If We Were Faced With An Event like the Permian Extinction , Could We Survive?

[BAYLOR]

This happened over 250 million years ago and caused about 90 percent of all life on earth to die. We've had other extinct events but nothing on quite of the scale of that one . It conceivable that such nn event like this could happen again. So the question is, could we survive such a climatic calamity of such dimensions ? And if so for how long? What kind of survival would be possible ? What quality of existence ?

Thoughts?

 

[dask]

What was the cause of the extinction? Knowing in advance the cause might help the recovery if not the avoidance.

 

[tinkerdan]

You know if this did happen; if we did survive; if 90% of life became extinct: why we'd have a much clearer field in our attempts to destroy the earths ecosystem and maybe some insight into how to do it, what with that extinction event and all that we'd have time to study and assimilate.

Or, who knows maybe we'd learn something to help us bring things back from the brink of extinction.

 

[Vertigo]

Bearing in mind that these extinction events don't happen overnight it may just be that we are already in the middle of another right now only this time we are the cause... By the time we're done we might be lucky if the figure is only 90%!

 

[Stephen Palmer]

The other issue is that, for all its complexity and severity, the LPE lasted quite a while.
The human-created Sixth Extinction is happening much, much faster.
It's not looking good.

 

[BAYLOR]

The other issue is that, for all its complexity and severity, the LPE lasted quite a while.
The human-created Sixth Extinction is happening much, much faster.
It's not looking good.

Is is even a possibility that we could get the globes 7 Billion inhabitants , work together and make the necessary lifestyle sacrifices to help right the the good ship Earth before it hits the extinction iceberg ? I think everybody or at the very least, most people need to act.

 

[BAYLOR]

What was the cause of the extinction? Knowing in advance the cause might help the recovery if not the avoidance.

Volcanoe related Greenhouse gasses might have played a role. If the volcanoes on Planet Earth were to undergo a log period of super eruption. Consider the Ring of fire or the volcanic caldera under yellow stone other places in the world . How do we combat that ?

 

[dask]

Not sure we can. But I was talking recovery and avoidance, not hand to hand.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

I think I've mentioned the outstanding When Life Nearly Died by Michael Benton, but it bears repeating.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

Is is even a possibility that we could get the globes 7 Billion inhabitants , work together and make the necessary lifestyle sacrifices to help right the the good ship Earth before it hits the extinction iceberg ? I think everybody or at the very least, most people need to act.

Very true, but unlikely.
James Lovelock pointed out that, in his estimate, half a billion people could live on Earth sustainably if they followed an American lifestyle, whereas eighteen billion could if they followed a Rwandan lifestyle. I forget which book that was in, but it does make the point...

 

[BAYLOR]

Bearing in mind that these extinction events don't happen overnight it may just be that we are already in the middle of another right now only this time we are the cause... By the time we're done we might be lucky if the figure is only 90%!

Imagine being on planet Earth while the Permian extinction was going one. It must have been like Dantes inferno.

 

[BAYLOR]

I think I've mentioned the outstanding When Life Nearly Died by Michael Benton, but it bears repeating.

I can't help but be a little sad for all the life that perished as a result of that event all those species that died and didn't get the chance to evolve further. What might they have become If that event hadn't happened . We wouldn't be here of course. Ive often wondered if something with human level intelligence might have evolved from one of those species . Imagine a world in which intelligent life had evolved millions of years earlier. It's very possible that that might have happened.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

It is possible!
I'd recommend this book though to see what conditions are necessary...

 

[BAYLOR]

I remember a scientist saying that what need to do is become a planet species. Unfortunately , that doesn't help us now.

 

[Robert Zwilling]

90 percent disaster at what rate? If it happened overnight with mass casualties and isolated pockets of survivors there would be plenty of left over stuff that could be used to get over the immediate hump of not being able to buy anything. You would just take it. Canned food and replaceable vehicles.

There is a real percentage of people living everyday without all the benefits of modernized living. Some of them are probably close enough to the edge to be considered living off the grid. These people are already in remote areas, not in the middle of populated areas. Assuming that the change was locally activated and not from outer space, effecting major population areas, I would figure these people might have a big head start, as they wouldn't necessarily be starting over from scratch.

There was a great deal of human activity during the ice age, but most people would probably give that style of living a negative grade for quality of life. Humans lived without modern devices and a quality of life we would consider to be non existent for a million years.

If it was a gradual but determined downward spiral for life forms that support us, and most plant based food sources died out we could make food from oil. Electricity would be provided by anything that didn't use oil. It would probably look like medieval times. Quality of life would probably be based on what you could hold onto. The wealth disparity would be a million to one.

 

[BAYLOR]

90 percent disaster at what rate? If it happened overnight with mass casualties and isolated pockets of survivors there would be plenty of left over stuff that could be used to get over the immediate hump of not being able to buy anything. You would just take it. Canned food and replaceable vehicles.

There is a real percentage of people living everyday without all the benefits of modernized living. Some of them are probably close enough to the edge to be considered living off the grid. These people are already in remote areas, not in the middle of populated areas. Assuming that the change was locally activated and not from outer space, effecting major population areas, I would figure these people might have a big head start, as they wouldn't necessarily be starting over from scratch.

There was a great deal of human activity during the ice age, but most people would probably give that style of living a negative grade for quality of life. Humans lived without modern devices and a quality of life we would consider to be non existent for a million years.

If it was a gradual but determined downward spiral for life forms that support us, and most plant based food sources died out we could make food from oil. Electricity would be provided by anything that didn't use oil. It would probably look like medieval times. Quality of life would probably be based on what you could hold onto. The wealth disparity would be a million to one.

Even with all our technology and science , it's not likely that we could served long term on earth if the environment around us turned hostile.

 

[Robert Zwilling]

Even with all our technology and science , it's not likely that we could served long term on earth if the environment around us turned hostile.

That is a very interesting statement because the weather has done just that, it is now an adversary and not a beneficial genie helping us grow the food we need to survive. The size and frequency of the storms will continue to grow everyday for a very long time. There are more articles appearing that are implying we are now on the other side of the curve, and that the enormous amount of time we are using as a cushion to delay decision making is an illusion.

 

[Danny McG]

Hippies, it's all their fault, I'm telling ya!

 

[BAYLOR]

That is a very interesting statement because the weather has done just that, it is now an adversary and not a beneficial genie helping us grow the food we need to survive. The size and frequency of the storms will continue to grow everyday for a very long time. There are more articles appearing that are implying we are now on the other side of the curve, and that the enormous amount of time we are using as a cushion to delay decision making is an illusion.

It's not looking good for us, is it?

 

[Elckerlyc]

If you look at the effects already noticeable on weather, melting of the icesheets on Greenland, Antartica, the North-pole, the permafrost etc while the first realistic measure has yet to be implemented and any measure that are talked about only go as far as limiting the global temperature-rise to 1.5 max 2% by 2050.... No, it's not looking good. There is no sense of urgency. Not with the politicians or the public in common. There is no sense of personal responsibility or the will to acknowledge the connection between our lifestyles and the impact on the environment. Hence the general denial of the problem.