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Countryfox

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By Countryfox, in General Chat

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leicsmac

leicsmac

Posted
Posted
7 hours ago, Buce said:

 

I dare say some might find this statistic as a source of pride at human ingenuity and fecundity, but I just see it as a a sad reminder of our impending doom:

 

Human-made objects to outweigh living things

Scientists say the weight of human-made objects will likely exceed that of living things by the end of the year.

In other words, the combined weight of all the plastic, bricks, concrete and other things we've made in the world will outweigh all animals and plants on the planet for the first time.

The estimated weight of human-made objects is about one teratonne.

For every person in the world, more than their body weight in stuff is now being produced each week.

These astonishing figures have been calculated by a team at the Weizmann Institute of Sciences in Rehovot, Israel, to show how our species is transforming the Earth.

"The significance is symbolic in the sense that it tells us something about the major role that humanity now plays in shaping the world and the state of the Earth around us," Dr Ron Milo, who led the research, told BBC News.

"It is a reason for all of us to ponder our role, how much consumption we do and how can we try to get a better balance between the living world and humanity."

 

The scientists worked out the combined mass of all human-made stuff from 1900 to the present day and compared this with the weight of all the living things on the planet (known as biomass).

From plastic bottles to the bricks and concretes we use for buildings and roads, the weight of all the things we produce has been doubling every 20 years recently.

At the same time, the weight of living things has been falling, mainly due to the loss of plant life in forests and natural spaces.

The scientists knew at some point we would reach a crossover point. And according to their estimates, 2020 is the year when human-made mass from the likes of roads, buildings and machines, will likely overtake that of all the living things in the world.

The exact timing is sensitive to definitions, so there may be some variability in the estimates by a few years either side, they say.

But if we continue as we are, by 2040, the weight of all human-made stuff will have almost tripled from 1.1 teratonnes (1,100,000,000,000 tonnes) to about three teratonnes.

 

This means humanity is now producing stuff at a rate of more than 30 gigatonnes (30,000,000,000 tonnes) per year.

The research, published in Nature, is further evidence that we have entered a new geological age, known as the Anthropocene, where humanity's impacts on Earth will be visible in sediments and rocks millions of years into the future.

The formal start date could be the 1950s, which marks the beginning of the "Great Acceleration", when the human population and its consumption patterns suddenly speeded up.

It coincides with the spread of ubiquitous materials, such as aluminium, concrete and plastic.

 

 

 

 

That's fair enough.

 

Personally, I reckon (and I've said this before) we either utilise tech development and accept the risk of it all going tits-up, or we don't, and we accept the certainty that nature will do it for us sometime soon enough. I think the former is preferable from a risk management standpoint.

 

Here's hoping the projections for the global population topping off by around 2060 are correct.

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Jon the Hat

Jon the Hat

Posted
Posted
18 hours ago, Buce said:

 

I dare say some might find this statistic as a source of pride at human ingenuity and fecundity, but I just see it as a a sad reminder of our impending doom:

 

Human-made objects to outweigh living things

Scientists say the weight of human-made objects will likely exceed that of living things by the end of the year.

In other words, the combined weight of all the plastic, bricks, concrete and other things we've made in the world will outweigh all animals and plants on the planet for the first time.

The estimated weight of human-made objects is about one teratonne.

For every person in the world, more than their body weight in stuff is now being produced each week.

These astonishing figures have been calculated by a team at the Weizmann Institute of Sciences in Rehovot, Israel, to show how our species is transforming the Earth.

"The significance is symbolic in the sense that it tells us something about the major role that humanity now plays in shaping the world and the state of the Earth around us," Dr Ron Milo, who led the research, told BBC News.

"It is a reason for all of us to ponder our role, how much consumption we do and how can we try to get a better balance between the living world and humanity."

 

The scientists worked out the combined mass of all human-made stuff from 1900 to the present day and compared this with the weight of all the living things on the planet (known as biomass).

From plastic bottles to the bricks and concretes we use for buildings and roads, the weight of all the things we produce has been doubling every 20 years recently.

At the same time, the weight of living things has been falling, mainly due to the loss of plant life in forests and natural spaces.

The scientists knew at some point we would reach a crossover point. And according to their estimates, 2020 is the year when human-made mass from the likes of roads, buildings and machines, will likely overtake that of all the living things in the world.

The exact timing is sensitive to definitions, so there may be some variability in the estimates by a few years either side, they say.

But if we continue as we are, by 2040, the weight of all human-made stuff will have almost tripled from 1.1 teratonnes (1,100,000,000,000 tonnes) to about three teratonnes.

 

This means humanity is now producing stuff at a rate of more than 30 gigatonnes (30,000,000,000 tonnes) per year.

The research, published in Nature, is further evidence that we have entered a new geological age, known as the Anthropocene, where humanity's impacts on Earth will be visible in sediments and rocks millions of years into the future.

The formal start date could be the 1950s, which marks the beginning of the "Great Acceleration", when the human population and its consumption patterns suddenly speeded up.

It coincides with the spread of ubiquitous materials, such as aluminium, concrete and plastic.

 

Yeah except everything we make came form a natural source.  It;s not like we are making the earth heavier.  Utter nonsense really isn't it?

 

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Buce

Buce

Posted
Posted (edited)
44 minutes ago, Jon the Hat said:

Yeah except everything we make came form a natural source.  It;s not like we are making the earth heavier.  Utter nonsense really isn't it?

 

 

Seriously?  :facepalm:

 

I'm sorry, Jon, but if it's that far over your head, you won't understand the explanation.

Edited by Buce
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leicsmac

leicsmac

Posted
Posted
15 minutes ago, boots60 said:

I wonder which religion they follow?

I wonder.

 

While we're asking rhetorical questions, I also wonder whether any of the Abrahamic religions in fact have a monopoly or even a controlling stake on sexual depravity that means they should be singled out?

 

No, is the answer.

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boots60

boots60

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, leicsmac said:

I wonder.

 

While we're asking rhetorical questions, I also wonder whether any of the Abrahamic religions in fact have a monopoly or even a controlling stake on sexual depravity that means they should be singled out?

 

No, is the answer.

Oh, that's ok then

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leicsmac

leicsmac

Posted
Posted
11 minutes ago, boots60 said:

Oh, that's ok then

From the point of view that something utterly terrible has happened again... no, it isn't.

 

From the point of view of attempting to use it to cheaply point-score based on one's own ideological bias...yeah, I guess it is.

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Carl the Llama

Carl the Llama

Posted
Posted
28 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-55267260

 

Perhaps this should have been posted in the Championship thread, given there seems to be a certain amount of confusion regarding the objectives and necessity of the Black Lives Matter movement over there. This might add a little clarity.

But that's in America, we don't have to care about that and we have no racists here.

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Innovindil

Innovindil

Posted
Posted
37 minutes ago, BKLFox said:

Am i being harsh in saying cry me a f’ing river? ya pays ya money an all that, you know what’s going on 

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-55286237

Not at all imo. My co-worker had a trip to turkey, said he'd planned for 2 weeks quarantine on return, even though at the time there wasn't a requirement to. 2 days before he was due back they said returneens from turkey would have to isolate for 2 weeks. No tears, no moaning, just got on with it.

 

Anyone booking a holiday this year then complaining that the situation has changed between booking/going/returning needs to give their head a wobble. Especially when they've booked a holiday so close to christmas ffs.

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Paninistickers

Paninistickers

Posted
Posted
38 minutes ago, Innovindil said:

Not at all imo. My co-worker had a trip to turkey, said he'd planned for 2 weeks quarantine on return, even though at the time there wasn't a requirement to. 2 days before he was due back they said returneens from turkey would have to isolate for 2 weeks. No tears, no moaning, just got on with it.

 

Anyone booking a holiday this year then complaining that the situation has changed between booking/going/returning needs to give their head a wobble. Especially when they've booked a holiday so close to christmas ffs.

I think it's the absurdity that winds people up.

 

You leave the UK, a place absolutely infested with covid l, to go to gran canaria which has virtually no cases in comparison....then to be told YOU have to self isolate whilst the great unwashed whov'e been on the bus, down lidl, picking kids up from school all week are fine to swan about. 

 

 

 

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Corky

Corky

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, BKLFox said:

Am i being harsh in saying cry me a f’ing river? ya pays ya money an all that, you know what’s going on 

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-55286237

Incredible. We're in a pandemic, foreign travel is strongly advised against, his partner has hospital appointments next week, the situation is changing almost daily, are they seriously questioning this?

 

 

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Nalis

Nalis

Posted
Posted

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/no-deal-brexit-panic-buying-food-shortages-supermarkets-boris-johnson-b1772537.html

 

Ah yes, step 1 of the media trickery on panic buying is in place by manically reporting that people are urged not to panic buy amid a no deal Brexit. Step 2 will be reporting on how people are panic buying because of a no deal brexit as opposed to the media scaremongering in the first place. Most media outlets are at it.

 

No matter whether you are a Brexiteer or a Remainer, or read the Guardian or Daily Mail, its absolutely disgusting behaviour by the media.

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Buce

Buce

Posted
Posted
4 minutes ago, Nalis said:

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/no-deal-brexit-panic-buying-food-shortages-supermarkets-boris-johnson-b1772537.html

 

Ah yes, step 1 of the media trickery on panic buying is in place by manically reporting that people are urged not to panic buy amid a no deal Brexit. Step 2 will be reporting on how people are panic buying because of a no deal brexit as opposed to the media scaremongering in the first place. Most media outlets are at it.

 

No matter whether you are a Brexiteer or a Remainer, or read the Guardian or Daily Mail, its absolutely disgusting behaviour by the media.

 

British press in lack of integrity shock.

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