# Saving the world step 1... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 10, 2001, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-the-world-step-1/71941 "2001-07-10T11:28:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2001, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-the-world-step-1/71941/41 "2001-07-13T04:02:23Z")
From [Discovery.com](http://tlc.discovery.com/tlcpages/volcano/volcano.html) > [@](#): > > In what would become northern India, a region called the Deccan Traps lava field exploded in an apocalyptic series of fiery eruptions that flooded more than 1,000,000 square miles with a virtual torrent of lava. So much volcanic gas spewed into the Earth’s atmosphere that the climate was gripped by runaway greenhouse warming and hellish acid rain. Though it unfolded over a period of 100,000 to 200,000 years, this volcanic event literally reshaped the planet and contributed to — perhaps even caused — the extinction of the dinosaurs. > > The eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980 did not posses even one one-thousandth the power of the Deccan Traps event, yet the devastation it caused was almost incomprehensible. The initial blast released 24 megatons of thermal energy, covered 230 square miles and flattened enough trees to build 300,000 two-bedroom homes. And from [Eruption of Thera](http://www.fireplug.net/~rshand/restricted/streams/thera/thera.html) > [@](#): > > “Krakatoa erupted noisily. It could be heard as much as 3,000 miles away on Rodrigues Island in the Indian Ocean. Vibrations shattered shop windows 80 miles off. The energy; released in the main explosion has been estimated to be equivalent to an explosion of 150 megatons of TNT.” [Speculation about the energy in the K-T asteroid](http://relcom.website.ru/wfs-moscow/eng/morrison.htm) > [@](#): > > The asteroid which hit the Yucatan 65 million years ago had an explosive forces equivalent to 10,000,000 megatons of TNT which is about 700,000,000 times the energy of the atomic bombs which destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. [A frightening scale of earthquake power](http://geoweb.princeton.edu/courses/Geo210/A1999_Homepage/OnlinePubs/J_Louie_course/magnitude.html) > [@](#): > > ```auto > > Richter TNT Energy Example > Magnitude Equivalent (approximate) > > -1.5 1 gram Breaking a rock on a lab table > 1.0 6 ounces Small Blast at a Construction Site > 1.5 2 pounds > 2.0 13 pounds > 2.5 63 pounds > 3.0 397 pounds > 3.5 1,000 pounds Large Quarry or Mine Blast > 4.0 6 tons > 4.5 32 tons Average Tornado > 5.0 199 tons > 5.5 500 tons Little Skull Mtn., NV Quake, 1992 > 6.0 6,270 tons Double Spring Flat, NV Quake, 1994 > 6.5 31,550 tons Northridge, CA Quake, 1994 > 7.0 199,000 tons Hyogo-Ken Nanbu, Japan Quake, 1995 > 7.5 1,000,000 tons Landers, CA Quake, 1992 > 8.0 6,270,000 tons San Francisco, CA Quake, 1906 > 8.5 31,550,000 tons Anchorage, AK Quake, 1964 > 9.0 199,999,000 tons Chilean Quake, 1960 > 10.0 6.3 billion tons (San-Andreas type fault circling Earth) > 12.0 1 trillion tons (Fault Earth in half through center, > OR Earth's daily receipt of solar energy) > > ``` Also, Tambora which erupted in 1815 is said to have had a power of about 20,000 megatons. ---
**Author:** ![Homer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/df788c/32.png) [@Homer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homer)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2001, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-the-world-step-1/71941/42 "2001-07-13T05:10:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by London\_Calling \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Homer \* > > You seriously think that WWII is or was a greater influence than Jesus? I mean, really. Believe in His divinity or not, but He almost singlehandedly shaped the nature and actions of the majority of the population of earth for the last two thousand years! And WWII trumps this, huh? To each his own, I guess. > > –Tim \*\* > > Isn’t it sometimes worth remembering that Christianity is not the most observed religion in the world - nor has it ever been ? \*\* Isn’t it sometimes worth remembering that whether you like it or not, Jesus directly or indirectly influenced the actions of billions of people of over the last two-thousand years, and probably will remain a large influence for the next odd-thousand? I did not claim that Jesus “saved the world” nor did I claim that Christianity is, was, or will be the largest religion. Reread my post. Then read it again. Keep doing this until you comprehend. I said that Jesus had an influence of a greater magnitude than WWII. WWII influenced, at most, 6.5 billion people so far. WWII likely will not be a major influence within 200 years, and possibly won’t be well remembered within 1000, and probably will be nearly forgotten within 2000. WWII involved _millions_ of participants. Jesus was _one man_ who had and has influence is magnitudes greater than WWII does, did, or will. How can you argue that point? Don’t give me any smug athiest or alternate religion BS either, _your belief or non belief in Him is not at question_ and is not a factor. His influence is the sole focus of this discussion, and it cannot be rationally argued that WWII was greater than Him in this respect. Thank you and good fucking day. –Tim ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2001, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-the-world-step-1/71941/43 "2001-07-13T05:15:36Z")
**For want of a nail…the rider was lost** For all we know it could have been that Dutch kid with his finger in the dike! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![jack\_ss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c77e96/32.png) [@jack\_ss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jack_ss)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2001, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-the-world-step-1/71941/44 "2001-07-13T06:28:53Z")
[Tony Montana] Ju stick ju finger in a dyke? What de fuck dis guy talking about? [/Tony Montana] 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jackas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3bc359/32.png) [@jackas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackas)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2001, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-the-world-step-1/71941/45 "2001-07-13T08:02:03Z")
Once again my OP has been lost in the statistical crap and scientific/religious argument of those who love to get technical and use lots of numbers to prove their point. I have absolutely no interest in religion in the realms of this argument. There was never any poignant moment in time in which Jesus saved the entire human race. He may well be our saviour now and continue to influence the lives of millions of people and in some form ‘save’ us but I DON’T GIVE A TOSS!! We have two questions that have arisen because of the OP: 1. Do we actually have the fire power to destroy the earth, or at least wipe out human existence? 2. If yes, has anyone ever actually ‘saved’ the earth or human existence because of such a threat. I am now reasonably confident that my question has been answered, if anything, for lack of responses and the answer is ‘no, there is no one human that has saved the earth’ unless someone is holding out on us and can produce a valid story of such an occurrence. Can we also assume now that there has never been any real situation in which the entire earth was at threat and therefore no one has really had the ‘chance’ to save the earth. The only thing that I can really see is that even if the earth were under threat do we actually think ‘they’ are going to tell us? There may well be men or women who have saved the world (or at least some of it) but we’ll never know. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2001, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-the-world-step-1/71941/46 "2001-07-13T12:57:26Z")
jackas, are you trying to be insulting to people who tried to answer your OP? Because your post sure reads that way. Maybe your OP was asking a question that had an obvious answer to most people who study history, so they were trying to find anything close that could be a substitute or in some way help you to find an answer? No, there are no Bruce Willis’s or Harrison Fords that have saved the Earth singlehandedly, as an “action hero” like you say in your OP. Also, as to your additional questions - these statements of yours seem to conflict with each other, don’t you think? > [@](#): > > my OP has been lost in the statistical crap and scientific/religious argument of those who love to get technical and use lots of numbers to prove their point > [@](#): > > 1. Do we actually have the fire power to destroy the earth, or at least wipe out human existence? You want someone to show that we have or do not have the firepower to destroy the Earth, but also complain about those people who “get technical” about it? I guess you better ignore my post about volcanoes and earthquakes and their relative power then… Why not tone it down a little in GQ, if people are at least making the effort to answer your question, OK? ---
**Author:** ![Starbury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Starbury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starbury)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2001, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-the-world-step-1/71941/47 "2001-07-13T14:02:51Z")
Well, I don’t really have an answer to the OP (though if I was a little more literal in my interpretations of the bible, I would think that Noah fits the criteria, as **curwin** mentioned) Anyway, I just wanted to post [a link](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_435.html) to **Cecil’s** column, where he discusses nuclear close calls on the U.S.’ side. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2001, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-the-world-step-1/71941/48 "2001-07-13T19:54:16Z")
OK people, it can be inferred that the OP is asking for REAL people here, and not fictional characters. So for those of you bringing up Jesus and Noah, please stop joking around! By the way, I know that there was a real Jesus but since so little is actually known about him, I doubt that we can include him in this discussion. I mean, if we’re going to include all characters including fictional ones, I’d like to throw in Prometheous, Ra, and let’s not forget Superman! ---
**Author:** ![Doc\_Nickel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5fc32e/32.png) [@Doc\_Nickel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doc_Nickel)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2001, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-the-world-step-1/71941/49 "2001-07-13T23:07:11Z")
Okay, then to answer the Original Post: No, there has almost certainly never been any situation where one man or woman has “saved” either the Earth in it’s entirety, a large portion of it, or a significant portion of it’s inhabitants. My reasoning: There has never been any force capable of such destruction, under the control of any one individual. I agree with those who say- and state with cites- that all our nuclear weapons are really but a pittance to an entire planet weighing some five hundred billion sextillion tons. (Or thereabouts. 😃 ) And in any case, all the nukes are not, cannot and will not be under the control of any one person. They’re not even under the control of any one _government_ for Pete’s sake! In answer to others’ postings, yes, there have been figures, both mythical and actual, that have _influenced_ large numbers of people worldwide (Jesus, Mohammed, Zeus) and even those figures who have almost singlehandedly caused massive decimation of both people and property (Hitler, Stalin, the Caesars) few, if any, have “saved” (meaning a physical salvation from death or injury, not a spiritual ‘saving’) like numbers. With the possible exceptions of the aforementioned early-warning radar operators… who, it could be argued, may have come closer to accidentally _setting off_ such a catastrophe, rather than averting it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-the-world-step-1/71941.md?page=2)