will they get you to space?? Catapult?? Sorry wrong WWF........

As far as the cod, whales eat fish, it's them f'er's, we need to kill all whales, thank you WWF for pointing that out.

[red]In a damning condemnation of Western society's high consumption levels, it adds that the extra planets (the equivalent size of Earth) will be required by the year 2050 as existing resources are exhausted.[/red]

Where exactly does one purchase one of those high resource, low indiginous population planets??????????? What color do they come in?

I saw a documentery on this a while back. One of the rebuttles was that they say this about every 50 years. And it is based on current production technology, and growth. They do not take into account new techniques in farming and technology advancing to help in the short comings they predict.

If we really are running out of resources that fast, that means we don't have the materials necessary to colonize other planets!  We're all doomed!


PS Everybody (especially these guys) should read The Ultimate Resource by Julian Simon

Yeah!!

Let's Do It...

Can we turn the moon into the first "Super Range"???   Can you imagine the ballistics, with no atmosphere and super low gravity???[}:D]

They said that in 1978 too and it stillhas not happened.

If they want to colonize somplace else they get to go first.

Yeah, RIGHT INTO THE SUN.

There will have to be at least 1 restriction...

No live fire exercises inside the dome outside of the heavy containment berm area.

Ted...

HaHaHaHa
I really thought this was a joke about the World Wrestling Association!

The World Wildlife Fund is even less credible. This is about fund raising and getting money for nothin'. This is about separating fools from their money!

Right idea, wrong reasons.

Yes, we are short of stuff we need. A lot of modern technology require elements that are in short supply.

In the name of the WWF, let's exploit space!

I know this is stealing an idea from a Miachel Crichton book, but only our ego will outgrow this earth. When it gets tired of us, we will go the way of the dinosaur... fullclip

Yeah, and then all the mideast oil supply will be covered by a thick layer of glass, so we'll have to start driving more environmentally friendly vehicles!

Short supply in the US, maybe, but South Africa and the states of the former USSR (especially Siberia) have an abundance of strategic metals. Plus, in the case of Siberia, most of it hasn't even been surveyed so there's no telling what's there and how much of it there is.

Put some people willing to accept our help in charge in South Africa and we'll have access to those resources. In all likelihood we'd have to engineer a revolution like we did in Colombia when we needed access to the Panama Canal Zone, but I say we go ahead and do it - those resources are too important to us to allow them to remain in the hands of unstable primitives.

Can you imagine the nightmares SlartiBartFast would have when designing a custom-made planet for liberals?

no longer would it be a ring. it would have to be a cage.

The Space Rock slams Moonkind into the ropes and moonkind flies out of the stadium!



nope.. definatly need cages.