Two Earths would be needed to sustain human activity by 2030, report finds

nydailynews.com ^

[Sub-Driver]

wo Earths would be needed to sustain human activity by 2030, report finds Report shows animal species fell 30%, wealthy countries do the most damage By Meghan Neal / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Published: Tuesday, May 15, 2012, 9:40 PM Updated: Wednesday, May 16, 2012, 6:49 AM

Planet Earth in a tight spot.

Mankind is draining the earth's resources so quickly the globe would be bled dry before the end of the century at this rate, a new report shows.

Humans are living outside their means, depleting natural resources like forests, air and water 50% faster than the planet can renew, according to the 2012 World Wildlife Fund's "Living Planet Report" released this month.

If the trends aren't reversed, by 2030 we’d need more than two Planet Earths to sustain human activity, according to the study.

“If we just do business as usual…we’re just going to continue moving in this direction. At some point, the earth’s going to just give out. We don’t know when. But that’s a pretty scary thing to think about,” said Colby Loucks, director of conservation science at WWF. “The question is, we don’t know what the tipping point is.”

According to research by the WWF the demand on the planet’s natural resources has doubled over the last 50 years, with most of the burden falling on poorer nations.

Wealthy countries can have up to five times the "ecological footprint" as low-income countries, because consumption is much higher.

[ctdonath2]

Figuring one square meter per person, everyone on the planet would cover little more than Delaware.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Sorry, off by 20x.

268,820 square miles
6 billion people
0.029 acre per person
1,249 square feet per person.

A tad tight, if you ask me.

[ctdonath2]

From my perspective looking at geologic global temperature records, “global warming” is the only thing saving us from plunging into a new very-long-term ice age right about now.

[elpadre]

The water table gets low, skeptics scream, the rains come, the water table returns to normal. Forests are harvested, replanted, harvested and on and on. In North America there have been articles that American forests cover about as much land as when Christopher Columbus landed. As long as there are enough green plants, air will be OK. As for food, well -

stuff like this has been published for as long as I can remember. And then on the other side of the coin are articles and studies that the US alone has the capacity to feed the entire world.

Somewhere in between lies the truth

[MaxMax]

Is that the Protonalactic drive version? Awesome.

[W. W. SMITH]

One earth for liberals, one for the rest of us. We’ll take the old ‘ruined’ one (easily fixed without them) and they can go ruin the new one.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

They will not want the new one, that would be work to build infrastructure, houses, roads, airports etc. they will take the old one and think they are set for life.

[dfwgator]

All the liberals can move to the new planet.

[Pearls Before Swine]

So, we need one Earth for the 99%, and another for the 1%. Occupy that!

[DTogo]

When Earth II is discovered all Liberals and their like-minded ilk should be sent there.

Let's see which world does better in a couple centuries.

[tbpiper]

Two Earths would be needed to sustain human activity by 2030

Not to worry. A new heaven and a new earth are comming...soon.

[capt B]

Sorry, but each person doesn’t need a sq ACRE just some sq Ft and it comes to about 1,2118 sq ft per person. A Family of 4 would not need 4,800 sq ft. If you build apartments, NYC style, there would be plenty of room. It probably would be just about what NYC looks like, bldg’s, parks, water and all. We’d still need folks to live outside Texas to grow, fish transport , etc. SO THERE IS PLENTY OF ROOM

[Red Boots]

so we could be crowded here in America, like China, Japan or India. stay in hotels that offer coffin sized rooms. not for me..

Not to worry... it would take centuries of exploding growth to reach those levels, so you won't be around anyway.

In the meantime, if you like wide open and empty land, there's plenty of room in Colorado, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Texas,Kansas,Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Canada, Alaska, Russia, Mongolia, the Saraha,... . You surely will be able to find a few empty arces.

[taterjay]

https://www.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSUD4d6vB8XTCmxPu9_RRo1Vz9pKeQdXSvTC5zYrdx-rF0zDuplhCVxrLs

The libs should hook up with this guy in looking for another earth.

[trebb]

And yet, if you gave every human on the planet a 3’ x 3’ square to stand in, they would all fit in a fraction of Florida...

[Vaquero]

In the meantime, if you like wide open and empty land, there's plenty of room in Colorado, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Texas,Kansas,Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Canada, Alaska, Russia, Mongolia, the Saraha,... . You surely will be able to find a few empty arces.

no excuse my french, but leave the friggin open land alone...I want my kids and grandkids to be able to go there and hunt that land...not sit behind a friggin monitor from birth to death and rub shoulders with everyone because there is no room for individuals and individualism.......

[Iron Munro]

It's time to start moving the democrats to their new digs.

[JRandomFreeper]

but leave the friggin open land alone.

That's not going to happen. Humans will use available resources.

/johnny

[SampleMan]

And with subterranian bullet trains, middle-eastern muslim terrorists would only be 30 minutes from everyone.

[Fiji Hill]

In the 60s and 70s, the effort was toward Population Zero -- in Western societies.

At the time, "Zero Population Growth" was a popular cause on the western slope of Fiji Hill, where I went to school.

[ejonesie22]

“In the news, the Earth will end at 10:00, details at 11...”