Is our planet is doomed?

[TruthWorthy]

Whos dealing with these issues:
Melting ice caps, rising sea levels, ozone layer deterioration, global warming, depleting resources, money, societal, and other environmental issues.

[theVOID]

The planet doomed? No way
Our current habitat? Maybe

Simple fact is the earth hasn't looked as it does now for it's entire life and won't look like this again in the future. The state it is in now is not the 'correct' state - it is simply what it is and we are just one of many species adapted to fit the current Earth.

So the more important question is not "Is our planet doomed?", but "Are we capable of adapting to the changes it may encounter?".

[ib.me.ub]

Isn't everybody dealing with them. We are all still driving cars, flying, turning on the lights, heating, computers, eating meat, wanting more of everthing. So, we are all doing our part Really, do you think anything can be done about the current state of affairs. China, India, US, Russia and Japan to name but a few are happy with the status quo and it will stay like this for quite a while.

And in terms of adapting, how do you propose the entire population of the Earth to adapt? Especially those who are going to be at the coal face..!!

So, the Planet isn't doomed, but many people and other animals may very well be doomed.

[Darwinian]

Mankind's destruction, perhaps. As far as the Earth is concerned, all these things are no more threatening than a hiccup!

[leo-rcc]

Agreed, the Earth is not going to care if we as a species live or die. The planet is doomed however. It is going to be swallowed by the Sun as it is going to expand in several billions of years.

[theVOID]

Agreed, the Earth is not going to care if we as a species live or die. The planet is doomed however. It is going to be swallowed by the Sun as it is going to expand in several billions of years.

It's more likely to get cast out to space with the accompanying gravitational waves than it is to be swallowed by the sun - albeit extremely charred.

---

And in terms of adapting, how do you propose the entire population of the Earth to adapt? Especially those who are going to be at the coal face..!!

Adaptation would depend on how fast the change was occurring, like a change in the atmosphere over time to a gradual intolerable point, natural selection may have a part to play in such a change but would invariably lead to a massive culling of the population. There is also the technological aspect of adaptation, meaning not "how we can adapt to the environment?" but "how can we adapt the new environment to suit us?"

Either way i don't propose that the entire population will survive such a situation nor that it is guaranteed that anyone will, but our ability to adapt both biologically and technologically will play a very important role in determining the chances of surviving.

[Pippy]

What are the causes of these aforementioned problems? We can't constructively problem solve unless we can pinpoint the causes.

Why is there a pollution crisis?
Who thought up this global monetary and economic policy?

Name the problem, and then consider solutions. But we have to be clear about the issue at hand, like what I was (trying) to say about the Pharma/Medical industry. Constructive problem solving, clear causal thinking...

The,
-Pip

[Autumnlicious]

What are the causes of these aforementioned problems? We can't constructively problem solve unless we can pinpoint the causes.

Why is there a pollution crisis?
Who thought up this global monetary and economic policy?

Name the problem, and then consider solutions. But we have to be clear about the issue at hand, like what I was (trying) to say about the Pharma/Medical industry. Constructive problem solving, clear causal thinking...

The,
-Pip

Amazingly, that is exactly what those damned evil climatologists working on proving anthropogenic climate change should be supported, as they are attempting to model the effect humans have on the world and subsequently identify those causal factors. AGW is merely a part of the GW equation, but it is the part we can directly observe and easily change due to it being part of a human infrastructure.

Both the pollution crisis, as you term it, and global monetary and economic policy are due to groups of people working together to increase some aspect favorable to them unfairly with or without consideration of the consequences. But many people who aspire to have the same form of unfair advantage and instead turn a blind eye or give such bad behavior a free pass. Similar to the irony of the American middle class voting down increased taxes for the wealthy (top 1%) because, as a cultural anthropologist discussed, they (the middle class individuals) have a belief, almost a delusion, that they will shortly make that top 1% somehow and then be harmed by it. The American dream to delusional extreme.

I do agree with you, Pippy, that there is a problem. But what you attempt to identify problems, you identify the parts, while ignoring the whole. The whole lies hidden in a field of delusion, unfair advantage, consumerism, and a multitude of base human emotions masquerading as a reason to do something, usually for the worse. I guess the human condition, for now and on a broad scale, is working for the worse instead of straining for the better, as I can only see forms of increased instability in the world fueled by the sensationalistic media and friends.

[Purple Rabbit]

Every planet festered with idiots is doomed. So make your choice.

[Pippy]

But with what do I have to identify with the planet being doomed. I would disagree that it is a human weakness, but I suppose it is possible. May be it is part of the problem, like nature/nurture, it is about a balance of both ideas without excluding the other... The other being that is it in fact counter to human nature (whatever that is) and a delusion at best, a manipulation at worst.

We could talk about "whole" that Synackaon mentioned, but I fear that we will disagree with the whole. I just pick little battles, like bitching about the Pharma or Walmart people, because the big picture is difficult.

Why do we act so self destructively, either as a whole or individually? It's a big one, up there with 'where did we come from' and other philosophical conundrums.