[Greenbuilding] OT: what will be in 500 years//was 500 Year Old Structure

[Reuben Deumling]

I agree with much of what you say, LL, but let's not forget food. We need
top soil, rain, and sunshine in roughly the familiar proportions and
locations and times to continue growing the foods we are accustomed to (even
more true for those who subsist on less High Fructose Corn Syrup than we in
the US now average). Global Warming just might wreak havoc with these
parameters. I'm all for ingenuity, but if the Japanese have to shift rice
production 500 km to the north (Climate Change 1995, Economic and Social
Dimensions of Climate Change:209) we're going to need a lot of it.

Reuben Deumling

On 8/22/07, Lawrence Lile <LLile at projsolco.com> wrote:
>
> >I'd wager that human beings will not be on this earth in 500
> years--at least not many of them.
>
>
> I'll take that wager, Ben, although I'll probably not be around to
> collect!
>
> One of my ongoing pet peeves with the environmental movement is, we tell
> ourselves so many horror stories and environmental disaster stories that
> we end up without hope.
>
> Now, let's rewind to the 1970's, when we told each other that Peak Oil
> was imminent, and that oil would run out by 2000.  Yes, that statement
> was true, known reserves of oil and conventional extraction techniques
> of the day would have run out by now.  Since 1970, we have discovered
> oil in the North Sea, off the coast of Africa, in Alaska, and our
> ability to extract every last drop has increase dramatically.
>
> Now, I'd just as soon leave all that oil in the ground, but the point of
> the story is that human ingenuity and resourcefulness is completely
> discounted by our tales of woe.
>
> I would assume, by the tone of the last communication, that you'd
> believe that Global Warming will get us all.  Well, if one is poor and
> live on a low laying seacoast, I've got bad news for you.  If you are in
> a well off country, several hundred feet above sea level, and don't mind
> a few extra storms then global warming might not be more than
> uncomfortable.  Meanwhile, human ingenuity is kicking in, in a big way:
>
> Wind power is growing at 30% a year and can produce power at a capital
> cost of $1 a peak watt
>
> Need a job? Wind turbine installers are hiring like mad
> www.suzlon-usa.com
>
>
> New solar cells are just coming available that can produce power at a
> capital cost of $1 a peak watt www.nanosolar.com
>
> New technologies for carbon sequestration are being developed on a dozen
> fronts
>
> People like us are greening the planet as fast as we can go
>
> Human ingenuity will forestall global warming.  I would hope that we
> have a few less people in 500 years, by choice and planning, but I doubt
> it.  But I am sure that a lot more of them will be walking to work, and
> living in buildings that use very little resources, with technology we
> are working out right here on this list.
>
> Just my 2c.
>
>
>
> Lawrence Lile, PE, LEED AP
> Project Solutions Engineering
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Greenbuilding email list
> List info:
> http://listserv.repp.org/mailman/listinfo/greenbuilding_listserv.repp.org
> List email: Greenbuilding at listserv.repp.org
> Managed by BuildingGreen, Inc. http://www.buildinggreen.com
>       publisher of Environmental Building News and GreenSpec(r)
> Hosted and archived by REPP / CREST http://www.crest.org
>