Mount St. Helens erupting in Washington state in 1980.
Posted on 06/10/2003 1:27:50 AM PDT by Bobby777
British scientist says Earth has 50-50 chance of survival
Since the beginning of time, technological advances have led some experts to predict technology would destroy mankind, but now a British scientist says the chances the world will end have gone up dramatically with the most recent discoveries, Reuters reports.
Martin Rees, Britain's honorary astronomer royal, says chances of an apocalypse have increased from 20 percent a hundred years ago to 50 percent today because of the breakneck pace of latter-day scientific advances.
Rees, 60, who recently published the book "Our Final Hour," says scientific discoveries are coming in a far more unpredictable and dangerous pattern than in prior decades. Of the calamities waiting to destroy civilization, he suggests, are an erupting "supervolcano" that blocks the sun, or a dramatic "bioerror," in which scientists accidentally trigger a matter-squeezing "big bang."
Also threatening the Earth, he says, is nuclear terrorism, deadly manufactured viruses, rogue machines and human character-altering genetic engineering. He believes by 2020, an incident of bioterror or bioerror will have killed a million people, said Reuters.
"There is a growing gap between doors that are open and doors that should be open," Rees, a professor at Britain's Cambridge University, said in a recent interview with the news service.
Natural disasters have always been of concern, he says. They include a huge asteroid slamming into Earth and altering weather patterns and other climatic conditions.
The worst concerns, he says, are man-made.
"A hundred years ago, the nuclear threat wasn't even predicted ... but that threat still hasn't gone away," he said.
Other recent scientific advances are threatening as well.
"For the first time ever, human nature itself isn't fixed. Biotech drugs and genetic engineering are empowering individuals more than ever before," he told Reuters.
For instance, with the speed of advancing DNA technology, "even a single person could cause a disaster," he believes. He said the U.S., reflecting on the 9-11 attacks and anthrax scare, knows this.
He's also concerned about scientific experiments that could destroy Earth.
"Perhaps a black hole could form, and then suck in everything around it," he said.
Is there anything that can be done to prevent such calamities?
"We need to keep track of those who have potentially lethal knowledge," he said, adding there should be more effort to "reduce the number of people who feel excluded or otherwise motivated to cause harm."
Didn't Larry Niven or somebody write that story 30 years ago?
Psalm 78:69 And he built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which he hath established for ever.
Psalm 90:2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.
Psalm 104:5 Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever.
Proverbs 10:30 The righteous shall never be removed: but the wicked shall not inhabit the earth.
Ecclesiastes 1:4 One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.
In other words, appeasement for the Islamic scourge. What other third-world scourge do we fear? This scientist is a scaremonger without any real solutions. A vigorous war on terror, a solid homeland defense team, and a national missile defense system shared with our allies will do wonders to deal with most of the problems he describes here.
The rest? Well, human beings should get out into space and populate the stars. Let's get going!
I think my own desire to believe that the end is near is due to middle age and an inherited gotterdammerung syndrome. I wonder what this guy's problem is...maybe a need to publish anything?
In tomorrows news, a work accident in a garage in the Gaza strip killed 1.2 Million Palestinians today...
He forgot strikes from extraterrestrial objects, Solar Mass Ejections and reversal of the earth's magnetic field.
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