How many globes do you want?

[Skybird]

http://www.neweconomics.org/gen/z_sy...l.aspx?pid=220

an interesting examination. It is about the level of economical interdependencies, and the ammount of ressources being consumed by socieities. what it does is this: By a statistcial evaluation method known in economics as "ecological fingerprint", it expresses how many globe'S ressources would be needed if all mankind should be able to live by the same living style like in one given country. for example, focussing on Britain it says, that if all mankind should be able to live in the material living conditions like the British, materials ressources equal to three times than that of earth would be needed (3.1) France 3.0, Germany 2.5, USA 5.3, Russia 2.4, Brazil 1.2, all others 1.0 or less.

It tells us something on how far we live beyond what earth'S ressources can support in material living conditions of mankind. It also means that it is totally illusroy to demand that all mankind should live by the industrial standrads the developed countires currently display. What I always said: the assumption that we can win the future without changing (means: massively limiting and reducing) our material demands in typical Western countries is illusory and a hypocritical folly.

I stumbled over this two days ago, but found it mentioned in a German essay again today.

it also expresses how careful a country is consuming renewable ressources, wherer a value of 1.0 would mean that it consumes as much as earth can replace in a natural cycle. How fast or how slow countries are in consumation is expressed in a world year, the date indicating the time when a golbal society consuming resspurces by the example of one given nation would no longer be able to survive.

If all mankind would consume renewable ressources as intense as the Netherlands, then it would no longer survive on the 2nd of March, and Japan: 3rd of March. On the 13th April it would be the end for a global civilization living by the standards of Italy and Greatbritain, on the 29nd: Greece. after that come spain, Switzerland and Portugal, and for a "global Germany" the 29th of May would mark the end (quoted by the German summary). China and India, with values of 0.8 and 0.4 currently would consume less than what earth can regenerate, and thus would survive and even stockpile ressources for the future. The US of course blasts the scale.

[DeepSix]

Interesting read. Every ecosystem has a maximum sustainable level - once you go past that, it crashes. There is a general "die off" (if I can put it that way) until the ecosystem recovers enough to begin supporting a population again. Then the process repeats.

I agree, more or less, with what you said about the living standard; to be more specific and to give an example, I have long wanted this country to wake up to the profligate use of fossil fuels, especially oil. There is not, IMO, enough being put into making the so-called "smart fuel" vehicles.

On the other hand, some Western standards are worth keeping, I think. I wouldn't want to guarantee the survivability of all mankind by reducing everyone to a state of starving poverty, in other words. But on the whole, I tend to agree - we're definitely overtaxing earth's resources.

[Onkel Neal]

USA: June 24, Ecological debt day. We can live off our resources longer than Germany and the UK.

[TLAM Strike]

There are 8 other planets spinning around this system that we can get resources from so I’m not worried.

[Onkel Neal]

The moon is ours, hands off!

[Oberon]

I claim Bajor...lots of mining opportunities there...local labour force too

[TLAM Strike]

Originally Posted by Oberon

I claim Bajor...lots of mining opportunities there...local labour force too

Bajor is mine you Cardie!
I shall drink a bottle of blood wine in the burned out blood stained halls of Cardassia 's Central Command and Sto-vo-kor will be paved with the ashes of dead Cardassians!

Qapla'!

:P

[DeepSix]

Ok, TLAM, that does it. After numerous posts I am finally convinced that you *are* Klingon!