Coming Crises

[paeng]

I have been posting many links to news items about the following problems:

1. global warming
2. food shortages
3. water shortages
4. peak oil
5. epidemic
6. war
7. population increase

and effects of these and connections between them. I thought I was the only one concerned until I visited some web logs of fellow admirers of Ligotti and saw the same. I wonder if there is a connection between Ligotti's works and concerns about such a future.

[Patrick Mullins]

parng-I don't know if these concerns are necsessarily connected to an appreciation of Ligotti's work, but I do think they are exteremely valid. Like many other people on board herer, I have not the highest regard for human life, but I often feel very worried about the negative effects we as a species are having on every other life form on this planet. As far as a direct connection to Ligotti's writings, I've often noticed a kind of implied post-apocalyptic scenario in some of TL's stories-the settings of run down abandoned old towns, urban decay, etc. as well as the universal alienation and anomie which his characters often experience are definitley in keeping with what I believe we have to look forward to if we (humanity) continue on our present course. Nice to see someone else pick up on this, of course, we could both just be projecting our personal concerns onto the work, but the reader is part of the equation...
-patrick

[LaFaye]

Quote Originally Posted by Patrick Mullins

Like many other people on board herer, I have not the highest regard for human life, but I often feel very worried about the negative effects we as a species are having on every other life form on this planet.

OoO
...
...
I think I've found my niche.

[When_MP_Attacks]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon-Ehrlich_wager

[paeng]

Too bad Ehrlich was off by around ten years. Prices for minerals have been going haywire the past few months. Some more points missed:

The U.S. has a population of more than 300 million or almost 5 pct of the world's population but consumes around 20 million out of 80 million barrels of oil, and generally a third of various resources in order to maintain a middle class lifestyle. That means if everyone wanted to live like Americans, we'd need around three to five earths. (To find out your level of consumption compared to others, try various ecological footprint calculators found online.) And car and appliance sales are growing in China, India, and other countries. Last week, car sales in China exceeded that of the U.S. for the first time. In general, resource consumption per capita (not due to population) is increasing. For example, in 1984, per capita meat consumption in China was around 20 kg a year. In 2004, it reached 50 kg.

A source was given to me in another forum and I have to look for it, but what it says is that given a population of 6 billion, the global hectare capacity per capita that the earth can allow is only 1.8 global hectares. This is only slightly above agricultural subsistence. A middle class lifestyle (i.e., computers, automobiles and public transport, processed food, health care, etc.) will require at least 4 global hectares. This does not factor in resource destruction due to topsoil removal (25 pct of topsoil worldwide has been destroyed), seafood overconsumption (production for the cod industry, for example, has dropped 60 pct. the past two decades), etc.

Some wonder why, if it is true, some are still able to live a middle class existence. That's because of significant income disparity worldwide. Something like two-thirds of human beings live on only a dollar or two daily, and between 480 million to 1.5 billion earn ten to twenty dollars daily. (In some countries, citizens even earn a minimum of around ten dollars an hour!) To find out how much you make compared to the global population, try http://www.globalrichlist.com . In short, because of this disparity, around 75 pct of the world's resources are exploited or consumed by only around 25 pct of the world's population. Given that, one might say that in many ways, the effects of overpopulation took place a long time ago, and we have yet to see most of the human population receive adequate basic needs.

More people worldwide, however, are now becoming part of the middle class, and they are making up for demand destruction taking place in the U.S. and elsewhere. China has been putting a commodities lock up on various minerals since December, including precious metals needed for renewable energy, and further locks on oil, uranium, and others, given the belief that they have to start dumping the dollar. Car and appliance sales are increasing by 3 to 7 pct a month in China, India, and other countries. Prices for sugar, milk, wheat, rice, and other commodities has remained high for the past three years due to combinations of drought, flood, oil price increases, etc.

In short, population increase may be decreasing, but consumption per capita has not yet reached that of a middle class level for most human beings, and the current consumption level for the current population is hardly sustainable. And some of the problems mentioned earlier, such as peak oil (specifically production problems for North Sea, Cantarell and probably Ghawar), the current economic crisis (we need to watch out for fallout from commercial real estate, interest rates for prime lending resetting, problems with retail), and global warming (droughts, floods, and frost which may destroy crops) may make supply issues less stable.

[rresmini]

consumption, consumption what's the malfunction?

YouTube- You got a case of the humans

[paeng]

Sorry, I forgot to mention the ff.

"Peak Minerals"

http://www.theoildrum.com/node/3086

"Minerals scarcity: A call for managed austerity and the elements of hope"

http://europe.theoildrum.com/node/5239

"Earth's natural wealth: an audit"

http://www.newscientist.com/article/...-an-audit.html

(Don't forget to take a look at the three images linked in the side bar.)

"Warning: The Mining Boom is Fading Fast"

http://www.monash.edu.au/news/newsline/story/1231

"'Peak metal’ problems loom, warns scientist"

http://www.thenational.ae/article/20...T&Profile=1013

"Urban miners look for precious metals in cell phones"

http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKT1...080427?sp=true

[When_MP_Attacks]

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/article..._ever?page=0,0

[starrysothoth]

Quote Originally Posted by When_MP_Attacks

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/article..._ever?page=0,0

Purely my opinion, but this article seems beyond pre-mature and gushing unfounded optimism. They point to health and freedom as increasing to stellar levels, but both may one day soon be viewed as hopelessly backward.

I'm reminded of Thomas Ligotti's observation in TCATHR: humans often like to think that this is the best possible time to be alive.

	TCATHR The Conspiracy Against the Human Race

[paeng]

Quote Originally Posted by When_MP_Attacks

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/article..._ever?page=0,0

The first seven years were described as so in the article. The last three, though....