Sustainability is a purely a Human issue

[Bowman]

I’d like to kick off a debate:

Sustainability matters only to the human race. The Planet can look after itself.

Barring medical miracles the entire current human population will be dead well within 150 years. It is highly unlikely that you or I shall meet anyone in our lifetimes who will be alive in 250 years time. So why do we care what happens beyond that?

The planet can and will look after itself, 10000 years is a mere blink in the history of our planet, 100 years is just 1% of that. Even if human activity is solely responsible for climate change, the planet will do whatever it will, with or without us. In a million years time the Earth will still function.

With or without us.

The choice is ours, as a race, as a species, with or without us? Do we care about people we have never, will never, meet; people who have yet to be born.

Sustainability is purely a Human issue, even if we destroy all as we know it, the majority of victims will be people we will never know. Why do we care. The Earth’s in no hurry and will regenerate itself.

With or without us.

When we talk about “sustainability” we need to recognize that we are talking about the future of the human race and society as we know it.

Sustainability is NOT an environmental issue its about us.

[Bowman]

[Johnny Electriglide]

Sustainability is about the human numbers and way of living in our ecological niche, which happens to be nearly the entire Earth. Our niche is supported by a complex interplay of other organisms and natural systems. Humans are directly and indirectly causing what is known as the 6th Great Extinction. Human overpopulation is causing depletions and pollution that kill off many other species. Some estimate that at the time of the human population crash, which is mathematically inevitable near 2050, we will take well over half the species with us. The global warming scenario, as it is now, with runaway methane release, leads to not only human extinction around 2100 (no recovery after the crash), but an extimated extinction of 89% of all species that were present at the beginning of this interglacial epoch.
As far as the Earth is concerned, and life itself, human effects will be gone in several million years. New species will be here, along with some that have been here many millions of years. The cycles of less and more life dependent on other natural forces, will continue until Earth is incinerated in the outer reaches of the red giant phase of our sun in 4.5 or more billion years. Some of the Earth's organic material may have been blasted out into space to eventually help seed another forming planet, like ours was.

[Bowman]

Underlying my statement above is the belief that the vast majority of people in the developed world only see sustainability as an environmental issue, they can't see how it will effect them in the cosy urban closets. Much more than this, in the UK at least, is an expectation that Government will look after them, from schools, health, social welfare, economy, pensions, etc. etc. For most people the only proactive steps they need to take is in relation to their careers.

For all those urbanites out there, with their block drives, 9 till 5's, schools runs, high achieving schools, free health care, glossy supermarkets, and resort holidays the "environment" is something they have absolutely no relationship with. In the meantime each successive government promises more, all the time taking responsibility away from the individual.

Until people realise that sustainabilty actually relates to them, their children and their grandchildren; that we all need to take some personal responsibility for not only our own actions, but also for those of local, regional, national and global institutions, there will be very little progress.

So, I have to conclude that sustainability is a very human issue, given time the planet will recover, with or without us.

[Corey]

I live in the Midwest USA. Born into conservation from birth.

Being a human issue, agree. Hate to scare you but that extinction might happen sooner rather than later especially with bush and his cronies at the helm on a one way train track to destruction.
People just don't realise with the things that they want to do they are hurting the sustainability further. Example bio fuels / biomass fuels Are the wrong way with Two key things being left out. 1. After every harvest the ground is depleted of nutrients that is not replaced because we took that source of nutrients that was meant to replenish the soil and burned it as fuel wasting huge amounts of drinking water in the process to convert for a very little in fuel increase plus it still pollutes after being burned! 2. competing with habitat, food, and wildlife, just to grow the crap.

In the name of greed this is the junk that big business and governments around the world are trying to sell us off on. I say NO its not sustainable.

So how do we get them to stop wasting there profits on a doomed project and push them to research realistic options that are free of emissions and won't kill the planet?

or am I being to naive and we are past being able to fixing this? While being fed with all this stuff to keep us placid for as long as possible till its to late to hit back? because we are dead and don't know it yet?

sorry this might be a cross between several topics

[Bowman]

Originally Posted by Corey

sorry this might be a cross between several topics

Full on mongrel! Buts thats cool. I was checking Buckminster Fuller earlier, very definately barking up the right tree.