[LINK] The End Is Nigh [Was: On the Day that you were born (UN

[Kim Holburn]

On 2011/Nov/12, at 9:31 PM, David Boxall wrote:

> On 12/11/2011 6:30 PM, Frank O'Connor wrote:
>> ... to say that we are likely to cause the extinction of life on this planet borders on arrogance and hubris. ...
> Has anybody said that?
> 
> Lunatic conspiracy theories notwithstanding, a surprisingly substantial 
> majority of the best qualified say that we are taking foolish risks. In 
> some of the worst-case scenarios, the planet might be rendered incapable 
> of supporting life as we know it.
> 
>> ... an increase of 5 to 10 degrees in the mean temperature of Earth would probably be good for life. ...
> Better minds than yours and mine disagree. Nobody suitably qualified 
> pretends to know for certain, but the majority are worried.
> 
>> ...
>> In the worst case scenario we probably wouldn't survive, but life would have no trouble doing so.
> Life as we know it relies on liquid water. In the worst case scenarios, 
> there's none of that on the surface of the planet. In time, there's none 
> below the surface either.

That's complete rubbish.  If the global temperature rises 5 or 10 degrees it will probably wipe out our civilisation.  It probably won't wipe us out for a few more degrees.  It wouldn't wipe out life.  Not even close.  

We humans require 10 times our biomass in agricultural crops to survive.  
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=567966
That (our food) will go long before other things.

http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/gould_bacteria.html
I have heard that 50% to 90% of living things by mass is microbial (no-one is sure of the exact number).  Microbial life can exist in a very wide range of temperatures and pressures, kilometres underground, almost any part of the ocean or atmosphere.  

Humans are 1/300 of the earth's biomass, if that.  

Even 100 degrees wouldn't wipe out bacteria.  And once our civilisation is gone, the massive injection of carbon dioxide will stop and the world will gradually revert, or not, but we probably won't be there to see it.

> The risks we're taking with this beautiful world; on so many levels, 
> it's a shame.

The risks we're taking, are with our society and comfort not with the earth.

-- 
Kim Holburn
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