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

[Robert Zwilling]

It does no good to blame anyone at this point. It gives us someone to sue but that's about it. We all benefited from the situation and still do. We do need to change at some point. The brakes needed to be slammed on 50 years ago. Stuff was done 50 years ago, but it didn't address the overall problem, and after that nothing happened, until now, when anyone can look out their window and experience the situation. While people might think having a huge battery attached to the side of the house is way too green a thing to do, it does supply power when the lights go out, which is a very useful feature. I don't think we should have to pay for them. They would supply security for the country. The refrig and freezer don't go long without power.

The big thing now is that we need to be able to respond when something big happens. That's a job the military should do. They supposedly can fly into action in a moments notice. Or can they? 70 years ago when stuff happened, the sky would be filled with helicopters. But that cost money. Another reason why allowing things to endlessly increase in value is not such a good idea. The cost of fixing simple things like pot holes keeps pace and eventually becomes a ridiculous sum of money to fix a simple hole in the road. Imagine the cost when we need to rebuild our houses and roads. Insurance companies are going to cut back on coverage because they will get tired of shelling out their profits for problems that are no longer random but instead seem to be following a schedule.

 

[Mirannan]

Survivability of such an event depends on the details. AFAIK the Permian event was relatively gradual and caused by a mass of volcanic eruptions, whereas the rather better-known Cretaceous event happened in a few days with the start of the event happening in literally minutes.

Another Chixculub (sp?) type impact is definitely possible in a human lifetime and inevitable given a few tens of millions of years, and it would be very difficult to survive. Other extinction-level events include global thermonuclear war and the resulting nuclear winter, a grey goo event (both difficult to impossible to survive) and some wilder possibilities such as a GRB that points its beam towards us, alien invasion of various types including Berserkers, and false vacuum collapse. And of course the one that would probably only take us, a global pandemic.

Survivability of these events is wildly variable for many reasons. So - which ELE scenario do you mean?

 

[Finch]

All things come to an end . For humans it is an absolute truth .

 

[CupofJoe]

Moving to New Zealand will probably help. It's geographical isolation helps limit some global effects.
And well... It is New Zealand. So if you are going to die, at least your view will be pretty.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Moving to New Zealand will probably help. It's geographical isolation helps limit some global effects.
And well... It is New Zealand. So if you are going to die, at least your view will be pretty.

Considered that. But New Zealand is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire - high risk of earthquakes, plus volcanic eruptions and even tsunamis.

No, have decided to take my chances in the Highlands of Scotland - though would probably need land enough for self-sufficient farming.

 

[Parson]

Would we want to survive? For an old man like me, the answer is not all that clear.

 

[BAYLOR]

All things come to an end . For humans it is an absolute truth .

I think it more desirable to try to postpone that ending for as along as possible.