DailyDirt: The End Of The World As We Know It
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
Predicting the end of the world has been a famously difficult calculation. Population growth trends have not proven to follow a continuously exponential path, so we've easily avoided previous calls of Malthusian catastrophe. However, it's still possible that we've only managed to postpone the sixth major extinction event, and our technological cleverness won't be able to save us next time. Here are just a few modern predictions of doom that could ruin some retirement plans.- NASA recently issued a statement clarifying that a study by university researchers was NOT "solicited, directed or reviewed by NASA" because the research was going viral... and predicted the end of our civilization. However, NASA did fund the development of the "Human And Nature DYnamical" (HANDY) model which was used to reach the conclusion that civilization could collapse due to unsustainable resource exploitation and growing inequality in wealth distribution. [url]
- Global population growth could strain our ability to feed billions of people in the coming decades. We've overcome agricultural challenges before with the Green Revolution, but decreasing biodiversity and increasing genetically modified crops may pose significant problems in the future. [url]
- Our planet could cross a dangerous threshold in 2036 -- when it's predicted that global temperatures might be 2°C higher than preindustrial times. Maybe we'll be able to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels by then, or figure out a way to cost effectively sequester atmospheric CO2... maybe. [url]
Filed Under: civilization, doom and gloom, global climate change, green revolution, malthusian catastrophe, population growth
Companies: nasa
