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E X T I N C T I O N S

E X T I N C T I O N S. The world’s population is about 6,300,000,000 people (2003 AD) Every day the Earth’s population increases by about 250,000 people !. Population Growth. Year Population 0 A.D. 100,000,000 1000 200,000,000 Doubling in 1000 years

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E X T I N C T I O N S

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  1. E X T I N C T I O N S

  2. The world’s population is about 6,300,000,000 people (2003 AD) Every day the Earth’s population increases by about 250,000 people!

  3. Population Growth YearPopulation 0 A.D. 100,000,000 1000 200,000,000 Doubling in 1000 years 1500 400,000,000 Doubling in 500 years 1800 800,000,000 Doubling in 300 years 1900 1,600,000,000 Doubling in 100 years 1965 3,200,000,000 Doubling in 65 years 2000 6,000,000,000 2050 10,000,000,000 PREDICTED

  4. The Population Explosion

  5. …an infinite population?!

  6. Population Density(1972-73) Population per Square Kilometer Europe 63 Asia (including East USSR) 51 South America 15 Africa 12 North America 11 The Earth 28

  7. Population Density(1972-73) Mean Distance Between People in Cities Calcutta 5 m Lagos 5 m Paris 6 m Cairo 7 m Moscow 7 m New York 7 m

  8. Food Limit • All land area put into production of wheat • Production of 3 tons/hectare = 800 tons/square mile • Wheat yields 3.7 Calories/gram • One person needs 2500 Calories/day • Final density of people 3140/square mile • Total Earth population 180 x 109 • A factor of 45 greater than the current population • If population growth stops at 3 % / year  129 years until limit reached 4 % / year then 97 years 5 % / year then 77 years

  9. Energy Limit Limit due to temperature balance of the Earth Allowed maximum energy production 2.1 x 1015 watts Present energy consumption 6.6 x 1012 watts If energy use increased at 7 % per year we will reach the limit in 82 years.

  10. Possible Ends • Destruction by massive nuclear war/ nuclear winter. • Catastrophes due to lack of food, lack of energy, pollution, lack of space, … • Social Stabilization • “MAGIC UTOPIA”?

  11. Solutions?? With all these problems… Why on earth should we stay? Populate other planets? Space Colonies? How Soon? How Expensive?

  12. “Technology is a good servant, but a bad master.” Does it have to be this way?

  13. The Rules of the game can be changed quickly if survival necessitates it. True, but what would the results be?

  14. Thermonuclear war may seem unthinkable, immoral, insane, hideous or highly unlikely, but it is not impossible.” H. Khan • We can be dead wrong in predicting the future… • We live in the era of progress, technology, which has created optimism. • Today there is an attitude of timidity – is the era of progress and technology coming to and end? It is up to us to restore the faith that tomorrowwill be better than today.

  15. The Sixth ExtinctionLeakey & Lewin “Homo sapiens has become the most dominant species on Earth. Unfortunately, our impact is devastating, and if we continue to destroy the environment as we do today, half the world’s species will become extinct early in the next century.”

  16. “ … the history of any one part of the earth, like the life of a soldier, consists of long periods of boredom and short periods of terror.” Agar 1981

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