This is from an article i linked on page 4 in reply to @saintbristol
As for global uranium supplies, the report says that current uranium production from mines is already insufficient to fuel existing nuclear reactors, a gap being filled by recovery of uranium military stockpiles and old nuclear warheads. While the production gap could be closed at current levels of demand, a worldwide expansion of nuclear power would be unsustainable due to âgigantic investmentsâ needed.
Report contributor Michael Dittmar, a nuclear physicist at CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, argues that despite large quantities of uranium in the Earthâs crust, only a âlimited numbers of depositsâ are âconcentrated enough to be profitably mined.â Mining less concentrated deposits would require âfar more energy than the mined uranium could ultimately produce.â The rising costs of uranium mining, among other costs, has meant that nuclear power investment is tapering off.
Proposals to extract uranium from seawater are currently âuselessâ because âthe energy needed to extract and process uranium from seawater would be about the same as the energy that could be obtained by the same uranium using the current nuclear technology.â Therefore within this decade, the report forecasts an âunavoidableâ production decline from existing uranium mines.
Well, we were doomed form the start anywayâŚexpected lifespan of Earth is around 7bn years but we are likely to get burned up 1bn years so before then as our local star decides to shake us down⌠as a planet of 4bn years old (or 7000 years if seriously deluded) we are beyond out halfway point⌠so we are fucked.
However, given that our lives tend to be more fun without smog, famine, starvation, death of children, extinctions and watching turds float past when having a swim, we might just want to think about how we treat the old place. The debate about global warming and various other macro climate change is a red herring. A distraction from the real question. Even if there is NO global warming and our predictive models are shit⌠should we not just be thinking WHY the FUCK are we happy pumping shit out there anyway? The treehugger v treefeller debate is as old and as long as CO2 has been pumped, but ultimately what matters more is just what it creates, because the long term view is we are doomed eventually, so lets at least try and keep the amount of shit we are surrounded with day-to-day to a minimum?
So 25 years after the original âalliance of world scientistsâ letter, which was 20 years after âthe limits to growthâ from the club of rome(not one bit disproved), how have things changed? Nothing to worry about if the press reporting is anything to go by(I have waited and one article hidden in the independent is all i have seen).
The authors of the 1992 declaration feared that humanity was pushing Earthâs ecosystems beyond their capacities to support the web of life. They described how we are fast approaching many of the limits of what the Âbiosphere can tolerate Âwithout Âsubstantial and irreversible harm. The scientists pleaded that we stabilize the human population, describing how our large numbersâswelled by another 2 billion people since 1992, a 35 percent increaseâexert stresses on Earth that can overwhelm other efforts to realize a sustainable future. They implored that we cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and phase out fossil fuels, reduce deforestation, and reverse the trend of collapsing biodiversity.
How are we getting on with biodiversity?
90% of Big Ocean Fish gone since 1950.
80% of Antarctic Krill gone since 1975.
80% of Western Gorillas gone since 1955.
60% of Forest Elephants gone since 1970.
50% of Great Barrier Reef gone since 1985.
40% of Giraffes gone since 2000.
30% of Marine Birds gone since 1995.
70% of Marine Birds gone since 1950.
28% of Land Animals gone since 1970.
28% of All Marine Animals gone since 1970.
97% â Humans & Livestock are 97% of land-air vertebrate biomass.
10,000 years ago we were 0.01% of land-air vertebrate biomass.
Not so good then and thatâs just a drop in the ocean of the destruction we have meted out to the only thing that keeps us alive(our biosphere).
Our lazy self delusion really does know no bounds.
If I had a choice Iâd come back as a Cockroach. Their numbers seem to be holding up very well; a very robust creatureâŚ
Cockroaches are among the hardiest insects. Some species are capable of remaining active for a month without food and are able to survive on limited resources, such as the glue from the back of postage stamps. Some can go without air for 45 minutes.
Iâm watching Kingsman (the first one⌠Itâs very average/ not that good) but the Samuel L Jackson character (Valentin) is sounding a lot like SOS has been on here. Is there a link?
Are you referring to the massive wealth and intellect?
Or just this kind of thing, that everyone has known for decades?
When you get a virus, you get a fever. Thatâs the human body raising its core temperature to kill the virus. Planet Earth works the same way: Global warming is the fever, mankind is the virus. Weâre making our planet sick. A cull is our only hope. If we donât reduce our population ourselves, thereâs only one of two ways this can go: The host kills the virus, or the virus kills the host.
Itâs accelerating more and more with each day that we think we can ignore it and carry on as usual. Itâs coming so much faster than people can imagine.
The first Kingsman movie was Slightly Above Average, you fkn dipshit!!!
I know what you mean tho, itâs not often you watch one of them bond type movies where a Megolamaniac is upto something Shady and think, hmm, thatâs actually a Pretty Good Idea. I hope he pulls it off.
Sounds good and itâs relevant. All it needs is people to keep on doing what theyâre doing and thatâs a given. Itâs so simple itâs brilliant. Try it, mention 35°c and people all say âiâve been in hotterâ and dismiss it.
Weâre getting closer and closer. Lots of people already dying, but when we hit 35°, millions could die in days.
Pakistan and India are going to suffer big, but all the middle east, africa and south east Asia are in for massive death and population movement. Everywhere will suffer to various degrees, even Europe, so just as well weâre leaving. Donât laugh, it has more validity than most the other reasons.
Pakistan is suffering regularly now and it has not hit the magic number yet.
Dr Seemin Jamali, a senior official at JPMC noted to Al Jazeera:
âThe mortuary is overflowing, they are piling bodies one on top of the other. We are doing everything that is humanly possible here. Until [Tuesday] night, it was unbelievable. We were getting patients coming into the emergency ward every minute.â