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Nasa-funded study: industrial civilisation headed for 'irreversible collapse'?

by bravo75
6 replies
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A new study sponsored by Nasa's Goddard Space Flight Center has highlighted the prospect that global industrial civilisation could collapse in coming decades due to unsustainable resource exploitation and increasingly unequal wealth distribution.

Noting that warnings of 'collapse' are often seen to be fringe or controversial, the study attempts to make sense of compelling historical data showing that "the process of rise-and-collapse is actually a recurrent cycle found throughout history." Cases of severe civilisational disruption due to "precipitous collapse - often lasting centuries - have been quite common."

Nasa-funded study: industrial civilisation headed for 'irreversible collapse'? | Nafeez Ahmed | Environment | theguardian.com


"The fall of the Roman Empire, and the equally (if not more) advanced Han, Mauryan, and Gupta Empires, as well as so many advanced Mesopotamian Empires, are all testimony to the fact that advanced, sophisticated, complex, and creative civilizations can be both fragile and impermanent."
  • Profile picture of the author seasoned
    Isn't it funny how people will say we have GW and are going to kill ourselves, and then pay TRILLIONS to make sure we are pushed over the edge? And they want US to cut back on virtual PENNIES to not only improve what damage they claimed existed *****BUT***** to undo ALL that they INTENTIONALLY created for their own comfort, control, or pleasure!?

    And NOW, KNOWING we are headed for this problem because of ****THEIR**** stupidity, they throw MORE money to their FRIENDS to do this GARBAGE research! and push us FURTHER down the sewer!

    What is happening now has happened MANY BILLIONS of times before, from poor people struggling to get by to the largest empires EVER! WHY would ANYONE have to study it? HECK, on a nation wide level it HAS happened in the US several times before. It happened in spanish speaking countries, and was one reason given for delaying them in the EU. It happened in greece several times, it happened in persia! It happened in russia. It has and is happening in many african nations. MY GOD, TAKE THE BLINDERS OFF!

    They can say what they want about nero fiddling as rome burned, but he was setting virtual fires all throughout the empire.

    Steve
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    • Profile picture of the author lcombs
      Originally Posted by seasoned View Post

      Isn't it funny how people will say we have GW and are going to kill ourselves, and then pay TRILLIONS to make sure we are pushed over the edge? And they want US to cut back on virtual PENNIES to not only improve what damage they claimed existed *****BUT***** to undo ALL that they INTENTIONALLY created for their own comfort, control, or pleasure!?

      And NOW, KNOWING we are headed for this problem because of ****THEIR**** stupidity, they throw MORE money to their FRIENDS to do this GARBAGE research! and push us FURTHER down the sewer!

      What is happening now has happened MANY BILLIONS of times before, from poor people struggling to get by to the largest empires EVER! WHY would ANYONE have to study it? HECK, on a nation wide level it HAS happened in the US several times before. It happened in spanish speaking countries, and was one reason given for delaying them in the EU. It happened in greece several times, it happened in persia! It happened in russia. It has and is happening in many african nations. MY GOD, TAKE THE BLINDERS OFF!

      They can say what they want about nero fiddling as rome burned, but he was setting virtual fires all throughout the empire.

      Steve
      In other words:
      Well, DUH!
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  • Profile picture of the author lanfear63
    The earth ideally should support 1 bullion people. We have 8-9 (said that before) Too many people to sustain. The earth has finite resources. Of course it will collapse unless we get the population down and find ways for alternative energy and food etc that does not tax or pollute the earth like it is. Does not take a NASA study to reach that conclusion.

    The breakdown will reduce the population anyway if we just blindly go on like we are.

    Either take steps to do this or beef up expansion into to solar system which has a lot of resources.
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    • Profile picture of the author seasoned
      Originally Posted by lanfear63 View Post

      The earth ideally should support 1 bullion people. We have 8-9 (said that before) Too many people to sustain. The earth has finite resources. Of course it will collapse unless we get the population down and find ways for alternative energy and food etc that does not tax or pollute the earth like it is. Does not take a NASA study to reach that conclusion.

      The breakdown will reduce the population anyway if we just blindly go on like we are.

      Either take steps to do this or beef up expansion into to solar system which has a lot of resources.
      ALSO, we can't have multiple people doing the same thing for a person, or able people getting paid for NOTHING!

      Recently, I saw a SECOND interview of this beach bum that is getting paid for NOTHING! He CLAIMS his "job" is playing and singing for a band, but that that doesn't pay him and "his label" demands that he do NOTHING until the record(already delayed over a YEAR) comes out. He says that we are JEALOUS that he is getting paid, and we aren't.

      HEY, a cuple decades ago a thief came into my home, stole some of my stuff, and used thousands of dollars worth of credit. Should I be jealous? NO WAY! I am MAD!

      It IS EXACTLY what he is doing! The ONLY difference is that HE is using the government to do it, and the burglar in my case stole a few things and got my credit card company to pay.

      NOW, if I am to be considered jealous for that, maybe someone should go into his friends place, steal everything, and leave. When tried, you can just tell the judge. Your honor, we just took SOME of our stuff back. They are just JEALOUS. The guy housing him was effectively aiding and abetting so....

      Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author SteveJohnson
    What **I** want to know is how such a study falls under the NASA umbrella? What does the study have to do with either aeronautics or space?
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  • Profile picture of the author HeySal
    Steve - NASA combined with several other scientific organizations from several different fields a few years back to study how ecosystems work (used space equip that they own to find answers). What they found was that if an ecosystem is imbalanced in any way, it starts chain reactions that can cause major extinctions. During this research they found a few "hot spots" on the planet that if not restrored soon could lead to chain reactions that will devastate the whole planet. That's how they became involved in this research. When you own the equipment that other disciplines need to complete their own studies, you end up involved in those studies. They also are called on to help find solutions.

    Water on this planet has become so polluted that we have a major crisis on the horizon. Copper - which is absolutely necessary for our way of life - has less than a decade of supply left underground, and soon the only availability will be recycling so it will be a dwindling supply at best. Have you noticed that much of NASA's space research lately has been to intensely look at water possible water sources elsewhere? And Asteroids have been being well examined for metal content. Sometimes they don't tell us everything. We should be smart enough to be able to connect dots that are placed in such simple patterns without someone else's hand guiding our crayon.
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    Sal
    When the Roads and Paths end, learn to guide yourself through the wilderness
    Beyond the Path

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