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"Can Collapse of Global Civ. Be Avoided?" by P&A Ehrlich

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Re: Ehrlich: 10% chance of avoiding total collapse

Postby onlooker » Sat 10 Oct 2015, 05:23:32

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tanada', 'E')hrlich was an optimist.

From my understanding with his book "The Population Bomb" published in 1968, he was one of the first Cassandras warming humanity of an upcoming bottleneck. Of course nobody took him serious. As for chances of avoiding collapse well, it is very well analyzed just on this thread. With peak oil (economic collapse), various ecosystem services failures, a pandemic almost certain to occur as countries are ill-prepared to deal with various and vast disease outbreaks we have the ingredients for collapse and then GW would be the coup-de-grace. Difficult to avoid this multifaceted scenario at this point. :twisted:
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Re: Ehrlich: 10% chance of avoiding total collapse

Postby Cog » Sat 10 Oct 2015, 07:17:28

Of course no one takes him seriously, He was wrong on all of his predictions.
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Re: Ehrlich: 10% chance of avoiding total collapse

Postby onlooker » Sat 10 Oct 2015, 07:45:38

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cog', 'O')f course no one takes him seriously, He was wrong on all of his predictions.

Just with the timing. Deniers love to denigrate doomer opinions because they may not quite fit the timeline. In fact, the general trajectory is completely matching what Limits to Growth, Ehrlich and others predicted. The climate is showing signs of real destabilization as other human ecosystems such as the economy and world-wide culture. Peak oil is beginning to have real consequences. And various ecosystems are being stressed to the point of breaking and so their necessary services to the web of life will cease. So, that is rubbish those who wish can see the signs, of course if you do not wish to see then you see nothing.
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Re: Ehrlich: 10% chance of avoiding total collapse

Postby Subjectivist » Sat 10 Oct 2015, 09:50:11

True doomers always expect bad things soon or even tomorrow and when they set a date they are often proven wrong. But if you look at the trend lines pessimists find troubling there is ample evidence they are right on the big picture.
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Re: Ehrlich: 10% chance of avoiding total collapse

Postby ralfy » Sat 10 Oct 2015, 22:09:45

Indeed, as shown in the trend lines presented here:

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre ... g-collapse
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Re: Ehrlich: 10% chance of avoiding total collapse

Postby Cid_Yama » Sun 11 Oct 2015, 05:57:50

When it comes to Global Warming/Climate Change, the 'pessimists' (apparently the 'realists') have been closer on the timeline than the IPCC 'consensus'.

Individual climate scientists, when not muffled by political considerations, have stated that non-linear abrupt climate change has always been "the Elephant in the room". That paleoclimate research has found that abrupt shifts in the climate regime to a totally different state have happen numerous times in the past, in ranges of within a year to a decade.

Abrupt climate change is not some doomer fantasy, but a REAL phenomena. One that we currently face globally.

As simple as the shifting of rain tracks northwards, means it doesn't rain like it used to in places we grow our food. Also the shifting, and increases in intensity of storm tracks, means they now happen in places that lack the infrastructure to deal with it.

And things like the polar vortex, that brings intense cold to southern regions, where the houses aren't insulated, or built for it, because it was never that cold. Or extreme heat in the north, where they lack air conditioning, because they never needed it.

We are already there, it's no longer if or when. People are already being forced to adapt. And these changes are only the beginning, the tip of the iceberg.
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Re: Ehrlich: 10% chance of avoiding total collapse

Postby dolanbaker » Sun 11 Oct 2015, 17:24:17

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dohboi', 'p')starr--glad to hear that we have taken you to a deeper level of awareness--sorry that reality sucks do horribly.

dolan--we gotta talk

Specifically, when you accurately point out: "The current migrant "crisis" is a foretaste of what is to come..."

Sorry, dude, but how the f does that lead you to any kind of optimism about the future.

That's the whole freakin' point.

However optimistic (realistically or un-) you may feel about a particular locality's possibilities for surviving collapse, other areas where collapse is baked in or in progress are not gonna just collapse in place. They're gonna come knockin on your front back and side doors, and probably a few others.

As they say, 'We're gonna get the water from your house..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-KulvW2TUQ

The point that I was making is that any future collapse will be very regional with some areas collapsing quite rapidly, many of those are currently experiencing rapid population growth right now.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')hey're gonna come knockin on your front back and side doors, and probably a few others.

Well they are doing that right now! I expect that the barriers will be raised soon to stem the tide.

I expect the medium term future to be quite messy as migrants are forcibly stopped from entering the "west", it may well be a case that free food is provided to them if they stay put. Countries that exercise poor birth control may not be able to export the problem in the future as they have done in the past. The population of Europe is probably already too high to sustain a low energy existence in the long term future, so importing more people will only increase the risk of failure much more than keeping the population at the current levels.
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Re: Ehrlich: 10% chance of avoiding total collapse

Postby dohboi » Sun 11 Oct 2015, 17:44:53

"I expect that the barriers will be raised soon to stem the tide."

And what leads you to expect that these barriers will be effective?
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Re: Ehrlich: 10% chance of avoiding total collapse

Postby dolanbaker » Sun 11 Oct 2015, 17:53:21

I expect that they'll be very "leaky".
Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful.:Anonymous
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Re: Ehrlich: 10% chance of avoiding total collapse

Postby Subjectivist » Sun 11 Oct 2015, 21:41:21

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Subjectivist', 'T')rue doomers always expect bad things soon or even tomorrow and when they set a date they are often proven wrong. But if you look at the trend lines pessimists find troubling there is ample evidence they are right on the big picture.

who are the "true doomers"?


People who always look at the dark side of life, who when confronted with good news deny it is even remotely possible.
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Re: Ehrlich: 10% chance of avoiding total collapse

Postby onlooker » Sun 11 Oct 2015, 23:47:40

So then Sub, would you call Ehrlich a true doomer? He has been consistently transmitting his expert views that humanity is on an unsustainable path ever since the 60's. Your nomenclature is not helpful. People have taken considerable time to educate themselves and have arrived at some disturbing conclusions based upon empirical studies and by connecting all the dots. Having said I will not refer anymore to myself or others as doomers but as realists. These terms imply a emotional attachment to a conclusion which in itself negates the objectivity of the conclusion.
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Re: Ehrlich: 10% chance of avoiding total collapse

Postby ozcad » Mon 12 Oct 2015, 02:37:55

As soon as we develop allegiance to team Doomer or team Optimist viewpoints, we have lost our position as impartial students of the universe.
Caveat: The above sentence implies that you cannot take action. I think it is possible, even wise, to adopt GW minimisation strategies as a "fire insurance policy". without waiting till you can see the fire. We can cater for possibilities without being committed to them.
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Re: Ehrlich: 10% chance of avoiding total collapse

Postby onlooker » Mon 12 Oct 2015, 06:07:58

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('ozcad', 'A')s soon as we develop allegiance to team Doomer or team Optimist viewpoints, we have lost our position as impartial students of the universe.
Caveat: The above sentence implies that you cannot take action. I think it is possible, even wise, to adopt GW minimisation strategies as a "fire insurance policy". without waiting till you can see the fire. We can cater for possibilities without being committed to them.

True it has been called the Precautionary Principle. The consequences are so great that not taking measures to minimize risk is foolish. That is why we take out insurance policies also.
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Re: Ehrlich: 10% chance of avoiding total collapse

Postby Subjectivist » Mon 12 Oct 2015, 06:59:28

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('onlooker', 'S')o then Sub, would you call Ehrlich a true doomer? He has been consistently transmitting his expert views that humanity is on an unsustainable path ever since the 60's. Your nomenclature is not helpful. People have taken considerable time to educate themselves and have arrived at some disturbing conclusions based upon empirical studies and by connecting all the dots. Having said I will not refer anymore to myself or others as doomers but as realists. These terms imply a emotional attachment to a conclusion which in itself negates the objectivity of the conclusion.


Ehrlich is not a true doomer, he always couches things in trends or probabilities. True doomers are certain things will be the worst case scenario no matter what happens, Ehrlich things it is likely bad choices will continue until the pain from those choices force change.
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Re: Ehrlich: 10% chance of avoiding total collapse

Postby onlooker » Mon 12 Oct 2015, 15:25:36

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 't')hat peak oil will trump AGW.

Yes that is true in the short term, that is why we have continued to burn FF and will continue to do so for as long as we can. Fossil fuels are the lifeblood of ALL the economy. This in turn is why over the long term AGW will trump PO. While peak oil can destroy civilization, GW can destroy humanity and most other life forms. That is the nature of the straight jacket we are in , dammed if we do, dammed if we do not. :o
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