For those who think we are too small to affect this planet: Timelapse of Change.

Here we have a stunning Timelapse video, that shows visually the effect we humans are having on this planet. It is not a pretty picture.

www.onearth.org...

The video below by Vox strings together pictures taken from 1972 to 2014 to show how deforestation, water use, urban sprawl, electricity, and climate change have dramatically altered certain landscapes. Though the footage focuses on just five areas on this big planet, human activity has had a visible impact on countless others—and the stories that emerge from the Landsat program’s data often aren’t pretty. I think we can all agree that the earth deserves a better set of before-and-after shots.

a reply to: cuckooold

I am afraid that I can only answer with four small words:

We need to change.

This was already posted a few days ago. sorry! But important information nonetheless

www.abovetopsecret.com...

a reply to: swanne

As long as Govt's and people feel the need to collect in large numbers in small spaces and travel long distances we can't change .As long as we want and need new gadgets , equipment and more comfort ,we cant change . Years ago flying into LA was a ugly smog filled stinky place .Today the air no longer toxic to breathe .It was new standards and innovations that made the change that was needed . China is going through the same growing pains as most industrial developed nations have and will face .

Reflecting back on the history of our planet we see enormous changes that could have been seen from space . The largest change was the melting of the ice caps and the continents and mountains shifting .

How old do you think the earth is? Six billion years? In a couple hundred thousand years when humans are gone the planet will look just like it did before us. Get some perspective.

That was brilliantly put together. If people could just stop for a second, and realize everything they do will effect their own offspring for generations to come. Its scary to think how small this planet really is.

Man does not own this planet. We are just one of the inhabitants of it.

Nobody owns the earth, nobody owns the land. We just lease it or utilize it. We have no right to destroy the ecosystem.

I remember reading on a science website that you could place every man , woman and child in the world in the US state of Texas and everyone would have a 1' radius of space around them. Thats just 1 state in the US.Only 3% of the continent of Africa is populated. And 97% of the population is situated along the shoreline (or close). I used to think about overpopulation until I read those facts. In fact every country in the world that borders a sea or an ocean has its major population centers on the shorelines. China with its huge population has that population mostly centered in major cities , with lots of room to spare if it was utilized .

a reply to: cuckooold

Doom porn is fun and all, but in the last couple decades, there has been a LOT of effort to correct the wrongs from the past. When it comes to forests and whatnot, that will take many decades to fully regrow in the eyes of the satellites.

I 100% agree that we need to be better stewards of the planet, but to pretend that we only do negative things is a bit misleading--the trend is in the midst of shifting, and it does well to also note that.

But I'm a firm believer that the planet, as vast and large as it is, will continue to do just fine and continue on it's natural cycles, even if humans are causing a case of the hiccups at present. But again--we need to change how we do some things, if not just for the localized benefits instead of global.

I'd like to look at the population increases over those time periods depicted in the video. Not just for the individual area's, but for the planet as a whole. I'm guessing that the bulk of these changes will always boil down to population increase. The need for urban sprawl, higher yields of crops and any further increase in the depletion of our natural resources is the result of an increasing population, IMO.

I think that is the core problem, and I think that eventually we will have to face it.

originally posted by: jjkenobi
How old do you think the earth is? Six billion years? In a couple hundred thousand years when humans are gone the planet will look just like it did before us. Get some perspective.

I think the point is not that we're having any inherently negative effect on the planet in and of itself.

Rather, the problem is that we're taking the pants off our grandchildren and subsequent descendants, bending them over, and essentially gratifying our desires at their expense, so to speak.

But I understand that some people have no problem with metaphorical child rape. Who am I to judge?

a reply to: Gothmog

I have been hearing this argument now for over 40 years.
It was an idiotic argument then and even more so now.

originally posted by: muchmadness

originally posted by: jjkenobi
How old do you think the earth is? Six billion years? In a couple hundred thousand years when humans are gone the planet will look just like it did before us. Get some perspective.

I think the point is not that we're having any inherently negative effect on the planet in and of itself.

Rather, the problem is that we're taking the pants off our grandchildren and subsequent descendants, bending them over, and essentially gratifying our desires at their expense, so to speak.

But I understand that some people have no problem with metaphorical child rape. Who am I to judge?

Put as dramatically as possible and only metaphorically true, it is none the less exactly the outcome of our present actions.

The problem is overpopulation. Stop breeding.

originally posted by: Obsrvr
The problem is overpopulation. Stop breeding.

No. The problem is badly distributed population. Stop being greedy.

a reply to: SlapMonkey

Indeed. And don't forget all these corporations that inhibit environmentalists' efforts. Big Oil will always see Green Energy as an obstacle, Big Wood Industries will always see "treehuggers" as nuisance.

a reply to: TerryMcGuire
Well , no rebuttal , just "idiotic argument" Unbelievable....these were ACTUAL scientific facts based on population and area. These numbers came from the UN . I guess there is no room for scientific FACT if it doesnt fit a person's personal views. Classic....

a reply to: Gothmog

I remember reading on a science website that you could place every man , woman and child in the world in the US state of Texas and everyone would have a 1' radius of space around them. Thats just 1 state in the US.Only 3% of the continent of Africa is populated. And 97% of the population is situated along the shoreline (or close). I used to think about overpopulation until I read those facts. In fact every country in the world that borders a sea or an ocean has its major population centers on the shorelines. China with its huge population has that population mostly centered in major cities , with lots of room to spare if it was utilized .

These 'fact's are not scientific. They are only statistical and can be used to bolster the argument against the concept that we have out bred our ecological niche.
To point out the 'scientific' concept that everyone in the world could theoretically be placed in the state of Texas with a one foot radius around them is ridiculous. It is meaningless. Statistics stating that an area has limited population is also beyond my ability to grasp. It is like saying that the Sahara is underpopulated. The statement ' with lots of room to spare,,,,,if only utilized,,,,,, is, is, is. Is what? Scientific? It makes absolutely no sense except as an isolated statistic.

This argument that you present is not scientific. If anything it is anti-scientific.

originally posted by: TerryMcGuire

These 'fact's are not scientific. They are only statistical

Statistic is a branch of Science, genius.

originally posted by: swanne

originally posted by: Obsrvr
The problem is overpopulation. Stop breeding.

No. The problem is badly distributed population. Stop being greedy.

I own practically nothing. I drive practically no where. I don't even have cable TV. I don't eat meat. I'M greedy? You're off your rocker.