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Another reason we're boned

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by Ledbetter, Oct 24, 2006.

  1. Ledbetter

    Ledbetter Active Member

    Humans living far beyond planet's means

    BEIJING (Reuters) - Humans are stripping nature at an unprecedented rate and will need two planets' worth of natural resources every year by 2050 on current trends, the WWF conservation group said on Tuesday.

    Populations of many species, from fish to mammals, had fallen by about a third from 1970 to 2003 largely because of human threats such as pollution, clearing of forests and overfishing, the group also said in a two-yearly report.

    "For more than 20 years we have exceeded the earth's ability to support a consumptive lifestyle that is unsustainable and we cannot afford to continue down this path," WWF Director-General James Leape said, launching the WWF's 2006 Living Planet Report.

    "If everyone around the world lived as those in America, we would need five planets to support us," Leape, an American, said in Beijing.

    People in the United Arab Emirates were placing most stress per capita on the planet ahead of those in the United States, Finland and Canada, the report said.

    Australia was also living well beyond its means.

    The average Australian used 6.6 "global" hectares to support their developed lifestyle, ranking behind the United States and Canada, but ahead of the United Kingdom, Russia, China and Japan.

    "If the rest of the world led the kind of lifestyles we do here in Australia, we would require three-and-a-half planets to provide the resources we use and to absorb the waste," said Greg Bourne, WWF-Australia chief executive officer.

    Everyone would have to change lifestyles -- cutting use of fossil fuels and improving management of everything from farming to fisheries.

    "As countries work to improve the well-being of their people, they risk bypassing the goal of sustainability," said Leape, speaking in an energy-efficient building at Beijing's prestigous Tsinghua University.

    "It is inevitable that this disconnect will eventually limit the abilities of poor countries to develop and rich countries to maintain their prosperity," he added.

    The report said humans' "ecological footprint" -- the demand people place on the natural world -- was 25 percent greater than the planet's annual ability to provide everything from food to energy and recycle all human waste in 2003.

    In the previous report, the 2001 overshoot was 21 percent.

    "On current projections humanity, will be using two planets' worth of natural resources by 2050 -- if those resources have not run out by then," the latest report said.

    "People are turning resources into waste faster than nature can turn waste back into resources."

    Complete story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061024/sc_nm/environment_wwf_planet_dc
     
  2. old_tony

    old_tony Well-Known Member

    In other words, we'll be better off if we just die sooner. How dare we live so long?
     
  3. Buck

    Buck Well-Known Member

    First of all, I wouldn't trust any statements issued by a World Wrestling Foundation conservation group.
    But the problem with these predictions are the same mistake Thomas Malthus made: They don't account for changing/improving technology and improving intelligence.
     
  4. EStreetJoe

    EStreetJoe Well-Known Member

    The solution is an easy one -- euthanasia for two generations - families are limited to one child each. People will die faster than they're born the world's population will drop, reducing the drain on the resources. And if you believe anything I've just typed I've got oceanfront property in Wyoming to sell you.
     
  5. Xsportschick

    Xsportschick Member

    What... you mean everyone doesn't start each day thinking, "Hmmm, WWWWFCGD?"
     
  6. CentralIllinoisan

    CentralIllinoisan Active Member

    [​IMG]

    "Well, lemme tell ya, Mean Gene ... we've long outlived our expected lifespans, and by this rate will bleed our planet of resources within our lifetime."

    "Now, whatcha gonna do, when overpopulation runs wild on you?"
     
  7. Chi City 81

    Chi City 81 Guest

    Hey, CI. Could we possibly get Murphy on the Hulkster's body, complete with shades and the bandana?
     
  8. Claws for Concern

    Claws for Concern Active Member

    WWF should just have a Losers Leave Earth match on Saturday Night's Main Event.
     
  9. CentralIllinoisan

    CentralIllinoisan Active Member

    [​IMG]

    "To all my little Murphamaniacs, say your prayers, take your vitamins and you will never go wrong."
     
  10. Bubbler

    Bubbler Well-Known Member

    I'm as pro-planet conscious as the next guy, but where the hell do they get these statistics from? Where is the research that supports a claim like we're using five planets' worth of natural resources?

    And I just ate a Jay's Chip, bitches! It was cooked in five planets' worth of peanut oil!
     
  11. Chi City 81

    Chi City 81 Guest

    CI, you fucking rock!!!
     
  12. CentralIllinoisan

    CentralIllinoisan Active Member

    Don't compliment me, it's all about the Murph!
     
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