[tt] [x-risk] Another take on the human future

[Erik Aronesty]

I really think most futurists underestimate the tenacity of humans.  I
would liken our survival prospect to those of a rat.  Few creatures
are as resourceful, as able to eat a broad array of foods and survive
in such a huge range of climates.

Even in a "hydrogen sulfide gas" future ( where anoxia cripples the
ocean due to the methane spikes caused by the melting permafrost ), I
humans will be candidates for long-terms survival.  Certainly
green-house fed and filter-breathing human colonies could survive even
the greatest global extinction events.

(READ: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anoxic_event)

Of course...as to *who* would get to survive, that would be a tough
question.  Surely, our population levels would drop by billions, and
in the scramble to be "on top" there might be such a collapse of order
that our capacity to survive, being based on large scale cooperation,
is compromised.

On that front:

"Two separate teams of European researchers report that millions of
tons of methane are bubbling into the atmosphere as the Arctic floor
has begun to thaw."

http://www2.journalnow.com/content/2009/jan/17/its-time-to-get-past-urgency-denial/opinion/

Yuck!  Anyone know what I should invest in as insurance against mass
extinction?  A greenhouse in Nova Scotia?

- Erik
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