Europe and the post-human society...

[Che Guava]

Piffle. Our beautiful planet has survived being smashed by comets, blasted with cosmic rays, and being covered in ice two kilometers thick. The very poles have flipped at least a half dozen times. The composition of the atmosphere has undergone numerous reversals.

We only been making waves for what...a couple thousand years? Gaia hasn't even noticed the new arrivals yet.

A good point: the earth and the life on it will undoubtalbe survive anything we throw at it. Whether we will leave the earth suitable for human life, however, remains to be seen...

 

[Bozo Erectus]

A good point: the earth and the life on it will undoubtalbe survive anything we throw at it.

Are you sure, we can throw alot at it. Life would probably go on, but it wouldnt necessarily be the same life thats here right now.

 

[Winner]

The Muslims will surprise you.

I am sure they will, in a negative way. Few more terrorist attacks or car burnings in suburbs, that's never gonna get old.

 

[Che Guava]

Are you sure, we can throw alot at it. Life would probably go on, but it wouldnt necessarily be the same life thats here right now.

If we detonated every nuclear weapon we had...

...and filled our rivers, lakes and oceas with a slurry of tar, battery acid and DDT..

...AND used rockets to personally deliver CFC's directly to the ozone layer...

we STILL wouldn't be able to stop life on earth. For those of you who subscribe to extraterrestrial origins of life on earth, I saw a pretty convincing argument the other day that bacteria can actually survive in the rigors of space, as long as there is a little bit of salt around. Compared to living on a meteor, I think earth could be quite comfy


But that's besides the point: as humans we have evolved with and depend on the services that the existing ecosystems provide for us. The more we alter them, the less hospitiable the earth will be for us...

 

[Steph]

So basically, ecology is not not aimed at preserving nature, but ourselves on the long run

 

[Che Guava]

So basically, ecology is not not aimed at preserving nature, but ourselves on the long run

Steph wins the award for best comment by a practical environmentalist!

 

[Winner]

So basically, ecology is not not aimed at preserving nature, but ourselves on the long run

Touché...

 

[El_Machinae]

So basically, ecology is not not aimed at preserving nature, but ourselves on the long run

Yes. At the basic level, that is what ecology management should do. Keep in mind that there are many, many people who are willing to destroy a global resource in exchange for a short-term profit. Many of these people plan on dying before us, and don't really care what they leave behind.

There will always be those who, too, find beauty in ecological systems. I appreciate and understand their concerns.

I'm mostly concerned with not crossing a tipping point we didn't know was there.