Anthropocene Apocalypse – Scenario 2 – The Population explosion and the future!

Anthropocene Apocalypse

beauty888
beauty vv
beauty
beauty00
beauty4
beauty6

In Scenario 1 the population continued to grow eating up space, wilderness and destroying all naturally living creatures. Technology dealt with the problems of food, water, energy, weather and even oxygen in the atmosphere. We lived in huge urban developments and the world is devoid of wild-life and natural areas.

Scenario 2.

The premise:

a. We realise the impact of our actions on the environment and limit our numbers, conserve the wilderness and wild-life, stop our habitat destruction and pollution.

b. We lay aside 50% of the planet for wilderness and wild-life. We do not allow roads, hunters or development in these areas.

We are extremely good at solving problems. We can easily create a sustainable future where wilderness and wild-life has a place.

The result:

a. We introduce contraception, education and family planning on a global scale and successfully reduce our population.

b. We use technology to produce better transport, housing, energy production, and food.

c. We do not have urban sprawl, deforestation, overfishing, or other unsustainable exploitation of the environment.

d. We raise the standards of life for all people globally so that there is no longer war, conflict or poverty. There are social services, pensions and sick pay enabling people to live without requiring large numbers of children to support them through hard times.

e. We produce technology that is not polluting and is sustainable. We have ample energy (probably through nuclear fusion and solar) and our farming methods are not cruel or ineffective. We can produce ample good food to support the population without encroaching on the wilderness areas.

f. The forests are conserved. Fishing is sustainable. The weather and global warming is controlled.

g. 50% of the world is teeming with wild-life that we can marvel at. The air, water and soil are not contaminated with carcinogens. We globally control the weather and global warming. Everything regarding conservation and pollution is controlled and enforced globally.

I know which of the two possible future scenarios I would prefer to live in.

The future is for our grandchildren’s grandchildren. In my own life-time we have destroyed over half of the world. I feel we are at the precipice. Will we jump?Posted in EcologyenvironmentExtinctionTagged conservationEcologyeducationExtinctionidealismjournalismLiteratureNatureOptimismPoliticsPopulationSciencethe futureWritingZeitgeist4 CommentsEdit

Anthropocene Apocalypse – Scenario 1 – The natural conclusion to our population explosion.

Anthropocene Apocalypse

Futuristic_City_by_artstorm
????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
futureumblr_mrk37gGQ951raqbf6o1_500

Let us look into the future and extrapolate from where we are to where we are heading.

Scenario 1

The premise:

a. The population continues to grow

b. There are no catastrophes that wipe us out

Man is extremely good at solving problems. So let us assume that we negotiate our way through problem after problem. We do not annihilate ourselves through nuclear war or manufactured biological warfare. We do not succumb to a virus. We merely continue to grow in numbers.

These are the consequences:

a. Space and shelter. We need land and housing and our cities, towns and villages grow. The countryside becomes consumed in plastic and concrete. Roads connect and transport systems enable easy access.

b. The Wilderness. The wilderness and natural world become open to us and exploited for farming, mining, logging and habitation until there is no more inaccessible wilderness areas. Roads run through every place.

c. The Wild-life. The wild-life now has no habitat left, no food, shelter or way of living. It is butchered for meat, hunted for ivory or medicine (The rarer it gets, the more it is worth, the higher the price, the more worth the risk). The remnants of the wild things are corralled into parks or zoos and confined, protected and used as objects of tourism. Those considered pests, unpleasant or dangerous are eradicated.

d. Food. Even with all the wilderness opened up for farming, the seas fully harvested and hydroponics, genetic modifications and intensive farming methods there is not sufficient food for the burgeoning population. Food is produced from bacteria and fungus in vast industrial vats (Pruteen, mycoprotein etc. – already produced in large quantities – in our pies, sausages etc.), textured, flavoured and used as a meat substitute. Proper meat is a luxury food item.

e. Water. Water is a dwindling resource and desalination plants provide supplies.

f. Energy. Fossil fuels are replaced by large-scale sustainable technology – probably nuclear fusion supplemented with solar.

g. Weather. The effects of global warming are alleviated. The hurricanes and extreme weather conditions are now able to be controlled.

h. Oxygen. Oxygen is a natural product of photosynthesis. With the destruction of the forests and pollution of the oceans it is no longer being produced in sufficient quantities. Oceans are seeded to produce algal blooms and hydrolysis plants produce oxygen from water.

Our lives in these huge metropolises are highly controlled. Our environment is plastic. Our food, water and even the air we breathe is manufactured. We take our children to see the last remaining trees in the tree museum. We then go to the zoo to get a glimpse of and wonder at the little animals that used to run free in the wild.

It’s a vision of the future. It is quite possible. But is that the way we really want to live? Is that the world we want to pass on to our children?Posted in EcologyenvironmentTagged AlternativeconservationEcologyeducationExtinctionidealismNatureOptimismPoliticsPopulationWritingZeitgeist

How much do you know about the Human Population? Are you pessimistic or optimistic about our future?

This is a fascinating little quiz that is extremely informative. Is progress being made? Should we feel pessimistic or optimistic about the future?

 How much do you know about the achievements of the WHO? Try taking the little quiz and finding out a lot more!

https://factfulnessquiz.com/

Anthropocene Apocalypse – A World Crisis?

Anthropocene Apocalypse – A World Crisis?

Anthropocene Apocalypse – a world crisis?

As the world population soars towards a projected 10 Billion.

As the world’s mammals have been decimated to 44% of what they were 40 years ago!

As the world’s invertebrate population has crashed by nearly half in the last forty years!

As the elephant and lion now join the tiger, rhino and jaguar on the endangered list!

Are we approaching a day when the natural world will be nothing more than a footnote in the history books?

Will we be showing our children and grandchildren the remnants of our wild-life in zoos?

Will we be pollinating our flowers by hand?

Does anybody actually care?

You can read about my own observations and feelings about this in my book:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Anthropocene-Apocalypse-Opher-Goodwin/dp/1502427079/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1412977406&sr=1-4&keywords=opher+Goodwin

Please give it a read and pass it round to all your friends. It is time we did something about it. We can alter the zeitgeist!

Anthropocene Apocalypse – The World population explosion – a terrifying prospect for all living creatures.

Anthropocene Apocalypse – The World population explosion – a terrifying prospect for all living creatures.

Anthropocene Apocalypse – World population explosion video – You Tube link.

Overpopulation

The effects of the population explosion are catastrophic for the wild-life on this planet. We are even affecting the climate.

The population is currently in excess of 7 Billion. It is due to double in fifty years. The impact of that is almost unimaginable. Life as we know it will be transformed. The wilderness will be devastated. Natural resources will be depleted. The climate will change forever.

We are sleepwalking towards our own extinction!

Check out the video. I find it terrifying!

Poetry – A Green Lung full of Fire

A Green Lung full of Fire

 

A great green lung full of fire.

Nature consumed by greed,

Killed by inequality.

Despite the fact that there’s more than enough

They always want more.

It’s an addiction.

 

While eight billion mouths need feeding

There are those

Who seek to exploit

Without a thought

For their effect on the planet.

It’s complete madness.

 

As climate changes and species die

The deniers

Ignore experts and scientists

In the face of overwhelming evidence.

It’s a tragedy.

 

Opher – 1.3.2020

Poetry – Space

Space

 

Once there was enough space

Now we’re in competition

The planet is too small

Seems there’s no room for us all.

 

We cannot make it bigger

So we have to learn to use less

And leave sufficient

For those

We share this haven with.

There is room enough

For us all prosper

If we could only learn

To respect and share.

 

Opher – 4.1.2020

 

 

Everywhere I look there are too many people taking too much. Nature is being screwed back into a tighter and tighter corner.

8 billion is too many.

We are not alone. We share this precious jewel with many millions of other species. It’s time we started treating them with the respect they deserve. Our arrogance will be our downfall.

How to solve the Overpopulation crisis in easy steps.

How to solve the Overpopulation crisis in easy steps.

Reducing the world’s population is the greatest imperative of the moment. A large global population is the cause of mass poverty, environmental destruction, war, mass migration, the overuse of the world’s resources and is driving thousands of species to extinction. Something has to happen.

Here is how to address it:

  1. Recognise that there is a crisis.
  2. Publicise the drastic need to reduce population and give reasons (pollution, resources, space, wildlife, happiness, migration, poverty, war…..). Justify the crucial need to reduce our numbers.
  3. Make reduction of population really high profile.
  4. Bring religious leaders and politicians on board.
  5. Create a unified front.
  6. Use education to bridge cultural attitudes.
  7. Provide extensive contraception/vasectomies etc.
  8. Provide pensions so people do not require children to support them.
  9. Provide social sickness benefits so that people do not require children to support them.
  10. Give financial incentives to reduce families.
  11. Create a social attitude towards small families and away from large families.

Failing that just create a virus and wipe us all out. The world would be a better place.

Doc Brad’s Weekend Breaks – a short story

Doc Brad’s Weekend Breaks

Adj and Meena Mur were completely invisible, as were all their companions. That was the delight. They were voyeurs. Nobody knew they were there so they were able to see everything – and I do mean everything. Doc had a liking for the lurid.

Adj was an avid fan of Doc Brad and his Magical Mystery Tours. He loved them, went on at least twenty a year and had been doing so for five hundred years, ever since he had retired. It made for such a fun weekend. You never knew where you would end up.

Doc Brad had a reputation as a bit of a skinflint and shyster. Well, maybe. You certainly could not describe the trips as upmarket. The old rust buckets they used were always breaking down. But that was all part of the fun. Adj did not care. It was great value for money and he, his wife and chums always had a good laugh. They took plenty of narcojuice along and Brad always took them somewhere different and interesting, off the beaten track where nobody had ever gone before. They had managed to see parts of the universe others did not even know existed. They were not always salubrious but were usually strangely fascinating. That was part of the fun – not knowing. Anything could happen.

‘Gosh, it really stinks here,’ Meena snorted, scrunching up her nose, but still eagerly peering out of the viewport as they endeavoured to ascertain where they were. ‘It’s making my nose tingle.’ She coughed twice. ‘Strewth, it’s already getting to my chest.’

‘Never seen anything like this before,’ Adj exclaimed, noting the grubby streets teeming with strange aliens all bustling about among the noisy traffic and fumes.

‘There’s millions of them,’ Meena said, studying the funny looking bipeds. ‘Look, that one’s got a little creature with it.’

Doc set them down in a convenient square where they could watch the aliens up close and stare around at the tall buildings and weird vehicles. Adj looked at the sorry looking vegetation, droopy flowers in rows, and straggly trees caked in soot.

Bull cracked open a few narcos and they settled down to start the weekend with some heavy drinking, while Gan and Drew set up the gandit board.

But Adj could not settle. All the while he kept peering around at the peculiar looking aliens in their funny clothes. Something was nagging at him.

After a while Doc took them up and they had a zoom round, settling themselves for a while in a range of other places to soak up the sights all over the planet. It was different everywhere they went, colours, clothes and sounds, the shape of the buildings, but some things did not change – the grubby streets, milling crowds, busy traffic and fumes.

Adj watched out the viewport at the odd bird flitting between the shrubs. He watched a furry creature peering out through a window.

There were roars of laughter as the Gandit game reached a climax and many more narcos were downed. Meena had lost interest in what was outside but Adj could not settle. Something was eating away at him.

As they flew up through the sky he looked down at the highways with their snaking vehicles, the patchwork fields, and hazy air.

What was this place? Something kept bugging him.

At the end of the second day, having toured through many sprawling cities and much fenced land of uniform crops, Doc made his announcement.

‘Ladies and Gentlemen, this concludes our tour. I hope you enjoyed your visit to Terra!’

A whoop of cheers went up from the inebriated trippers.

Adj sat back pensive, looking quizzically at the scene outside. Terra. The name was familiar. Then it came to him. This was Terra. Back at the beginning, hundreds of years ago, on one of their first trips, he had visited here with Meena.

‘Meena,’ he said, tapping her on the shoulder, ‘we’ve been here before.’

Meena gave him an enquiring look. ‘Are you sure?’ she asked disbelievingly, glancing out the viewport at the scruffy city outside. ‘I don’t remember seeing anything like this.’

‘Yes,’ Adj insisted, ‘about five hundred years ago. We came here. It was magical.’

Meena studied the scene outside and shook her head. ‘I don’t remember anything like this.’ She sneezed. ‘I certainly wouldn’t call it magical – grimy and dirty maybe. Not one of Doc’s best choices.’ She coughed again and blew her nose. ‘I certainly wouldn’t want to come back here.’

Adj did not reply, he was sadly thinking back to his memories of that previous trip. There had not been big cities or vehicles back then, just forests and plains all teeming with life. Was it just nostalgia?

(793 words)

Poetry – One Mother Many Sons – a poem about the overpopulation crisis, migration and the rape of the natural world.

Poetry – One Mother Many Sons – a poem about the overpopulation crisis, migration and the rape of the natural world.

One Mother Many Sons

Sometimes I despair of what we are doing. The overpopulation continues – producing huge numbers sweeping all before it in a mad rush for space, food, water and shelter.

Mass migration, deforestation, desertification, desecration, fanaticism, desperation, slaughter of life, butchery and death. The mantra is for more growth, more expansion. The rich get richer. The poor starve in the midst of plenty. The numbers increase by the minute. A mad hurtling forward. Everyone looking after their own

Mad belief that it will all work out.

What can we do?

Get on with our lives.

While those at the top scheme and cream from their yachts and penthouse suites. And those at the bottom dream of pent-house suites and yachts.


One Mother Many Sons

One mother in the bush

Under the sun

Holding her child

In the wild,

Her only one.

Passing down her line

To roam and redefine

The changes

Strong and true

As her family grew.

Through many threats

And chance

They came through.

 

A mere two hundred thousand

Years flew

As the eyes peered

And minds grew

Flint to steel

And spaceship crew

Conquering all before

In rabid mode

Into space

To explode

With a mantra of ‘mine’

And bombs to

Unload.

 

Now seven billion on the shore

Chopping, slaying

For ever more

With nothing left

To remain

Of the wonders around

That we disdain.

Heading for ten billion

Without a care

As we settle every score

With seething brain

And madness as our pillion.

 

Twenty billion on a sterile ball

Of plastic joy

And concrete and steel alloy

Still heading on

Is the best we can do.

Thinking a hundred thousand

Years more

Is our due.

Yet the next fifty

May well see us through.

Adieu, Adieu…… Adieu

They’ll be nothing left

To miss you.

 

Opher 10.9.2015

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rhymes-Reason-Opher-Goodwin/dp/1516991184/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1441879279&sr=1-6&keywords=opher+Goodwinhttp://www.amazon.co.uk/Anthropocene-Apocalypse-Opher-Goodwin/dp/1502427079/ref=sr_1_9?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1441879279&sr=1-9&keywords=opher+Goodwinhttp://www.amazon.co.uk/Vice-Verse-Opher-Goodwin/dp/1514792079/ref=sr_1_15?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1441879279&sr=1-15&keywords=opher+goodwin