RE: Would you live on terraformed Venus?
August 3, 2019 at 4:36 pm
(This post was last modified: August 3, 2019 at 6:13 pm by Anomalocaris.)
(August 3, 2019 at 3:44 pm)Chad32 Wrote:(August 3, 2019 at 1:24 pm)Anomalocaris Wrote: Depends on what aspect you are thinking of replenishing.
Restoration of the climate until all effects of anthropogenic influences are suppressed? Tens of thousands of years.
Replenishing of full biodiversity lost in the last 15K years? Millions to ten of million years
Replenishing of fossil fuel consumed? Tens to hundreds of million years.
Replenishing of mineral deposits that are continually but slowly formed through geological processes, like gold or nickel? Millions to billions of years.
Replenishing of mineral resources like iron that formed under particular conditions unique to one past age of the earth? Never.
That's longer than I expected.
Yes, but total replenishment is not necessary for practical human purposes. Marginal cost increases and marginal value of additional replenishment diminishes with increasing replenishment already accomplished.
Full replenishment is only a reference and it’s attainment appeals only to certain aesthetic sensibilities.
But it does show we are changing the environment of the planet and consuming the resources of the planet at a rate from hundreds of times to hundreds of thousands of times faster that the ability of the planet to compensate.