Mass extinction on its way!

Oberon · 06-19-15, 02:24 PM

This news does not surprise me in the slightest, but I don't think that humanity will face extinction because of loss of species diversity. Not at our current level of technology and extrapolating forward from that.
Cloning and Genetic engineering will help in many instances, as well things like zoos and such. Unfortunately, the days of seeing animals in the wild may be heavily numbered.

That being said, there are certain species whose loss will cause a major problem for mankind, species like the Bee whose pollination skills are quite essential for crop and plant spread. We could most likely grow crops without bees, not nowhere near enough to support the current population level of the Earth. So that would be a big problem.

The future though will probably give us food that we would not recognise, and would most likely hesitate to eat, actual animal meat will probably become something for the rich and powerful, and the rest of us will have some kind of synthesised protein based nutrient. But, on the upside, hopefully an emigration into an online reality will mean that we can have the sensation of eating steak, even if we're eating some kind of manufactured seaweed.

06-19-15, 02:24 PM	#2
Oberon Lucky Jack Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 25,976 Downloads: 61 Uploads: 20	This news does not surprise me in the slightest, but I don't think that humanity will face extinction because of loss of species diversity. Not at our current level of technology and extrapolating forward from that. Cloning and Genetic engineering will help in many instances, as well things like zoos and such. Unfortunately, the days of seeing animals in the wild may be heavily numbered. That being said, there are certain species whose loss will cause a major problem for mankind, species like the Bee whose pollination skills are quite essential for crop and plant spread. We could most likely grow crops without bees, not nowhere near enough to support the current population level of the Earth. So that would be a big problem. The future though will probably give us food that we would not recognise, and would most likely hesitate to eat, actual animal meat will probably become something for the rich and powerful, and the rest of us will have some kind of synthesised protein based nutrient. But, on the upside, hopefully an emigration into an online reality will mean that we can have the sensation of eating steak, even if we're eating some kind of manufactured seaweed.