Climate Change: OIs this an extinction event ?

[gerasmus]

My take on the current global warming hype is that we could be heading for another (forced) extinction event. I am no geologist, no scientist, just an average Joe with a love for reading, an interest in geology, paleontology and ancient life on earth, 100's of millions of years ago.
Having looked at a geological timeline on WikiPedia to me it seemed that like there is a visible 'patter'n of extinction events where a majority of earth's ecology become extinct. The pattern repeats itself about every 65 million and 120 million years. I could be off by several million years. For people that haven't yet done it, go and read about the theory about the earth's climate 500-180 million years ago. Due to higher average temperatures, much higher oxygen levels earth's climate seemed to have had hostile living conditiions for humans. That is not to say humans cannot (over time or technologically) adapt to such an environment.

My guess is that millions of years from now, humans would still be around inhabting earth (or maybe other planets) in some way or another. What would make humans stick around sor so long ? Human intelligence. I think the threat to the overall survivability of humans as a specie is if there was to have been an global ice age.

In short: Could the current global warming hype (if proven true) not also be a very swift extinction event ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phanerozoic/

 

[Xylo]

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In short: Could the current global warming hype (if proven true) not also be a very swift extinction event ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phanerozoic/

Could be. I doubt it would be that swift. We humans are an ingenious bunch.

Personally I believe that what would happen is a short hot period followed by a few dozen (possibly more) years of ice age. This is based upon models I have seen which show the influx of cold freshwater (due to glacial and ice pack melting) in the North Atlantic disrupting the flow of the Gulf Stream.

As for extinction, humans would find ways to manipulate their environment, or create a new environment in which large numbers could survive. (Soylent Green anyone? )

 

[TClaeys]

...hehe ... think I hear Pixelsmith pounding the keyboard.......

 

[gerasmus]

When I speak of an extinction even I meant that in geological time, 3 or even 10 million years is nothing. A mass extinction may (have) happen over anything from 1-3 million years. I also think that financially or resource rich humans, would (have) developed the ability to survive an extinction event. Offcourse, for us humans, 3 million years is a very long time. It may be that in 3 million years humans may no longer look and the way we do now.

 

[satcomer]

Didn't we just come out of a solar maximum 11 year cycle into the 11 year solar minimum? I always felt this had a lot to do with the 1990's "Global Warming". Now what people should be doing is picking up the garbage that they see all around them but most people ignore it. To test yourself, truthfully ask yourself if you EVER pick up a loose piece of garbage, when no else was around. That test would prove to me that you actually really care about your environment. When was the last time you just tossed put garbage out of your car window? I know a lot of you do it because I volunteer at least three times a year on the highway cleanups and come to believe the majority of people don't actually care about there local environment.

The environmental movement is just political movement to keep third world countries down! If they were serious they would be pushing hard to make solar much cheaper and buying it for all those "poor" people of third world countries.

 

[gerasmus]

Hi Satcomer,
I must admit, I've stopped to pick up other people's trash (plastic bottles, plastic bags) many times. However, due to the overwhelming amount of trash I've since given up. I'm not member of a volonteer clean-up crew, but when I lived in London I saw on TV that there was vlonteers combing the Enlish countryside picking up trash.

I think that even if 99% of the population are considerate towards each other and the environment, it only takes 1% to riun it all. I am relatively sure that 99,9% of all trash are dumped by 1% of the population. And here I may face a flame, but I also think that the lower the social standing of the person, the better the chance that the person will dump rubbish/vandalise. I've seen it with my own eyes.

A few years ago I got out of the Canada Water tube station (London, SE16). Thisi s avery sough after area in outside central London, in public transport Zone 2. I walked down the pristine canal towards Surrey Water when I saw one of the rubbish bags dumped next to the trash can. A few meters off where some youths (13-15 years old). I proceeded to pick up the bag of trash and neatly placed it back in the trashcan. I walked on, almost forgetting about what I've done. Next thingthe leader of low life social outcast (a well dressed woman) called me "Hey". She then removed the garbage bag from the trashcan and dumped it on the floor. She then said I must come and clean it up. I just politely said to her "you've dropped your trash on the pavement, please pick it up". She refused. She then sent her goons on to me. I said to them "If you want to end up like her, live in a council (social housing) flat for the rest of your life and always be poor, with nothing to show for your and in jail then follow her example. She also then accused me of being a foreigner stealing their (British) jobs. I reminded her that at least I'm working and my job was advertised in the labour market and had they found a local better than me then the local would've been employed. At that time I was working for Citigroup as Fixed Income & FX Trading Analyst.
BTW, this wasn't the first time something like this happened to me. A previous time I was at a bus stop behind the Beckton rail platform when two youths and his girlfriend (offcourse they where clearly visible by their clothing style to have come from social housing estate) was waiting on a bus. Big wheelie trashcans 1 meter from them, they dropped their bottles right there. When I said to them "You dropped your bottles, the trashcan is right next to you". They almost got violent. They where about to pull knives on me when I was saved by the arriving bus.

I've seen so many acts of vandalism (in London) that I came to believe that people don;t give a shit about environment. As long as the destructor gets whatever he/she wanted (destroying just for the fun of it, and that is sick) then the problem is someone else's to deal with in 20-50 years down the line. Some countries has such 'humane' laws that police are helpless to prosecute polluters and vandals. Vandals just know that they will always get away with it. Whatever happened to the principle of protecting private property ? If I pay tax I expect all acts of vandalism on public areas/public land to be punished. I'd love to see a vandal/rubbish dumper work as a cleaner, cleaning up sewerage.