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Politics : Rat's Nest - Chronicles of Collapse -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Wharf Rat who wrote (11258)	9/8/2010 11:28:16 AM
From: Wharf Rat	Respond to of 24214

long... Peak Oil, Carrying Capacity and Overshoot: Population, the Elephant in the Room - Revisited Posted by Gail the Actuary on September 8, 2010 - 9:30am This is a guest post by GliderGuider. It was originally posted in May 2007. This post presents one model of what the future may look like. There are other, less dire, views as well. At the root of all the converging crises of the World Problematique is the issue of human overpopulation. Each of the global problems we face today is the result of too many people using too much of our planet's finite, non-renewable resources and filling its waste repositories of land, water and air to overflowing. The true danger posed by our exploding population is not our absolute numbers but the inability of our environment to cope with so many of us doing what we do. It is becoming clearer every day, as crises like global warming, water, soil and food depletion, biodiversity loss and the degradation of our oceans constantly worsen, that the human situation is not sustainable. Bringing about a sustainable balance between ourselves and the planet we depend on will require us, in very short order, to reduce our population, our level of activity, or both. One of the questions that comes up repeatedly in discussions of population is, "What level of human population is sustainable?" In this article I will give my analysis of that question, and offer a look at the human road map from our current situation to that level. As I have mentioned elsewhere, the concepts of ecological science are the most effective tools for understanding this situation. The crucial concepts are sustainability, carrying capacity and overshoot. Considered together these can give us some clue as to what the true sustainable population of the earth might be, as well as the trajectory between our current numbers and the point of sustainability. theoildrum.com

To: Wharf Rat who wrote (11258)	9/9/2010 3:08:46 AM
From: abuelita	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 24214

here's an interesting response to that article. my own thoughts ... if the u.s. wants our water to keep their golf courses green and we're not willing, well, there will just have to be a regime change i suppose ..... like always. Mr. Rubin's comparison of desalinating seawater and using the Athabasca River in the production of synthetic oil is not very accurate. Alberta water is used, then recycled, and then re-used. It is not lost in the process. Just like the water in the Colorado River is used and then re-used on average between 6 & 7-times before it reaches the Gulf of California. The Athabasca River flows north in Great Slave Lake, becomes the Mackenzie River, and then eventually empties into the Beaufort Sea where that fresh water is lost forever. Syncrude and Suncor are using some of that water that would otherwise be lost to the sea in any case. Mr. Rubin gives the impression that Florida and California are using desalinated seawater to fill swimming pools and irrigate farmland. That is not the case. It is for drinking water. It's a big difference and he should know that if he is being honest. As most of Canada's rivers flow north it would not be very practical or economical to divert it to the SW United States to places like Arizona or New Mexico. Especially not from places like Quebec. Florida would be closer. But all you have to do is look at a map to see that the Mississippi is a closer source of water for Florida. Plus unlike natural gas or crude oil where if a customer cannot or will not pay you can simpy sell it to someone that can and will, once you start selling water you cannot stop. That is considered an act of war. He also neglected to say that the water in the Great Lakes is covered by an international treaty between Canada and the USA that forbids that water from being sold outside the Great Lakes Basin. That is to stop Great Lake states from selling that water to their thirsty neighbors.