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A professor famous for predicting the imminent demise of the human race at regular intervals since the 1970s has predicted the imminent demise of the human race.
Paul Ehrlich, who is the Bing Professor of Population Studies at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, says it's definitely on this time. In a tinned statement issued on Friday, the arm-waving prof lays it on the line:
There is no longer any doubt: We are entering a mass extinction that threatens humanity's existence ... the window of opportunity is rapidly closing ...
"[The study] shows without any significant doubt that we are now entering the sixth great mass extinction event," Ehrlich said ...
"If it is allowed to continue, life would take many millions of years to recover, and our species itself would likely disappear early on," said lead author Gerardo Ceballos.
The original article can be found at The Register, with coverage of the cited study coming from ScienceMag.org
Original Submission
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Type44Q on Wednesday June 24 2015, @04:02PM
Where I sit now it is far too cold for human life 1/2 the year
Unless you're at Amundsen–Scott Station, I'd say the Neanderthal 2% of our ancestors would disagree with you...
(Score: 2) by morgauxo on Wednesday June 24 2015, @08:37PM
I was talking about completely natural life. Basically, naked human animals. The neandertals had a level of technology, they had fire and clothing. They were cold adapted but I doubt they could have survived naked in the freezing cold! Their technology extended their range away from the equator, just like our technology will allow some people to survive the harsher environment to come.
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Wednesday June 24 2015, @09:37PM
How do you define completely natural life? Are beavers not living a completely natural life because they build dams? [wikipedia.org] What about termites that build mounds? [wikipedia.org] Or animals that use tools? [wikipedia.org]
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 2) by morgauxo on Tuesday June 30 2015, @06:50PM
Well.. I'm not sure but I think that most of a Beaver's ability to build dams, Termites' ability to build mounds, etc... is in their genes. It's a hard-coded product of evolution. Sure, on a certain level the same can be said of human technology but it is more of a meta-ability. We didn't evolve the specific ability to build a house of brick, wood, grass, straw, ice, etc.. or a skyscraper or even a space habitat. We evolved the ability to engineer different stuff based on what our current environment provides and demands.
I may be wrong but if not then when are we going to see a beaver build a home that is not a dam or termites build something that is not a mound? Show me this non-human innovation happening without the evolution of a new species, on a timescale that can keep up with climate change.