Re:Planetary 'autopsies' indicate worlds like Earth common i...
by vfc1 on Monday October 21, 2019 @06:35AM
(#21310731)
> Homo sapiens only exists 30K year
You meant 300k, right? The problem is, the human species is growing at an exponential rate, so if this continues and it's going to be hard not to, the damage tho the ecosystem can go very fast as there are processes that can also be triggered in an exponential manner.
For example, melting of the ice cap would cause not only ocean rise but a lot more heat staying in the planet as ice reflects a lot of it back into space.
Also, a temperature rise of 5 degrees would kill most phytoplankton, which is the main source of oxygen.
All of this sounds very catastrophic, but it might be somewhere in between a few centuries and a few millennia away, which is nothing on a geological time scale.
The current equilibrium that allows for human life on this planet is much more fragile than we think.
You meant 300k, right? The problem is, the human species is growing at an exponential rate, so if this continues and it's going to be hard not to, the damage tho the ecosystem can go very fast as there are processes that can also be triggered in an exponential manner.
For example, melting of the ice cap would cause not only ocean rise but a lot more heat staying in the planet as ice reflects a lot of it back into space.
Also, a temperature rise of 5 degrees would kill most phytoplankton, which is the main source of oxygen.
All of this sounds very catastrophic, but it might be somewhere in between a few centuries and a few millennia away, which is nothing on a geological time scale.
The current equilibrium that allows for human life on this planet is much more fragile than we think.