a 2 for 1 thread really. On Oil and Monsanto

Seriously, I didn't feel like making two topics in a row xD So you all get to read my musings that I held with my friend while I was out trying to find work and being unsuccessful at it.

Topic one: he mentioned that by 2040 all the oil reserves will be gone. Used up. Empty. No more. So we discussed how we'll come up with an alternative means. However, the Earth has been around for ageless amounts of eons. We all know that oil was not made just for us to come and take it all away. Deplete it from the Earth. I would assume the oil was originally created with the Earth because, Iunno, maybe the Earth needs it for some reason or the other? So kinda makes one wonder if some of the things going on Earth wise is due in some part to us depleting something that's been there no doubt since day one of creation. Do we really know what use it has in the Earth? I /know/ it wasn't put there just for us to find and use up eons later.

Also, what happens with all those empty holes in the Earth now where oil, coal and the like once sat? Surely those deep now-open pockets will cause some sort of issue. My friend was joking (or was he?) that when the oil in Arabia is gone, their deserts will sink. I know in Minecraft if you dig under the sand, it falls in to replace the open area. Not that Minecraft is the be all/end all answer in how things /work/ but you know.

Kinda makes one ponder to a degree. Not the Minecraft bit but all of the above. We gotta be doing some kind of irreparible harm to the Earth by taking stuff that took millions of years to create; taking it all in a matter of a century and being unable to restore it back. I'm NOT a science major. Or even a Science minor. Not even close. This is just the result of a mind trying to think about something it can't explain too well; hence me bringing it here. I'd think everything in the Earth is there for a valid and valuable reason - not just there for humans to use up and dry up and not replace.


Topic two: again, I'm no Monsanto expert. I know they make some hideous ''''''''''food'''''''' (cuz sometimes things need more than the normal quotes around them) and it's scary what really could be in what we're eating. However, I am willing to bet monopoly money that they're working on the means of a new corn (or even all crops, period) that will grow with or without rain so we can circumvent anything like this current seasons lack of rain/lack of corn issue we're all suffering through. In a way, that would be cool because prices for things will not skyrocket - guaranteed crops all the time no matter what. In the other more serious way, what the heck are we eating and just how unsafe would that be?





That's all. I just wanted to let those thoughts off here and see what, if anything, anyone wanted to contribute. If i can learn something from anyone wiser than myself in these areas, that would be a win for me.

I'm just about as knowledgeable here as anyone reading the media. That is to say, I know enough to look real smart at a Coffee Shop counter to a bunch of Bubba's drinking morning coffee..

Having made that disclaimer.... I've kept reading stories over the years of Oil being found back at well sites in Texas and elsewhere that had been written off as dry and spent holes many years ago. It suggests Oil may, at least in part, be the product of ongoing geologic activity far beneath or feet. Do you know anything more about this? it seems that if there is any chance oil is actually a regenerating resource,, that is the first question to really dig in and answer, right? It changes a lot if thats true in even some cases, doesn't it?


Assuming for a moment that oil is finite and the above is no factor at all. I love your thread and I hope real knowledgeable people contribute. I'm very curious about what you are saying. What does happen in and around the thousands of holes drilled? Is there actually real damage done (Beyond the hole) for each well? Fracking damage seems to be self evident....but you mean traditional wells right?

As far as Monsanto... Well... I chose St Louis last year for my Occupy, in part for Monsanto Headquarters being among the protest targets. No needs to talk about evil in theoretical terms. It exists in a HUGE sprawling complex in the St. Louis area. It has a Monsanto Sign out front and it's as big and impressive to see as Langley.

Since we're doing a little free-thinking, there is something I've always thought about oil. Something in which I could be totally wrong about as well. However one question I've pondered that is how did it get there, we understand that it's decomposed fossil fuels. We also understand that it wasn't all created, or placed there at once. That in theory it is an accumulation of millions of years of material that isn't easily absorbed by the earth's outer crust from decomposed remains of carbon life. So to my understanding the earth will survive without it, because it will eventually make more, ; however it is a good idea to question what effects depleted oil wells will have on the surface dwellers. Oil wells, to my understanding are usually encased in dense rock formations that don't allow oil to leak. So collapsing deserts may be a little far fetched, but not entirely implausible.

Also, a theory to consider is: Does the oil help with the Earth's Rotational Forces? meaning, does that highly vicious liquid under the surface help the ball spin faster than if it were suspended in a gaseous state above the surface of the ball? Depleting large amounts of any resource found on the Earth's Surface can have unforeseen consequences years later, this is a common discussion proposed in Technology classes. "Do we always consider the consequences of an invention as we're inventing it?", "Are there consequences that should be taken into account before utilizing the technology?" It's hard to close the door on something massive after you've let it out of the cage. If we think about that, and think about how many resources we've mined in the past 100 years you come to the conclusion that we've already crossed a threshold.

Now I've never taken to much time to consider how much damage humans can cause to the Earth because I've always considered that line of thinking to be a little egotistical. I don't find it very plausible that we Humans could ever have any lasting effect on the Earth, that if it considered us a threat, it would simply wipe us off it's face like a smudge of dirt. The only damage we could possible do the Earth is affect our ability to survive upon its surface.

Far-fetched theory:
I also have considered that deserts were formed from past technological/industrialized civilizations that scarred the planet after it wiped them off, a main reason to consider this is from the massive amounts of oil found under arid regions, compiled from landfills and remains of those lost civilizations. Our history starts long before 12k years ago, I'd estimate 150k years ago at least. Possibly 300k+

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


I'm referring to every single area dug out in the name of 'getting oil/getting coal' etc. Any place which was once full of oil etc, now being dry. I mean case in point, Saudi Arabia gets something like 61million gallons a day? (That's going by what my friend quoted. He could be off; perchance it's 61m gallons a week or month. Still, that's a HUGE hole being left behind.)

I'd think if the oil replenishes itself, wouldn't it take a lot of time to do so? As fast as we (as in the world) pump for oil constantly, I'd think the taking definitely outweighs the replenishing. Kind of akin to 'one step forward, two steps back' if you will.

I hope others will get in on this talk as well. At least to calm some fears. The last thing we need is the Earth sinkholing every where because of us leaving behind massive holes all over from drained oil.

reply to post by wishful1gnorance


I saw your post after I replied to the first poster. I love how both of you think. Indeed, more questions and curiosities being brought up. I don't know really how to reply to yours as you got into 'technicalities' that I'm not that knowledgeable with, haha. This is how I learn, though.

I too believe our history goes back hundreds of thousands of years. Your desert theory is amazing, also .

I do wonder how /fast/ the oil.... re-forms itself, if that's the correct word. If not, you still know what I mean. If it takes (pulling a number outta my pocket here) 500 years to create, say, 1000 gallons of oil and we're taking it out at (another random number) 20,000 gallons a day, well........

I hate math but even I see that those numbers aren't going to tip the scale towards the Earthly Oil Production Team here... I do think we take far more than the Earth can reproduce it. There's the word I was seeking. Reproduce.

reply to post by sarra1833


Yeah, I love math. Anyway I get where you're going with the #'s. And to a degree you are most certainly right. Wrabbit suggested pockets popping up after shifts, but at best this can only be described as the shifting of wells, or the spurring up regressed wells. At no point do I think that oil is spontaneously created, while at the same time leaving room to say it's not impossible. This discussion definitely borders on the realm of unknown for the general populace, maybe a few geology majors could chime in to clear things up, and if not that, maybe a few hours of comprehensive googling. lol I love that word... googling.