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The Planet's Demise


atrueoriginall

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SOME MAJOR REASONS FOR THE

END OF "THIS" WORLD NOT "THE" WORLD

And a few disgusting things we do to the earth

One cannot make change unless they are somewhat educated to do so. Use this as a good learning tool.

Source

95% - NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC 2004

5% - A 7th grader's History report on Global Conditions of the World

OZONE & GREENHOUSE

The ozone layer is a region in the stratosphere that contains high concentrations of a gas called ozone. This

bluish gas absorbs the sun’s ultraviolet radiation more efficiently than does any other substance in the

atmosphere. Although ozone constitutes only about one-millionth of the atmosphere, it absorbs most the

sun’s ultraviolet radiation. Without the ozone layer, ultraviolet radiation would destroy all life on the

earth’s surface.

The oxygen molecules needed to sustain life each contain two atoms. In the stratosphere, ultraviolet light

strikes these molecules, splitting each into two oxygen atoms. When one of these combines with an oxygen

molecule, the result is an oxygen molecule with three atoms. Ozone is made up of oxygen molecules that

contain three atoms.

An ozone molecule is very reactive. When struck by an ultraviolet ray, it falls apart to yield an oxygen atom

and the oxygen we need. These recombine though to produce another ozone molecule. Some manufactured

chemicals stop this cycle, reducing the amount of ozone in the stratosphere. Among the worst offenders are

chlorofluorocarbons (CFC’s), chemicals used in refrigeration and in the product of foam plastics. A

worldwide ban on CFC’s, proposed in 1987, would help preserve the ozone layer. In time, it could begin

to reconstitute itself.

GREENHOUSE EFFECT

The greenhoue effect is a property of the atmosphere that allows the short-wave radiation of sunlight to pass

easily to the earth’s surface but makes it difficult for heat in the form of long-wave radiation to escape back

toward space. Sunlight penetrates the atmosphere as infrared radiation. Carbon dioxide, water vapor and

other atmospheric gases easily absorb infrared radiation. The gases, in turn, give off heat, some of it

directed toward space and the rest back toward the earth.

Scientists tell us that without this “blanket”, temperatures would be so cold that the earth would be

uninhabitable. However, they also say that human activities may be increasing the greenhouse effect. The

burning of fossil fuels, for example, releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Concentrations of

methane and other “greenhouse gases” are rising too. These gases may absorb enough radiation to raise

the earth’s temperature 3.6 degrees to 10.8 degrees within the next century. This could cause the world’s

climate to change dramatically, eventually causing polar ice sheets to melt.

RAIN FORESTS

A rain forest is a moist, densely wooded area usually found in a warm, tropical wet climate. Annual rainfall

is about 80 inches. The average temperature in most rain forests is 80 degrees. Evergreen trees, vines,

undergrowth and nutrient-poor soils are common characteristics of this kind of rain forest.

Millions of people live in rain forests, relying on them to fulfill their needs for food and fuel. The rest of

the world relies on rain forests for such by-products as rubber, wood, dyes, oils, foods and medicines. More

than 40 percent of prescription drugs in the United States contain ingredients derived from plants, many of

them are from rain forests.

Rain forests play a role in recycling the earth’s water. Much of the moisture absorbed by the trees transpires

from the leaves and evaporates into the atmosphere to return as rainfall. The roots of the trees help anchor

the soil and slow water runoff. Clearing forest lands for farming, ranching, logging and mining is rapidly

decreasing the remaining rain forests. Some scientists estimate that an area of tropical rain forests the size

of Delaware is cleared each and every month. Tropical rain forests once covered more than four billion

acres of the earth. Today, nearly half of the forests are gone. Tropical rain forests are a valuable natural

resource and home to nearly half of the earth’s plant and animal species.

Millions of animal and plant species live in rain forests and the discovery of new species continues. Some

species can be found only in a tropical rain forest. The okapi, a relative of the giraffe is an example. More

than a thousand different kinds of trees have been identified in a square kilometer of tropical rain forest.

The rain forest in the South American country of Ecuador has 20,000 kinds of flowering plants. The state

of California, which is a third larger than Ecuador has only 5,000 kinds.

POLLUTION

Pollution is the introduction of harmful materials into an environment. Polluting substances, such as car

exhausts, industrial wastes and chemical pesticides, damage the quality of air, water, land and all living

beings and creatures. Many of the things that make people comfortable and provide them with goods and

services contribute to pollution. The burning of coal to produce electricity pollutes the air. Industries and

households generate quantities of garbage and sewage, causing waste disposal problems. For millions of

years, nature has provided an abundance of clear air, water and land. But now, expanding populations

and increasing demands for goods and services have led to the disruption of the earth’s ecological balance.

More wastes are going into the air, water and land than nature can handle. To thrive, plants and animals

need clean air, uncontaminated water and wholesome nutrients. Pollution in the biosphere, those parts of

the air, water and land in which life exists, has become a serious problem because the earth is a closed

system. It’s supplies of air and water are used again and again. When these resources are polluted, all

life in the biosphere is threatened. Pollution is a global problem. Although it is usually concentrated in

heavily industrialized areas, it spreads all over the planet, even to remote, unpopulated places. For

example, concentrations of pesticides and other chemicals have been found in polar bears in the Arctic

and in penguins in the Antarctic. Ocean currents and migrating fish carry pollutants far and wide.

Smoke from a factory in one country drifts into other countries. Radioactive material accidentally

released from a nuclear power plant is picked up by winds and spread around the world. Sometimes air

pollution is visible, as it is when dark smoke pours from the exhaust pipes of large commercial trucks, but

it is often invisible. Polluted air can harm many living things. It makes eyes burn and causes headaches.

It can worsen respiratory problems and increase the risk of lung cancer. Heavily polluted air not only

harms life-forms but also eats away at the stone in buildings and statues. The primary source of

atmospheric pollution is the burning of fossil fuels - coal, oil and natural gas. When the fuel that powers

cars and trucks is burned, it produces carbon monoxide, a colorless and odorless gas. The gas is harmful

in low and high concentrations, which are common in heavy city traffic. You will notice the damage of

low concentration when you enter a traffic jam on the freeway. You immediately smell the excess

pollution, however, moments later you do not. That is carbon monoxide numbing the cilia in your nostrils

so that you can no longer smell the pollution you are driving in. Other pollutants that are causing some of

the most severe air pollution are nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide and hydrocarbons from vehicle and factory

emissions. These chemicals react with sunlight to produce smog and other atmospheric pollution. They

also mix with moisture in the air to form acid precipitation. Though commonly called acid rain, acid

precipitation can be in the form of snow, hail, sleet, fog or even dry particles. Such things, which often

fall far from the pollution source can damage forest and lake ecosystems, killing trees and causing fish

populations to decline or completely die out.

FOSSIL FUELS

Fossil fuels are extremely important to

industrial societies around the world. Over the last 20 years or so, supplies of all fossil fuels have begun to

shrink. Although still forming, they are not a renewable resource due to the time it takes them to develop.

The limited amount of fossil fuels and the environmental damage their extraction and burning cause have

helped start the development of alternative energy technologies. Renewable energy sources such as solar

and wind power may be able to supply the earth’s energy needs when the fossil fuels are used up. As the

world’s population grows, people will have to find ways to conserve limited supplies of natural resources.

This will require a variety of wise practices like developing energy systems based on renewable resources.

The ways people choose to manage both renewable and non renewable resources today will have a

tremendous effect on the future of the those living on the planet tomorrow.

Coal, oil and natural gas are fossil fuels. Coal is the most abundant fossil fuel on the earth and forms

from plants. Coal deposits developed during the Carboniferous period, which began more than 300

million years ago. When plants died in wetland areas, they accumulated in thick, moist layers and the

lack of oxygen prevented them from decomposition. The result was an organic matter called peat. In

time, the peat was covered with sand and silt and pressure on the organic layers increased. Over time, the

deposits became more compact, forming layers of solid coal. When peat is dried, it can be burned as fuel.

In the stage following peat, coal called lignite develops. Later it becomes bituminous coal and finally,

anthracite. In each stage, the level of the carbon increases making the coal harder. The hardest and

cleanest-burning form of coal, anthracite, is also in the shortest supply. Oil and gas are preferred to coal

because they burn more cleanly and are easier to transport. Oil and natural gas form from the remains of

marine plants and animals. Existing supplies began forming millions of years ago, when the remains

became mixed with sand, silt and other sediments on sea floors beneath shallow ocean waters. As

overlying layers of sediment grew thicker, pressure helped cause slow, complex chemical reactions that

transformed the materials into gas and droplets of oil. The sand and silt holding the oil and gas hardened

into sedimentary rocks. As pressure increased, the oil and gas were squeezed from the source rocks and

migrated upward through porous rocks until movement was prevented by caprocks. The porous rocks that

hold the oil and gas are called reservoirs and where oil is retrieved today. Petroleum is another name for

oil in this crude state and natural gas is the name given to the gaseous form of hydrocarbon, which burns

cleaner then coal and oil.

ENERGY

Energy provides the power to make things happen, it is the capacity to do work. It heats and lights houses

and offices, it powers transportation and industrial equipment and lifts rockets into space. The energy

stored in the food that we eat provides the fuel that the human body requires to live. Energy stored in coal,

oil and natural gas, heats and cools homes and work places. The energy released when fuel is burned

powers engines in cars and other motorized vehicles. People take energy for granted because they have

failed to consider that some of the resources used to provide the benefits are dwindling and cannot be

renewed. Scientists have made some advances with technologies that help us harness alternative sources

of energy such as wind and the sun. All of us can make nonrenewable resources last longer by using and

demanding products that are more energy-efficient.

The sun is the original source of most of the energy used on earth. Heat from the sun warms the atmosphere

and causes movement in the atmosphere in the form of wind. The energy in wind can be harnessed to

power sailboats and turn windmills. The sun’s heat evaporates water, which becomes rain that fills rivers.

Dams on the rivers harness the water’s energy and convert it into electricity. Fossil fuels such as oil, coal

and natural gas also came from the sun through plants that grew on the earth using the sun. When burned,

they give up their energy as heat. More than one billion people in developing countries still depend on

nature for their energy by burning animal dung and wood. Though coal will still be available for several

centuries, environmentalists are concerned about global climate changes that may result from the amount

of carbon dioxide released. Since fossil fuels are considered a nonrenewable resource, scientists have been

experimenting with ways to utilize other products to supplement supplies of gasoline. Two of the ways are

with ethanol and liquefied coal. Corn when converted to ethanol and mixed with gasoline can make

gasohol. Our ability to conserve fossil fuels and to harness other sources of energy, such as wind and water

will help determine whether we have enough energy for the future.

SOLAR ENERGY

Energy coming

from the sun is a tremendous resource. In less than an hour, enough solar energy reaches the earth to fill

everyone’s energy needs for a year. The problem lies in the collection and storage. One good example of

solar energy is hot water running out of a hose that was left out in the sun. Scientists are studying ways to

convert solar power into enough electricity to supply a city’s needs. One way is a solar farm like in the

picture on the previous page. The rows of mirrors, called heliostats, direct the sun’s heat and light to water

in a boiler on top of a tower. The steam produced powers a turbine, which in turn drives a generator to

produce electricity. More recent and efficient solar technology is where troughs of curved mirrors, guided

by computers, use the sun’s heat to warm synthetic oils to 735 degrees. The oil, which passes through

vacuum-sealed tubes attached to the mirrors, heats water to produce steam that turns an electric turbine.

Also, satellites and space stations get their energy from solar cells that convert sunlight into electricity. In

developing countries, photovoltaic cells like used on satellites and space stations provide energy to a

growing number of people.

WIND ENERGY:

Around 3000 BC, Egyptians were using wind energy to sail their ships across the

waters. By 200 BC, wind power was being used to turn the blades of windmills. Through a system of gears,

the movement of the blades activated the stones that ground grain to make breads. Wind turbines as seen

in the picture on the previous page can generate power efficiently enough to compete with other energy

systems. A wind turbine in Hawaii generates enough electricity to supply 1,200 homes. Wind farms where

thousands of wind turbines are clustered together, contribute significantly to energy supplies. In San

Francisco, 15 percent of the city’s electrical needs were met by wind-generated electricity.

GEOTHERMAL AND WATER ENERGY:

Geothermal energy is heat energy generated within the

earth. In areas where cracks have formed in the earth’s crust, water seeps down to the hot rock layers and

is heated there by geothermal energy. For years, people who live near hot springs have used geothermal

energy for bathing, home heating and cooking. In Iceland, a country that lies along the volcanically active

Mid-Atlantic Ridge, the city of Reykjavik is almost entirely heated by a system that uses geothermal energy.

Geothermal wells capture water heated by the hot rocks inside the earth and pipes circulate it throughout

the city. More recent technology can recover the heat energy in dry hot rocks. Water is pumped through

wells drilled into the hot rocks and heated water is used to generate electricity.

Water has been used as an energy source for years as seen in the picture on the previous page of Hoover

Dam. Water stored behind a dam is released to flow through machines called turbines that drive

generators to produce electricity. Scientists are exploring ways to use the tides, a form of gravitational

energy, to generate electricity. In France, a dam was built across an estuary, where a river empties into the

ocean. The dam has turbines that turn in either direction to take advantage of the tides coming in and going

out. Water turns the blades of the turbines, enabling the power plant to produce electricity. Today,

scientists in the UK are developing ways to harness the energy in ocean waves.

NUCLEAR ENERGY

A controlled chain reaction within a nuclear reactor produces tremendous amounts

of heat energy in a fraction of a second. The energy heats water, creating steam that turns turbine

generators to produce electricity. An uncontrolled chain reaction can cause an explosion, as with an atomic

bomb. Radioactive waste from the fission process can destroy cells in the bodies of people and animals and

contaminate plants and water. Radioactive waste must be stored safely for thousands of years until it is

considered no longer dangerous. Nuclear physicists are working to improve the safety of nuclear reactors.

They are also exploring a safer method of gathering the power locked in atoms called nuclear fusion, which

mimics the way energy is released from the sun. Fusion may be less polluting than fission and it could

generate large quantities of energy.

OCEANS

For thousands of years, people have depended on the ocean as a source of food and as a highway for trade

and exploration. Today, people continue to travel on the ocean and to rely on the resources it contains.

Fishermen catch more than 90 million tons of seafood each year, including more than 100 species of fish

and shellfish. Minerals especially common salt, come from the ocean too. New Techniques are being

developed to mine the seafloor for valuable minerals such as copper and nickel.

Oil is one of the most valuable resources taken from the ocean today. Offshore rigs pump petroleum from

wells drilled in the continental shelf. As land sources of oil grow scarce, oil under the ocean becomes more

important. About one-quarter of oil and gas supplies now comes from offshore deposits.

Through the centuries, people have sailed the ocean on long-established trade routes. Today, oceangoing

ships still carry most of the world’s freight, particularly bulky goods such as machinery, grain and oil.

In the future, scientists and other experts hope that the ocean will be used more widely as a source of energy.

Some countries have already harnessed the energy of ocean waves and tides to power turbines to generate

electricity.

The ocean offers us a wealth of food and other resources, but over the last two centuries, these resources

have been threatened. People have harvested so many fish and other ocean animals for food and other

products that some species have begun to disappear. During the 1800’s and early 1900’s, whalers killed

thousands of whales for their oil and ivory. Some species, including the blue whale, were hunted nearly to

extinction. Many species are still endangered today. In the 1960’s and 1970’s, catches of important food

fishes, such as herring in the North Sea and haddock in the Atlantic, began to drop off dramatically. The

fish were disappearing. Fishermen were using more advanced equipment such as electronic fish finders

and large trawling nets, so they could catch more fish. But the nets dragged across the seabed and in the

process caught many small, young fish. This meant that there were far fewer fish left behind to reproduce

and replenish the supply. In some areas, overfishing still goes on.

Another threat to the ocean and it’s wildlife comes from pollution. For centuries, people have used the

ocean as a dumping ground for sewage and other wastes. In the 20th century, the wastes have included

chemicals from factories, insoluble plastics, oil spilled from ships and pesticides such as DDT. These

harmful substances have killed sea life and threatened the food supply.

To find ways to protect the ocean, scientists from all over the world are cooperating in studies of the ocean

waters and marine life. They are also working together to control pollution. Many countries are working

to reach agreement on how to manage and harvest ocean resources.

Although the ocean is vast, it is more easily polluted and damaged than people once thought. It requires

care and protection as well as expert management. Only then can it continue to provide the many

resources that living things, including people need.

DRINKING WATER

An aquifer is a layer of water-bearing rock through which groundwater moves. Water-bearing rocks are

permeable; they have interconnected openings through which liquids and gases can pass. Rock such as

sandstone an loose deposits of sand and gravel, for example, can form the water bearing layers. An aquifer

receives water from rain or melted snow that drains into the ground at the earth’s surface. In some areas

the water passes through the soil; in others, it enters through joints and cracks in rock outcrops. The water

moves downward until it meets less permeable rock through which it cannot pass easily.

Aquifers act as reservoirs for groundwater. Water from aquifers sometimes flows out into springs. Wells

drilled into aquifers provide water for drinking, agriculture and other uses. There are two types of aquifers.

An unconfined aquifer is under lain by less permeable rocks and is only partly filled with water. The top

of the zone filled with water is called the water table. The water table rises or falls depending on the

amount of water entering and leaving the aquifer. A confined aquifer lies between two layers or less

permeable rocks and is filled with water.

There is about 30 times more groundwater than there is surface water in all the lakes and streams

combined. But in heavily populated areas, including some parts of the United States, groundwater is being

used up faster than nature can replace it. This causes a lowering of the water table and can lead to water

shortages. In many places, chemicals from factories and farms, as well as wastes from dumps and sewers

have seeped into the earth and polluted the shallow groundwater that we drink.

Only about three percent of all the earth’s water is fresh and not salty. More than 2/3 of that fresh water

is frozen in glaciers and polar ice sheets. That leaves less than one percent of the total volume for homes,

factories and farms and for wildlife requiring fresh water. Most of this fresh water is underground. Only

a tiny fraction of the fresh water on the earth is found in streams and lakes.

Just in the United States alone, people consume some 400 billions of gallons of water every day. At

home, people use water for drinking, cooking, washing clothes and dishes, bathing, brushing their teeth,

flushing toilets, watering lawns and gardens and washing cars. In cities, workers use water to fight fires,

clean streets, pump away wastes and operate sewage-treatment equipment that helps purify waste water.

Huge amounts of water are consumed in industry to manufacture goods and in agriculture to grow food

crops. In the United States it takes 63,000 gallons of water to produce a ton of steel and it takes 115

gallons to grow enough wheat to make one loaf of bread.. By far, the biggest use of water in the United

States and throughout the world is for irrigation. Because rain does not fall evenly on the earth, some

lands are too dry for cultivation. Water used for growing crops in such dry areas often must be brought up

from groundwater sources through deep wells or transported from distant lakes and rivers. In many parts

of the world, people suffer from constant water shortages because the earth’s total supply of fresh water is

unevenly distributed. Millions of people lack dependable sources of clean drinking water and water for

agriculture. Today, the demand for fresh water is increasing as the populations grow. Developed

countries use the most water and many times inefficiently.

RIVERS

For centuries, people have depended on rivers for many things. Rivers have provided waterways for

shipping, building sites for cities and fertile land for farming. Yet the extensive use of rivers has

contributed to their pollution. The pollution has come from dumping of garbage and sewage; disposal of

toxic wastes from factories; and runoff of rainwater containing chemical fertilizers and pesticides used in

agriculture. By the 1960’s, many of the world’s rivers were so polluted that fish and other wildlife could

no longer survive in them and their waters were unsafe for drinking, swimming and other uses. Since

then, stricter laws in many countries, including the United States, have helped to clean up polluted rivers.

The laws have restricted the substances factories can put into rivers, banned toxic pesticides such as DDT

and required treatment of sewage to remove some pollutants. Although the situation in some parts of the

world has improved, serious problems remain. These include problems with long lasting and extremely

toxic chemicals still found in river water years after their use in industry and agriculture. In parts of the

United States, Canada and Europe, there is also the severe problem of acid rain. Acid rain develops when

gases and chemicals from factory smokestacks and automobile exhaust pipes mix with moisture in the air

and form acids. These acids fall in rain and other precipitation on streams and lakes, polluting water and

killing wildlife. Environmentalists and governments are trying to understand and solve these pollution

problems. Many people have come to realize that to provide safe drinking water as well as habitats where

fish and other wildlife can thrive, rivers must be kept clean.

CORAL REEFS

For centuries, coral reefs have supplied people with fish and other seafood. But today, some human

activities are harmful to reefs. As people along coasts plow the earth to plant crops or bulldoze it to build

homes and roads, they loosen the soil Rain washes much of it into rivers, which carry it to the ocean.

There, the soil forms a layer of sediment that suffocates and buries coral. Many coastal cities dump

sewage and other wastes into the ocean. Such pollution causes certain types of algae to grow so rapidly

that they form thick mats that block the sunlight and promote the growth of oxygen-consuming bacteria.

This can be fatal to a living coral reef. Reefs have been harmed by underwater mining and oil drilling.

Some have been damaged by explosives used to clear out channels in the seabed for ships to pass through.

People have overfished some reefs, killing tropical fish for sport or collecting them live to sell to aquarium

dealers. Other reef creatures have been collected for their shells in such numbers that many are now rare.

To protect coral reefs, some countries have set aside parts of them as marine parks or scientific preserves.

Such parks may be found off the Florida Keys, in the Virgin Islands, in American Samoa and along

Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. To the right, along Australia’s northeast coast is the Great Barrier Reef -

the world’s largest reef formation that stretches some 1,250 miles.

There's more but I want to see if these things, the most important things in the world today, are interesting enough for this forum. Please reply if you want more doom and gloom.

Edited by atrueoriginall
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Posted Images

So what is so ancient, mysterious or alternative about what you just posted

399321[/snapback]

It stemmed from end of the world post.

You had to be there.

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that was a fascinating science lesson atrueoriginall... but what would you like to discuss about it?

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I'd say it fits here...

As the ancients foretold what the future would be like...

In 100 years our future generations will look back, just as we look back to figure out today...

makes sense to me w00t.gif

P.S. Thanks for the learning tool thumbsup.gif

Edited by Me_Again
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that was a fascinating science lesson atrueoriginall...  but what would you like to discuss about it?

399330[/snapback]

Nothing. There was controversy in the topic "The End of the World" tonight in respect to many who thought that the end of the world would first come in time and by the causes of nature and not man. Listing a handful of the possibilities, some stated that none of those things were as important as people make them out to be. After unclenching my teeth, I gave them a more thorough explanation as to the things that are happening outside of their television sets and such. What got my goat was when someone said that there was no problem with the ozone layer. I thought it might be time to post a few sad global conditions. No harm. No foul.

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Me Again - It makes more sense the way you explained it. I guess I missed something that came before the rather long post. However, man has always been destroying his habitat. Such as where did the famous Cedars of Lebanon go? Cut down for ships and building.

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name me one thing we as humans have created or done that has effected humanity on a world wide scale that will lead to our demise

and im talking things that are NOT natural, things that only us as humans could have done, im going to say this now to hault the responses now so i dont have to come back and say it

global warming is a natural earth cycle, pollution or not, hole in ozone or not it will still happen

nukes are not going to end the world as we as humans know the dangers and have not used them since hiroshima, and even if they were to go off the world as we know it would not end, were still going strong after bombing hiroshima

abuse of resources is not going to end the world as we know it as we are allready working towards more fuel effecient engines as well as hybrids and hydrogen powered cars

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If the movies taught me anything, Apes will usurp us.

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If the movies taught me anything, Apes will usurp us.

399689[/snapback]

Lol.

Honestly, humans are blamed for a lot of things, and yes, pollution does cause damage, so do other side-effects of our population. We wont die from it though, not all of us. Humans are like cockroaches... you cant kill all of them!

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no wonder people are obsessed wiv the end of the world you lot cannae even go 2 or 3 posts without an argument.

Its worse in this forum than the current affairs one lol.

The post was interesting and non-offensive lol yet still there was flamin lol.

where is the love??

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*digests information after reading very long post*...........*ponders on what to say*............hmmmmm...

I like M&M's.........

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no wonder people are obsessed wiv the end of the world you lot cannae even go 2 or 3 posts without an argument.

Its worse in this forum than the current affairs one lol.

The post was interesting and non-offensive lol yet still there was flamin lol.

where is the love??

AMEN TO THAT!

Thank you wunarmdscissor.

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*digests information after reading very long post*...........*ponders on what to say*............hmmmmm...

Art: I say what I can when I can and try to be as proactive as I can be. If we were all a little more the same, we would all be living in a much different world.

The fears we experience in just knowing the problems of today cause other fears. Stress from our fears make us physically sick and both consciously and subconsciously we know that. So instead, we push them aside with an uncaring attitude accordingly with the excuse that they (the people) are so small and the problems seem too big to do anything about on an idividual basis.

The more important issue is just that however. Not to mention that most people think someone else is going to do something about it for them, so why act.

Even science is disagreeing with science. We need a good ole Berkley repeat performance, but this time on global conditions and not a war like Vietnam.

Students today, the Java Generation, are more caught up in just talking about it and not the doers of yesteryear.

Edited by atrueoriginall
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Don't worry Global Warming will save the World. For most of geologic history there have been no Polar Ice Caps, during the Carboniferous period and the age of the dinosaurs the Earth was a tropical paradise, in fact there was more life on Earth during that age than there is now. The Earth is still recovering from the Ice Ages, now that was a real ecological disaster, much of the Earth is still uninhabitable because of cold. Global warming will create more rain and rising sea levels thus saving both the tropical rainforests and the coral reefs. So, don't let those Luddites bring back the Dark Ages; light a candle for Global Warming, and play "Here Comes the Sun".

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Don't worry Global Warming will save the World. For most of geologic history there have been no Polar Ice Caps.........

But Looter, we're talking about global warming created by man and not that of nature, which we know will too happen again. Man is not God that he can destroy our home and the lives of multitudes who are to live in the future. These people will die. Most of them anyway for again multitudes of reasons.

This is one of the biggest problems with global warming and other not so natural ocurrances today, we know we won't be alive to live through them and we, as a whole, don't seem to care about the unborn child. Why must we only think of ourselves.

It's like a bad renter that rents somebody's home and treats it accordingly. It's not mine, so I don't care that I just put a whole in the wall or that I pour grease down the kitchen drain. Or that overflow I had in the toilet has formed a black mold, but it won't hurt me and I'm moving soon so I'll just leave it for the next tenant.

Earth is our home and we are the landlord.

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name me one thing we as humans have created or done that has effected humanity on a world wide scale that will lead to our demise

and im talking things that are NOT natural, things that only us as humans could have done, im going to say this now to hault the responses now so i dont have to come back and say it

global warming is a natural earth cycle, pollution or not, hole in ozone or not  it will still happen

nukes are not going to end the world as we as humans know the dangers and have not used them since hiroshima, and even if they were to go off the world as we know it would not end, were still going strong after bombing hiroshima

abuse of resources is not going to end the world as we know it as we are allready working towards more fuel effecient engines as well as hybrids and hydrogen powered cars

399491[/snapback]

...still waiting

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People treat the earth like they treat themselves...

Recycling 2 glass jars conserves enough energy to watch T.V. for 2 hours w00t.gif

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Very good post and topic Atrueoriginal.

Effects of humans on the environment, or more appropriately, ourselves. Let's start with dolphins.

What geneticists have found is that the dolphin genome and the human genome are basically homologous -- the same. "It's just that there are a few chromosomal rearrangements that have changed the way the genetic material is put together," Busbee says

http://www.cnn.com/TECH/science/9902/04/dolphins.enn/

Human pollution, furthermore,  has had a devastating effect on the immune system of bottlenose dolphins.  In the past decade, there have been at least five massive "die-offs" of marine mammals; almost 3000 bottlenose dolphin carcasses were found.  Scientists isolated strains of morbillivirus. Outbreaks of infection alone are unlikely to have accounted for the huge death toll; the events all had something else in common: they took place along polluted coastlines. Suspicion fell on compounds such as PCBs and pesticides. These compounds, collectively called organochlorines, persist for many years in the environment and have been closely linked to reduced immunity and fertility in mammals.  Marine animals with a pollution-rich diet had a harder time dealing with common infections than their counterparts, and the activity of key immune cells, called natural killer cells, was lower than in the animals fed unpolluted food (Simmonds, 1999). 

http://www.personal.psu.edu/users/e/x/exv131/

Are you sure your tuna is dolphin safe? You are, after all, what you eat:

The Bush administration has decided that a controversial fishing method involving encircling pods of dolphins with mile long nets to catch tuna has "no significant adverse impact" on the dolphins. Conservation groups say the determination, which will allow tuna from Mexico to be sold in the U.S. under a "dolphin safe" label, could spell disaster for imperiled dolphin populations. On December 31, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) announced that after new research, it had concluded that the tuna purse seine industry practice of encircling dolphins to catch tuna has "no significant adverse impact on dolphin populations in the Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean." The announcement came less than a month after a conservation group released an unpublished NMFS report indicating that thousands of dolphins, particularly baby dolphins, are still dying in tuna nets in the eastern tropical Pacific.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/Toxic/0122...na_dolphins.cfm

Below, the body of a dead bottlenose dolphin, a suspected victim of pollution.

post-12502-1102923932.jpg

Edited by wolftrax
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Let's take a look at that nasty hole in the ozone layer, or the smog over your local city, and skin cancer:

Skin Effects of Air Pollution (Goldsmith, NAPE Conference )

Skin cancer is increasing, with an estimated 1 million new cases being diagnosed and 9,100 people dying of skin cancer in 1993 in the United States. Most skin cancer deaths are from melanoma skin cancers, and 33,000 melanomas were diagnosed in 1993. The most common skin cancers are basal cell carcinoma (76%), squamous cell carcinoma (19%), and melanoma (5%). Skin cancers are most closely associated with exposure to ultraviolet B irradiation (UV-cool.gif.  Depletion of the ozone layer allows harmful amounts of UV-B to reach biological systems, where it is believed to cause serious genetic damage. Specifically, UV-B impairs the ability of damaged DNA to repair itself. Two species of frogs in Oregon are declining in significant numbers, possibly because of a diminished capacity to repair UV-B and UV-C genetic injuries subsequent to regional depletion of the ozone layer, which has been observed.

http://www.nutramed.com/skin/airpollution.htm

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And yeah, fuel cells and alternative fuels would help us out a lot, the problem is the same people that tell you that what we are going through now is natural, there's no danger from pollution, etc. also tell you those alternative fuels are too expensive to use. Of course they are the same people that used to work for the tobacco companies using "Science" to convince people that cigarettes weren't as dangerous as they really are.

A good thing Phoenix college challenged this notion, they converted a truck to alternative fuels for 10,000$. Not too bad when you consider that's practically a new vehicle.

Another thing is that you don't have to be scared or in denial. There are many sources on the web where you can learn about environmental issues, and do something about it. Petitions, letters to your state senator, etc. might sound like a lot of work, but many sites have it all ready for you, you just click your mouse and off it goes! Your voice does make a difference.

Edited by wolftrax
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none of those things mentioned are going to lead to our planets demise, none of those things will even lead to our extinction, they may be problems but that does not mean we are gong to all die from it, everyone and everything has problems, and getting through them is what life is about, we will get through all of them

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