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Post by marle on May 7, 2012 19:01:38 GMT -5
Just wondering when we should look forward to this. The cause being either a nuclear power reactor meltdown or weapon being set off by a madman. The die-off could be directly caused by nuclear power or its aftermath. Sorry about the subject, I'll try to post about happier things to make up for this! After all, life is short!  |
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Post by Scotty on May 7, 2012 19:15:38 GMT -5
I put wont happen/ optimistic. Although I'm sure we could possibly see some reactors melt down, or even some nuclear strikes, I don't think it'll ever be on the vast scale needed to wipe out humanity. I'd LIKE to believe we're smarter than that.  |
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Post by Sexy Spork #37 on May 7, 2012 19:42:47 GMT -5
Statistically speaking, there's lots of things that are going to kill us all:
We KNOW that an asteroid will hit the Earth and will wipe out 90% of all life.
We KNOW that the moon will leave us and cause huge tidal waves of destruction that will wipe out a good chunk of humanity.
We KNOW that a lethal virus will hit the Earth and wipe out many millions.
We KNOW that the Andromeda galaxy is heading for ours and will annihilate Earth.
We KNOW there's a black hole heading for us.
We KNOW that a solar maximum is going to hit soon that it will wipe out all of Earths electronics and kill us all.
We KNOW that Yellowstone is going to go boom-boom and do an awful lot of damage.
And that's before I mention global warming and the inevitable alien invasion...
So I put 'something else wil get us' because it probably will. Nuclear war is the least of our problems. I think we should be working on a lasso to tether the moon to Earth.
Hope I haven't depressed anyone.
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Post by marle on May 7, 2012 20:34:53 GMT -5
Scotty,
I hope you're right. However, even if we're smart, we're not perfect. I'm afraid that we're dealing with so much power with nuclear energy and technology in general that even anomalies can cause catastrophic consequences.
Sexy Spork,
You're right that those things will happen - I'm just fairly positive we'll mostly self-destruct before then.
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Post by Sexy Spork #37 on May 8, 2012 4:48:55 GMT -5
I think we can all agree than when the sun goes boom there'll be no humans left on Earth to slowly bake. Which I suppose is a good thing. Not like it's ever going to be possible to leave our solar system anyway...
Nuclear war certainly is a very real possibility. It is scary with all the Iran-Isreal-Korea tension at the moment. But you have to live in hope that nothing will come of it. Hopefully it's just angry exchanges between those who don't agree with one another. If one of those countries launches an attack on another one, those that remain will have no one to argue with, and I bet that's what makes them tick, so to speak. The thrill of the threat. It would be like what would happen to Lex Luthor if he finally killed Superman.
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Post by ura on May 8, 2012 10:10:33 GMT -5
I put wont happen/ optimistic. Although I'm sure we could possibly see some reactors melt down, or even some nuclear strikes, I don't think it'll ever be on the cast scale needed to wipe out humanity. I'd LIKE to believe we're smarter than that. I agree with Scotty on this one, some reactors might fail but I don't think they will be anywhere near the scale required to wipe us out. |
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Post by Grayback on May 10, 2012 13:17:52 GMT -5
I've chosen the "something else will get us" option as well, I don't think that the nuclear power is going to be what causes humanity's downfall, I think it will be something else, most likely something that we will not be able to prevent.
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Post by Sweet Pea on May 11, 2012 9:32:43 GMT -5
i think the odds are humans will do themselves in within the next 10 years. the world population is expected to be 7.7 billion by then. as we get more crowded we continue to fight more over resources, which means more war, more bombs, people in too much of a rush to find energy solutions building more nuclear reactors. combine that with the fact that humanity has a bad track record of not learning from our mistakes, i figure there will be a massive nuclear meltdown or series of them that will poison the earth to the point that people can no longer survive. it may not happen within 10 years but certainly within the next 100.
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Post by Sexy Spork #37 on May 11, 2012 12:42:46 GMT -5
^ Golly. Is 'sweet' in your name sarcastic? Perhaps 'Dark Pea' - oh, wait...
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Post by marle on May 11, 2012 17:59:12 GMT -5
i think the odds are humans will do themselves in within the next 10 years. the world population is expected to be 7.7 billion by then. as we get more crowded we continue to fight more over resources, which means more war, more bombs, people in too much of a rush to find energy solutions building more nuclear reactors. combine that with the fact that humanity has a bad track record of not learning from our mistakes, i figure there will be a massive nuclear meltdown or series of them that will poison the earth to the point that people can no longer survive. it may not happen within 10 years but certainly within the next 100. That's a good point, Sweet Pea. We're closing ourselves in. The increasing spread of a modern lifestyle among a growing population will necessarily cause resource shortages. We will turn to even more modern, technological solutions which will exacerbate our problems in the long (although not long enough) run. |
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Post by urbanspaceman on May 20, 2012 13:38:40 GMT -5
I do think nuclear war will happen at some stage, maybe even in my lifetime. And that a large part of earth will be decimated by it, if not the end of human civilization as a whole.
Though my vote goes for death by cake.
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Post by Astroruss on Jun 11, 2012 21:35:04 GMT -5
The title and theme to this poll/debate is one of the most loaded questions I've ever heard, but it is one I've heard mentioned quite a bit.  I don't think a cataclysmic nuclear war will happen to humans, specifically because small scale nuclear war has already occurred back in 1945. Leaders and ordinary people were quick to see how devastating those two bombings were and this is why nuclear attacks have ceased and not occurred in the last seventy years or so. As long as we do not forget what nukes did to Japan all those years ago, nukes will not be a global killer. I am also a firm beleiver in technological defense against nuclear missiles and other such weapons. I'm refferring to the Star Wars program launched more than two deceades ago. Even though this effort largely failed in its goal, the scope of the program opened up many other possibilities for defense. |
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Post by Astroruss on Jun 11, 2012 21:37:26 GMT -5
^ Golly. Is 'sweet' in your name sarcastic? Perhaps 'Dark Pea' - oh, wait... Oh yes, I agree! Pea, maybe you should change your name to Darkpea. I've known you for quite a few years now, and this would suit you well. |
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Post by Sweet Pea on Jun 12, 2012 2:16:42 GMT -5
^ Golly. Is 'sweet' in your name sarcastic? Perhaps 'Dark Pea' - oh, wait... Oh yes, I agree! Pea, maybe you should change your name to Darkpea. I've known you for quite a few years now, and this would suit you well. what??!! how dare you!! i am the epitome of light and love. dark pea indeed! hmmph!  |
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Post by Sexy Spork #37 on Jun 12, 2012 6:35:58 GMT -5
What about:
'From Dark Pea With Love'
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