Exponential Growth: The lillie pond riddle

[Bodgy]

Has anyone ever wondered why, in Oz, it doesn't seem possible to be a greenie and get organised without joining the archetypal dole bludging, dreadlocked, anti-development hippy, Peter Garret wanker community?

I just wish there was a fascist enivormental movement. After all Fascists need to eat and breathe too.

Personally, I think Lovelock (?) got it right with the Gaia concept. Maybe staph aureius, AIDS, bird flue etc are just the ranging shots in Earth's fight back.

A couple of footnotes:

Our Seppo mates extensively utilise 'outdoor air-conditioning' in such hotbeds of PC actors such as Florida and CA. But never fear, both Taaaaam Cuz and Angelina have traded in adopting orphaned, third world peasant progeny for the real, live child (Ceasar natch!) - although I understand there is some debate over Taaaam's role in the conception.

For reasons I don't understand, the hole in the Ozone over Antartica is closing and will be gone in a couple of years. Mr Garret is not amused!

[Grunt]

Hey Bodgy,

Maybe we should start our own green group. We could invite Shedhand to join us.

Chris

[Bodgy]

Absolutely, Grunt!

I'm gonna have fun thinking of a name for us.

Interestingly, this is exactly what the Tory party in the Old Dart is doing. They must have seen an opportunity, although Blair is self destructing and well past his use/by.

(Having just spent the last month over there - it was the wettest period since the 18th century and I was denied my in-alienable right to teach the Poms Oz sledging. My 4 x cricket games all got washed out)

[Groggy]

For reasons I don't understand, the hole in the Ozone over Antartica is closing and will be gone in a couple of years. Mr Garret is not amused!

It was (alledgedly) never a problem, just an excuse to ban a product that was running out of its patent (fluorocarbon). Funnily enough the company that owned the patent (and stood to lose mega-millions in royalties after it expired) also had the replacement. They (alledgedly) were also kind enough to fund the greenies in their campaign against the fluorocarbons.

Oh, and the ozone hole? NASA determined in 1957 that the enlargement and reduction of the hole was a natural phenomena linked with the oscillation of the earth around its axis.

Oh yeah, alledged hole, alledged NASA. There was a book about it - no really - there was.

[BrisBen]

All I know is that I am no longer building a pond in the backyard if I have to get rid of the plants every month when they get too big! The fish might get cold!

[Bodgy]

Groggs

Wanna join our nascient Greenie Party?

[Groggy]

Isn't solar power, like, a huge waste of resources? Shouldn't we have, like, a sustainable sun that will last for a Brazillion years and not cause cancer causing sunburn? I mean, wouldn't it be great if we could turn it off at night and just save it from burning all that gas unnecessarily?

And if the ice caps melted we could just turn it down a little? Or turn it up when we need to grow food or get a tan?

[Groggy]

Groggs

Wanna join our nascient Greenie Party?

I'm in, the NGP huh? Sounds like a sparkplug! We'd have to have a different colour or we'd never be able to hold a rally without having an identity crisis. How about brown shirts? No, that's been done hasn't it. What about nice greyish blue, like the Melbourne sky?

(I better stop, sorry everyone, it's been one of those days - I claim jetlag.)

[Grunt]

Great idea Groggy, the western hemisphere might complain when we turn the sun down during our night.

I suppose they don't matter, it's mostly Seppos and Poms.

[Groggy]

Great idea Groggy, the western hemisphere might complain when we turn the sun down during our night.

I suppose they don't matter, it's mostly Seppos and Poms.

Let 'em build their own sun.

[Shannon Nash]

A couple of links that might be worth a look for those interested.

A population clock. Shows the estimated population of the world. Counting constantly and has a window to compare to what the world population was back as far as 1970.

http://www.ibiblio.org/lunarbin/worldpop/index.html

The 'footprint calculator' a resource used in schools promoting sustainability and ideas of how to reduce ones consumption of the world resources.

http://www.epa.vic.gov.au/Eco-footprint/

The world population went up about 1000 people while I was finding these web links and typing this reply!!

SN

[echnidna]

Don't worry Grunt,

Before the pond gets overcrowded.

Some sod will drain it :eek:

And turn it into a potato paddock

[Schtoo]

The answer is lots of nuclear power stations to produce lots of electricity. Stick them wherever they seem to be needed.

No, wait. It's going to work!


There is a 3 fold reason why this is a great idea.

1. Cheap power, and lots of it. No atmoshperic pollution (save some waste heat, and even that can be used). It would take the need away from oil, reducing the money flowing into the oil producing countries (which by a strange co-incidence seem to breed lotsa terrorist types).

2. Fling the waste into the asteroid belt. By the time we get out there to mine them rocks, we will know what to do with the glowing shyte as well.

3. Since we have strangled the OPEC countries, there will be fewer terrorists to worry about. Those that are left will have nice, soft, radioactive targets to hit, thus reducing the population by large chunks very quickly.

See, its a great idea!


Seriously though, nuclear power shouldn't be the bottom of the list when it comes to producing energy. Sure, it's potentially risky (but so is everything else) but at least it's long term sustainable and doesn't need to be as dirty as most of the other methods currently employed.

I know there is solar, geothermal, water and wind power generators. They are not a viable option as yet. Anyone who questions that opinion needs to pull their head out of Grunt's pineapple keep.

The problem with downgrading our current "state of the art" so to speak is that until everything balances out, it's going to be very ugly, very smelly and very deadly. I doubt wether humans would survive it. I doubt wether rats and cockroaches would pull through either.

We have to keep going forward now, but we also need to drop some prejudices, think about things more than 4 years in advance and tell some people to shut up and let those who are willing to do something constructive get the job done.


But what the heck would I know?

[silkwood]

"But what the heck would I know?"Schtoo

Hear! Hear!

Cheers,

[silentC]

Starvation and disease are the main tools of nature to reduce populations.

Ahh, so you ARE into all that Gaia Mother Earth stuff

By external, I meant in reference to your lilly pond analogy that it's not that the pond can't support any more growth, but other things (external to the size of the pond and the resources available in it) start killing people off. People are starving now yet the world has plenty of food to feed them. I chucked out half a bowl of rice last night that someone in East Timor would have given his right arm for. It's a break down of distribution, not a lack of food that is killing people.