Human Extinction

[Kuan]

99% of all species that ever lived on Earth have died out. When will our time come?

[TheDon]

Eventually!

Of course, there have been many mass extinctions in the past; there will be more.

[450slcguy]

Originally Posted by Kuan

99% of all species that ever lived on Earth have died out. When will our time come?

Friday - 12/21/2012

Maybe yes, probably not. Either way it will be an interesting week watching people and how they'll react.

[RichC]

Every living system on the planet is in decline.


My wife has a shirt with two whales in the ocean near a poluted city.

One whale is holding a sign saying " save the humans "

The other whale asks " how ! "

[SwampYankee]

Earth and Mother Nature keep trying to control the population via natural disasters but we humans keep meddling with our humanitarian efforts.

[Hatterasguy]

Never were like cockroachs.

Originally Posted by Hatterasguy

Never were like cockroachs.

You and Keith Richards?

[okyoureabeast]

How about a major solar flare destroying our electrical grid?

We'll still be able to use our diesels though

[Pavka007]

Originally Posted by 450slcguy

Friday - 12/21/2012

Maybe yes, probably not. Either way it will be an interesting week watching people and how they'll react.

That's what they have said for Y2K obviously the computers still around

I don't think most people are even aware of the 12/21/12 thing, and most others won't care.

[Hatterasguy]

I'm looking forward to it. I love watching all the crazy people dig in.


My favorite story is from Y2K. My dads friend has another friends who are...well a bit out of it. They have enough food stockpiled for a year, etc. Typical survivalist, conspiracy theory types.

Well they were sure the world was going to melt down on new years, and computers were going to go nuts. So they took a years worth of food, a bunch of guns, headed down to their concrete bunker and figured on living in it for awhile as the computers stoped and the world melted down.

My dads friend came knocking on Jan 1, "the worlds still here want some coffee?"

[kknudson]

Extinction, not for millions of years IMHO, when the sun burns out.

The end of civilization as we know it, probably, but when is the question.

Anyone of a number of things will cause it.

Solar flare as mentioned.
Natural disease, either to makind or our food source.
Terriosts or even a major country civil war with a major radioation release.
Natuaral disaster, consider all the earthquakes etc around the ring of fire, if a major event occured on the tetonic plates there. Even one of the super volcanos, ie Yellowstone.
Even the predicted tsuami that may wipe out the east coast would have a huge impact on civilization.
Even an asteriod, we look at the number that have hit the earth regularly, but most of the probablity studies (ie the number that HAVE hit) don't take into account that we really only know of a small percentage that have hit as the earth is 80 covered in water. How many have really hit the earth, we only know of a few of the water hits, and a few suspected, what is the real total.


...

[elchivito]

The Un-millenium was a hoot to watch. I remember being in town on New Year's Eve, all the gas stations had people lined up to fill up. In WalMart, I stopped at the gun counter to pick up some 22 shells. "Haven't got any" the clerk says. "In fact, I haven't got ANYTHING", pointing to the ammo shelves behind him. WalMart was OUT of ammunition.
Mass hysteria caused by religious ferver coupled with technical ignorance and an apparently universal misunderstanding of the western calendar. The real millenium passed with barely a notice a year later.

[elchivito]

Regarding extinction, even in the event of huge, enormous, biblical, catastrophic population die-offs, there are so MANY of us on this planet that actual extinction will likely be an eons long process, barring anything that makes the planet completely unlivable. I just hope there's enough beer to last.