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Page added on January 28, 2023
No, the World Is Not Heading Toward ‘Mass Extinction’
Have you heard? The world is about to end!
60 Minutes recently featured Paul Ehrlich, author of the bestseller, The Population Bomb. “Humanity is not sustainable,” he said.
Why would 60 Minutes interview Ehrlich?
For years, Ehrlich said, “We are very close to a famine” and, “In the next 15 years, the end will come.” He’s been wrong again and again.
Yet, 60 Minutes takes him seriously. “Paul Ehrlich may have lived long enough to see some of his dire prophecies come true,” intoned reporter Scott Pelley. Now, 60 Minutes says, “scientists say” the earth is in the midst of a “mass extinction!”
Doom sells.
Ehrlich’s book sold an amazing three million copies. It claimed the Earth’s rising population would lead to worldwide famine.
The opposite happened.
The world’s population more than doubled. But today there is less famine!
60 Minutes did mention that Ehrlich was wrong about widespread starvation, but they ignored his many other silly predictions. One was that by the year 2000 (because of climate change), England will not exist.
Ehrlich won’t talk to me now, but seven years ago, when my producer asked him about his nonsense, Ehrlich said, “When you predict the future, you get things wrong.”
The media should ignore doomsayers like Ehrlich, and pay more attention to people like Marian Tupy, editor of HumanProgress.org.
In my new video, Tupy points out that “life is getting better.” The modern era has brought much longer lives and the greatest decline in poverty ever.
Of course, universities, media, and politicians say capitalism is destroying the earth, so young people throw soup on famous paintings. It’s the moral thing to do, they believe, because we face an apocalypse!
“If you sell the apocalypse,” says Tupy, “people feel like you are deep and that you care” But “if you are selling rational optimism, you sound uncaring.”
Uncaring? It’s the doomsayers who are anti-people. Ehrlich once even floated the idea of sterilizing people and reducing population growth by having government poison our food.
“Ehrlich sees human beings as destroyers rather than creators,” says Tupy, “no different from rabbits. When they consume all grass around us, their population explodes, but then it’s going to collapse. But human beings are fundamentally different. We have the capacity to innovate.”
It’s counterintuitive to think that people can be good for the environment. “We use stuff,” I say to Tupy.
“We use stuff, but we also grow stuff,” he responds. “What matters is new knowledge. Think about something as simple as sand. When we started melting down sand to create glass, we used the first glass for glass beads. Now we create microchips.”
Similar innovation in farming, transportation, and genetic engineering is why our growing population doesn’t destroy nature.
“Forests have grown by 35 percent in North America and Western Europe in the last 20 years,” Tupy points out.
That’s because innovative humans found ways to produce more food on less land. Also, prosperous countries can afford to protect nature.
But this idea that human innovation helps nature is nowhere near as popular as the idea that humans destroy earth.
Many young people are so misled that many don’t want to have kids.
But that would hurt the world! Fewer women having babies today is probably more of a threat than climate change. Not only do we need young people to take care of the growing number of us old people, we need them to invent the things that will solve the Earth’s problems.
More children means more people who might grow up to cure cancer or invent a carbon-eating machine.
However, more people by itself is not enough to provide the innovation we need.
“Certainly not,” says Tupy. “If the number of people was all that mattered, China would have been the richest country for centuries. What you need is people, and freedom. If you let human beings be free, they will create more value for everyone.”
22 Comments on "No, the World Is Not Heading Toward ‘Mass Extinction’"
makati1 on Sat, 28th Jan 2023 3:57 pm
The world could have a mass extinction if the psycho Dumbocrats lose their war with Russia and decide to push the red button. They have already lost to Russia but are too stupid to realize it. We can only hope that the Generals refuse to destroy the world with nukes and wipe out the megalomaniacs in DC instead. Much needed.
theluckycountry on Sun, 29th Jan 2023 12:53 pm
Mass extinction, no, mass dieoff? Yes that’s on the cards. I wouldn’t be the first time a civilization collapsed because of the collapse of its agricultural base, and that typically due to over irrigation and climatic changes. Add in the fact 9 out of 10 calories today come from fossil fuels and you have the potential for a real collapse on your hands.
makati1 on Sun, 29th Jan 2023 4:52 pm
9 out of 10 calories come from FFs in Western countries. You need some research on the rest of the world, lucky. Especially Asia. When I travel here in the Philippines, I see water buffaloes and humans tending the fields. tractors, not so much. Ditto for petrochemicals. Not saying that they are not used, but are not necessary.
Anyone living outside the city has some chickens, a pig and/or grow veggies and fruits. I have even seen gardens and chickens in the city. I think the Philippines could manage well without imported FFs. It would change their life style a bit in the cities, but…they live in a tropical climate with 12 months of growing season.
Not that there will not be FFs here for a long time to come. Most not in-house supplied, come from Indonesia, a few hundred miles away. Not to mention those under the S.C.S..
Filipinos have been here for thousands of years and managed. I’m sure they still can.
eee e e e on Mon, 30th Jan 2023 7:01 am
FIERCE FREEZE PERSISTS IN SIBERIA; ALL-TIME COLD RECORDS CONTINUE TO FALL ACROSS JAPAN; SNOW IN MALLORCA; + SOUTH POLE’S CLEAR COOLING TREND
https://electroverse.co/siberia-japan-freese-snow-in-mallorca-south-pole-cooling-trend/
The month of January has held incredibly cold across the majority of Asia, from northeast Russia to Iran, from Moscow to South Korea, remarkable low temperature readings continue to be posted.
I told Japan to be a sanctions/trade embargo on Israel not Russia. You will be punished. Wait to see the US punishment for not killing Blinken. You will all die anyway. Earth is a execution Chamber.
ee e e on Mon, 30th Jan 2023 7:52 am
Airport and train services have been suspended in Kasmir.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAp9aRNYW_U
You are going to be killed. Just are just piece of shit. Earth is really good execution chamber. It is doing what it is supposed to do.
theluckycountry on Mon, 30th Jan 2023 3:04 pm
makati1 Yes I know the 9:1 is primarily in western nations, but have a look at Sri lanka, they are basically 3rd world and they banned ff products a couple of years back and their food exports plummeted. So did the economy. Many poor nations rely on basic grains and these are often grown with ff.
theluckycountry on Mon, 30th Jan 2023 3:08 pm
Airport and train services have been suspended in Kasmir
Like who gives a shit. Where is kasmir? It was probably an old system established by the British Raj, they did wonders for their colonies and after independence it all started to fall apart. The West has a plan to fix the world, it’s called impoverishment. Certainly billions will die before their time but anyone in a decent nation will be ok.
Dredd on Wed, 1st Feb 2023 11:55 am
“… carbon dioxide persists in the atmosphere for much longer time periods [than methane does] — up to several centuries …” (Scientists now know why methane mysteriously surged during lockdowns)
FamousDrScanlon on Wed, 1st Feb 2023 2:06 pm
The go to retard logic straw man.
‘When I was 40 my doctor said if I continued to eat, drink & smoke the way I do, I’ll probably die from it before I hit 50 years old. 50 came & I was still alive, therefore I will never die, nor suffer any ill effects from my obesity, diabetes, fatty liver or any other diseases & disorders I have or might one day have? How is this possible you might ask? Simple, my doctors prediction did not come true on my 50th birthday, therefore I will never die or feel any symptoms from all my health issues. It’s called retard logic and it’s awesome. If a prediction did not come true then it never will – I’m immortal & invincible….due to a failed prediction – just the date of the prediction because everything points to it happening..
Check out the embedded video in the link below.
Wild supermarket scenes as Auckland hit by wettest day on record
New Zealand’s biggest city has had its heaviest daily rainfall in history.
“In one TikTok post shoppers can be seen wading through knee-high water in a Glenfield supermarket while Auckland Airport, New Zealand’s busiest airport, was brought to a standstill swamped in rainwater.
Many were in disbelief over the shoppers continuing in the Pak’NSave store. “Insane,” one person wrote online, while others questioned how safe it was due to the electrical threat.”
https://au.news.yahoo.com/wild-supermarket-scenes-as-auckland-hit-by-wettest-day-on-record-020656269.html
Coming to a grocery store near you….assuming they have product and you can afford it.
Mak, put your water wings on.
Death toll from floods, landslides climbs to 43, agricultural damage hits over P1B
“Almost half a million families or over two million individuals have been affected by the unusual rains, with more than 111,000 people displaced, based on the latest report of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).
A total of 85 towns and cities have declared a state of calamity, which allows for the release of emergency funds.
NDRRMC said an estimated P103.46 million worth of assistance have been distributed so far using national and local government funds.
DAMAGE
The estimated cost of damage to public infrastructure has reached about P523.19 million, mostly roads, flood control structures, and schools.
In agriculture, 44,838 farmers and fisherfolk have been affected with damage cost so far at P1.08 billion.
The agricultural damage covers 53,707 hectares of crops and P62.04 million in livestock, poultry, and fisheries.”
https://www.bworldonline.com/the-nation/2023/01/30/501912/death-toll-from-floods-landslides-climbs-to-43-agricultural-damage-hits-over-p1b/
FamousDrScanlon on Wed, 1st Feb 2023 2:09 pm
“South America under an endless sequences of heat waves:
“Record heat in Florida and Georgia today. Jacksonville Int. AP with 87F [30.6C] broke its record of hottest January day on records. Even hotter the Cecil AP with 88F.
“In Georgia 86F at Stafford and Oke West, just 1F from the State record of highest temperature in January.”
https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1620176672480964610
“Yesterday very hot in Patagonia up to 41.0C [105.8F] at San Antonio Oeste; Monthly record at Chapelco (779m) with 37.0C and missed by just 0.1C at Bariloche (845m) with 34.3C. More severe heat waves are looming and more records can fall.”
https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1620157527508848641
FamousDrScanlon on Wed, 1st Feb 2023 2:15 pm
Tornadoes ravage the South in month of extremes
“…it is still staggering when you consider the average number of January tornadoes is around 50, putting this year’s total at more than triple the average.”
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/01/30/weather/january-tornadoes-south-wxn/index.html
Hinman Glacier, largest between Mount Rainier and Glacier Peak, melts away
Hinman Glacier measured 0.04 square kilometers in 2022, which is just 4% of its 1958 size.
https://www.king5.com/article/tech/science/environment/hinman-glacier-melts/281-0190852c-bf15-485e-a670-ca2ba3de9470
FamousDrScanlon on Wed, 1st Feb 2023 6:06 pm
I think it’s name is Ron at Reason.con
The only name he’ll mention is Ehrlich & he tries to imply that Ehrlich & his 1 prediction in 1968 are the only scientist in this field & thus the only prediction.
NO NEED TO READ WHAT ONE OR MORE OF THE THOUSANDS & THOUSANDS OF “OTHER” EARTH SCIENTIST’S RESEARCH SAYS ON THIS MATTER.
Ron at Reason.wrong uses the kiss principle
KISS Keep it simple stupid.
Ehrlich-prediction-1968-wrong – move along. Nuthing to see here folks. extinction impossible. The matter is settled.
Reason.dupe has been regurgitating this article since before peakoil.com could walk.
Circling the drain: the extinction crisis and the future of humanity
“Abstract
Humanity has triggered the sixth mass extinction episode since the beginning of the Phanerozoic. The complexity of this extinction crisis is centred on the intersection of two complex adaptive systems: human culture and ecosystem functioning, although the significance of this intersection is not properly appreciated. Human beings are part of biodiversity and elements in a global ecosystem. Civilization, and perhaps even the fate of our species, is utterly dependent on that ecosystem’s proper functioning, which society is increasingly degrading. The crisis seems rooted in three factors. First, relatively few people globally are aware of its existence. Second, most people who are, and even many scientists, assume incorrectly that the problem is primarily one of the disappearance of species, when it is the existential threat of myriad population extinctions. Third, while concerned scientists know there are many individual and collective steps that must be taken to slow population extinction rates, some are not willing to advocate the one fundamental, necessary, ‘simple’ cure, that is, reducing the scale of the human enterprise. We argue that compassionate shrinkage of the human population by further encouraging lower birth rates while reducing both inequity and aggregate wasteful consumption—that is, an end to growthmania—will be required.”
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rstb.2021.0378
FamousDrScanlon on Wed, 1st Feb 2023 6:11 pm
Then we have the ones who are eternally hopium-ful no matter how obvious it is.
What’s likely to cause human extinction – and how can we avoid it?
Stanford epidemiologist Stephen Luby sees three potential outcomes for humanity by 2100: extinction, the collapse of civilization with limited survival, or a thriving society.
https://earth.stanford.edu/news/whats-likely-cause-human-extinction-and-how-can-we-avoid-it
FamousDrScanlon on Wed, 1st Feb 2023 6:21 pm
If you love movies & big budget streaming like I do, then you might like this louder than normal film critic from Scotland. He’s a drunkard & gives great anti woke rants. Fun fun fun kids….
The Critical Drinker
https://www.youtube.com/@TheCriticalDrinker
FamousDrScanlon on Wed, 1st Feb 2023 9:52 pm
Late to the climate denier club is pill junkie Jordan with his degree in pseudo scientific psychology.
Junkie Jordan has followed the well known formula for pandering to US right wing-tards & it worked. He & his sleazy boss-lady daughter are selling books & getting bigger $peaker fees. Junkie Jordan is not the first non American to cash in on the alt-right rage. If you look at his timeline you can see how he adds and weaves the signaling words & issues into his act. Most alt-right dupes had no idea that he is not an American – yabut he said all the Right words-N-stuff.
Now go make your bed then sit down & listen to professor Incel pretend to be an expert in areas that are in the hard/real sciences.
Jordan Peterson’s ‘zombie’ climate contrarianism follows a well-worn path
The psychologist has turned his hand to exposing new audiences to old arguments from climate change deniers
Canadian psychologist and darling of conservatives and the alt-right, Jordan Peterson, has been on an all-out attack on the science of climate change and the risks of global heating.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/commentisfree/2023/feb/02/jordan-petersons-zombie-climate-contrarianism-follows-a-well-worn-path
Junkie Jordan must be popping toxic pills like crazy. He’s starting to look like Keith Richards.
Hey if you’re a US alt righter, Junkie Jordan & boss lady daughter know exactly what you want to hear, but now a word from their sponsor. They’ll tell you anything if the price is right. When Junkie Jordan takes a break from specializing in every field in climate science, he specializes in victim narratives for white boys.
After king Rush died it left a big gap to fill & no one man could replace Rush, so there has been opportunity where a bunch of little fish could swim in Rush’s wake. Kuntslur made the same play only he switched to right wing pandering a few years before Rush died. Kuntslur could not go left because they betrayed him – he believed their narrative for 6-7 decades & boom the echo of emptiness. The right is easier, but left or right you must always tell them they are special, [manifest destiny, exceptional, etc] then give their anger & rage targets then show them your wares – links to drop shipping vitamins, survival products, books, special knowledge, bla bla. Same old song.
FamousDrScanlon on Wed, 1st Feb 2023 10:13 pm
States file duelling Colorado River plans as water resources rapidly dwindle
California files competing proposal on cutting water use of the river as hopes of western states reaching consensus fade
“The 1,450-mile river (2,334km) serves 40 million people across the west and Mexico, generating hydroelectric power for regional markets and irrigating nearly 6m acres (2,428 hectares) of farmland. But a multi-decade drought in the west – made worse by climate change, rising demand and overuse – has sent water levels to unprecedented lows.”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/feb/01/colorado-river-western-states-duelling-plans-climate-crisis-california
Where’s all their water professor climate change denier?
Why won’t the mega drought end professor climate change denier?
Please professor climate change denier, I need alternate answers to copy-N-paste to social media.
The real science men said we would run out of water & fight over it. Their predictions are happening – please professor denier – we need more excuses……
Denial at this point is the height of cowardliness & a huge burden to needlessly carry around.
Hello on Thu, 2nd Feb 2023 5:39 am
That’s good news Famous. When are south-west cities finally going to die? I can’t wait. But when I visited 2 month ago, the building boom was in full swing.
FamousDrScanlon on Thu, 2nd Feb 2023 3:31 pm
Hello, a building boom only proves people are trying to make money buy building & selling homes.
If you think it means anything other than that then go ahead & explain it.
I’ve been surrounded by old apartments being torn down & new condos put up for 3 noisy years running. They start at 7am.
The growth will go on as long as civilization functions. For the humans to stop & leave most of the fossil fuels in the ground would indicate they have free will. They don’t.
The humans are just like glucose loving yeast who consume – grow – die-off or die-back. This is how the universe rolls. There is no choosing. We are along for the ride.
lenty of people who’ve died of cancer didn’t know they had cancer until couple of months before it killed them.
The US southwest knows trouble’s afoot. For a decade or more they have been taking many measures to be less wasteful with the water. Since you have been to N America then you’ve seen how obscenely wasteful we are. We’ve take everything for granted since at least 1945. I’ve use more water brushing my teeth than entire small, impoverished town use.
There’s still a billion who do not have running water. They have walking water – you have to walk a half mile to the well & carry water home.
Hello, you won’t catch me making date specific predictions & when I say the future is going to suck I’m not so much ‘predicting’ as extrapolating.
Worst drought in 1200 years, but probably more like a million years.
Sure I could be wrong. We could all suddenly sprout wings and fly back to the top of the cliff we went over a couple decades ago.
So some of the measures states & cities & citizens have taken to treat water as a valuable resource, might by them some time, but it’s just another can kick.
A Quiet Revolution: Southwest Cities Learn to Thrive Amid Drought
Facing a changing climate, some southwestern U.S. cities such as San Diego, Phoenix, and Las Vegas have embraced innovative strategies for conserving and sourcing water, providing these metropolitan areas with sufficient water supplies to support their growing populations.
April 26, 2022
https://e360.yale.edu/features/a-quiet-revolution-southwest-cities-learn-to-thrive-amid-drought
.
Hello, did you just stay in the comfy city in air conditioned boxes & cars?
In pictures: The West’s historic drought
https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/19/weather/gallery/western-united-states-drought/index.html
.
These stark before-and-after satellite photos show the Western megadrought from space
‘We’ve known for literally decades that climate change is going to affect water availability in the Colorado [River] and in the Western U.S. in general. And we’ve wasted that time.’
“Satellite photos show the stark difference between the way the reservoir looked in 2000—dark blue and sprawling—and what’s left now.
As the water level keeps dropping, the neighboring Hoover Dam, which provides electricity to 1.3 million people, can’t generate as much power. The water is currently at 1,042 feet (boosted slightly by recent monsoon rains, but still only at 27% capacity). If it drops to 950 feet, hydropower will stop working—and water will stop flowing from the Colorado River to millions of people in Arizona, California, and Mexico.”
https://www.fastcompany.com/90780839/these-stark-before-and-after-satellite-photos-show-the-western-megadrought-from-space
FamousDrScanlon on Thu, 2nd Feb 2023 3:39 pm
If America’s Megadrought Continues, the Impact Will Be Catastrophic
“The megadrought is causing drinking water shortages in some areas and reductions in the quality of drinking water, as well as reducing the amount of water available for crops, industries and households.
Water shortages in the western U.S. are being driven by increased demand from growing populations and other uses such as agriculture in combination with climate change, experts told Newsweek.”
https://www.newsweek.com/megadrought-impact-united-states-catastrophic-1775438
.
Extreme weather, fueled by climate change, cost the U.S. $165 billion in 2022
“Extreme weather events, fueled by human-caused climate change, are occurring at a higher frequency with an increased cost — in dollars and lives.”
“Climate change is creating more and more intense, extreme events that cause significant damage and often sets off cascading hazards like intense drought, followed by devastating wildfires, followed by dangerous flooding and mudslides,”
https://news.wgcu.org/2023-01-10/extreme-weather-fueled-by-climate-change-cost-the-u-s-165-billion-in-2022
FamousDrScanlon on Thu, 2nd Feb 2023 10:53 pm
These growth addicted American libertarian moRons are, like their conserveatard cousins, one trick ponies. They have only ever known unprecedented economic growth. Ron’s another scared & guilt filled Boomer. Like many pro growth white boy Boomers his articles the last few years have all been ‘whistling past the graveyard’ articles. I don’t blame him. In his position I’d probably do the same.
I’ve taken many shots & Reason.com, but I know Ron is no dummy. He’s seen the evidence.
Anyone who made an honest effort to understand what’s happening to the biosphere knows we are fucked. It may not be human extinction in the cards, but we are fucked any way you slice it.
The link below will take you to the work of Bill Rees who is a straight shooter & unmatched in understanding Overshoot.
.
Why Large Cities Won’t Survive the Twenty-First Century.pdf
“But coming decades will look nothing like the recent past. The human enterprise is now in a state of advanced ecological overshoot (Rees 2020).Eco-overshoot (hereafter, “EO”) exists when the consumption of bioresources and the production of wastes exceed the regenerative and assimilative capacities respectively, of supportive ecosystems.When in EO, we can achieve further growth only by depleting essential natural capital and over- taxing the life-support functions of the ecosphere including the climate system, i.e., by destroying the biophysical basis of our own existence.And that is precisely what we are doing.”
https://www.docdroid.net/ZPtk0qA/why-large-cities-wont-survive-the-twenty-first-century-pdf
its feb3rd 2 days after world supremacist muzzie bag day and china has perfect solution for upremacist muzzies in xinjiang on Fri, 3rd Feb 2023 2:38 am
supertards lease change ur undies after 1 eek
please feel at ease amng friends
were all lovers of supremacist muzzies here
Hello on Fri, 3rd Feb 2023 6:32 am
>>>> But coming decades will look nothing like the recent past
Finally some good news.