# Very disturbing read Earth 'will expire by 2050' **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 26, 2014, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-disturbing-read-earth-will-expire-by-2050/679783 "2014-01-26T22:04:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2014, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-disturbing-read-earth-will-expire-by-2050/679783/21 "2014-01-27T06:37:05Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > And/or 3 (or possibly 2a): Have a standard of living that is roughly _as good_ as that of Americans, but less _wasteful_. Less disposable goods, more durable goods, that sort of thing; part of our problem is that our consumer-based economy pretty much _depends_ on an awful lot of wasted motion to stay healthy. It means that everything is _made_ to wear out fast because otherwise people won’t buy new ones. And the good news is that higher standards of living go with lower birth rates, so the population growth (which is mostly India and sub-Saharan Africa today) will decline also. ---
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2014, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-disturbing-read-earth-will-expire-by-2050/679783/22 "2014-01-27T09:07:25Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice. > > The human race may make some stupid decisions that make it more difficult for the world to support several billion of us for awhile, but it’ll be self-correcting after awhile: human population will drop, the environment will recover somewhat, etc. The Earth has survived previous environmental cataclysms (like the one that wiped out the dinosaurs), and will survive us too. But is there enough food and water to go around for 7 billion people? And by 2050 will there be major shortage of water and food? Will there be enough food and water for 10 billion people or more? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2014, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-disturbing-read-earth-will-expire-by-2050/679783/23 "2014-01-27T09:37:47Z")
Great screen name/OP combo! ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2014, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-disturbing-read-earth-will-expire-by-2050/679783/24 "2014-01-27T09:44:47Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > We do not have enough natural resources to let everyone live like an American. Thankfully, most of the world doesn’t even want to. They want solid houses, they want schools, they want medical care, they want to watch their children grow and meet their grandkids, but many people look at American “house porn”\* and, rather than “oh my God what a beautiful house” go “oh my God, can you imagine having to clean and maintain all that?” Apartment living and shared gardens (aka “parks”) are a lot more sustainable than individual houses surrounded by grass; locations with higher population densities make public transportation logical where a spread out population does not. - The name isn’t mine, I got it from the board but I can’t remember from whom. > [@Driver8](#): > > The Earth will expire by 2050? I’m picturing a tiny “17 FEB 2050” printed on some rock somewhere. I imagine come 18 February 2050 I’ll just have to give it a sniff before using. _clap clap clap_ ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2014, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-disturbing-read-earth-will-expire-by-2050/679783/25 "2014-01-27T12:52:08Z")
Shades of Malthus! Turns out he was wrong, too. It’s easy to make these dire predictions based on limited knowledge, and of course not being able to see the future with changes that nullify the predictions. It’s a lot harder to predict this kind of stuff accurately. Every doomsayer I’m aware of has been proven wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2014, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-disturbing-read-earth-will-expire-by-2050/679783/26 "2014-01-27T13:04:42Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > But is there enough food and water to go around for 7 billion people? Yes. > [@](#): > > And by 2050 will there be major shortage of water and food? Taking the world as a whole, no. > [@](#): > > Will there be enough food and water for 10 billion people or more? Yes. Was there anything else? ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2014, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-disturbing-read-earth-will-expire-by-2050/679783/27 "2014-01-27T13:06:01Z")
To quote the late George Carlin, > [@](#): > > The planet isn’t going anywhere. WE are! > > We’re going away. Pack your shit, folks. We’re going away. And we won’t leave much of a trace, either. Maybe a little Styrofoam … The planet’ll be here and we’ll be long gone. Just another failed mutation. Just another closed-end biological mistake. An evolutionary cul-de-sac. The planet’ll shake us off like a bad case of fleas. The mere notion that humans could kill off the planet is laughable. We could kill ourselves off, but the planet isn’t going to expire. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2014, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-disturbing-read-earth-will-expire-by-2050/679783/28 "2014-01-27T13:16:51Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > But is there enough food and water to go around for 7 billion people? And by 2050 will there be major shortage of water and food? Will there be enough food and water for 10 billion people or more? Yes, there’s plenty. We have a difficult logistics problem to get enough to the right people but in general we can produce all that is needed. ---
**Author:** ![JerrySTL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@JerrySTL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerrySTL)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2014, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-disturbing-read-earth-will-expire-by-2050/679783/29 "2014-01-27T13:57:27Z")
In 1968 there was a book called The Population Bomb by Professor Paul R. Ehrlich and his wife, Anne Ehrlich. It was a best seller. It basically said that world was overpopulated and there would be mass starvation on a global scale in the 1980’s. That didn’t happen so they kicked the can to the 1990s. Still didn’t happen so it’s now kicked even further down the road. Also the world’s population has more than doubled since the book first came out. Of course there’s a lot of hungry people out there. Much of that is due to politics and war. A few years ago when Ethiopia was starving, there was food available; however denying food to your enemies is a very good weapon. Of course the world’s population probably can’t keep doubling every few decades. Eventually there will be pressures that level the population and starvation may just be one of them. War could be another. However affluent societies seem to have a lower birth rate. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2014, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-disturbing-read-earth-will-expire-by-2050/679783/30 "2014-01-27T14:18:52Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > … the Earth? It’ll be here when the sun goes cold. Or blows up. Either way, a long time. According to current theory, it won’t. The sun will enter its red giant phase in 5.4 billion years, at which time the earth will be engulfed by the sun. The sun will have better than a billion years as a red giant (before it collapses) even after the earth is destroyed. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2014, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-disturbing-read-earth-will-expire-by-2050/679783/31 "2014-01-27T14:19:00Z")
Doesn’t bother me…I’ll be expiring well before then. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2014, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-disturbing-read-earth-will-expire-by-2050/679783/32 "2014-01-27T21:01:04Z")
Well, if the Earth does expire, it’ll lose its Charter Member status. ---
**Author:** ![Skara\_Brae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Skara\_Brae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skara_Brae)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2014, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-disturbing-read-earth-will-expire-by-2050/679783/33 "2014-01-27T21:15:14Z")
> [@Iggy](#): > > The mere notion that humans could kill off the planet is laughable. We could kill ourselves off, but the planet isn’t going to expire. “A planet doesn’t explode of itself,” said drily The Martian astronomer, gazing off into the air – “That they were able to do it is proof that highly Intelligent beings must have been living there.” John Hall Wheelock ---
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2014, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-disturbing-read-earth-will-expire-by-2050/679783/34 "2014-01-27T23:53:44Z")
> [@JerrySTL](#): > > In 1968 there was a book called The Population Bomb by Professor Paul R. Ehrlich and his wife, Anne Ehrlich. It was a best seller. It basically said that world was overpopulated and there would be mass starvation on a global scale in the 1980’s. That didn’t happen so they kicked the can to the 1990s. Still didn’t happen so it’s now kicked even further down the road. Also the world’s population has more than doubled since the book first came out. > > Of course there’s a lot of hungry people out there. Much of that is due to politics and war. A few years ago when Ethiopia was starving, there was food available; however denying food to your enemies is a very good weapon. > > Of course the world’s population probably can’t keep doubling every few decades. Eventually there will be pressures that level the population and starvation may just be one of them. War could be another. However affluent societies seem to have a lower birth rate. So why are there so many people in Africa and Asia that are starving?Where is the food and water in Africa and Asia? ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2014, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-disturbing-read-earth-will-expire-by-2050/679783/35 "2014-01-28T00:18:21Z")
The world already expired in 2012, didn’t it? No point in being scared now. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2014, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-disturbing-read-earth-will-expire-by-2050/679783/36 "2014-01-28T01:32:05Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > So why are there so many people in Africa and Asia that are starving?Where is the food and water in Africa and Asia? Distribution and economics is a much bigger hurdle to getting everyone fed than actually growing enough food. We could (and I hear that we actually **do** ) produce enough food for most everyone to live reasonably comfortably; it’s the problem of actually getting it to starving people, negotiating with local governments, working through red tape, and other social, political, and economic issues that keep it from happening. ---
**Author:** ![Foggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foggy/32/1082_2.png) [@Foggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foggy)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2014, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-disturbing-read-earth-will-expire-by-2050/679783/37 "2014-01-28T01:34:25Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > So why are there so many people in Africa and Asia that are starving?Where is the food and water in Africa and Asia? It’s already been mention: Logistics, Politics, War and money. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2014, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-disturbing-read-earth-will-expire-by-2050/679783/38 "2014-01-28T01:35:04Z")
Yup, plenty of food. Just isn’t always in the right place. As the sage said, [Move to the Food!](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0q4o58pKwA) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2014, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-disturbing-read-earth-will-expire-by-2050/679783/39 "2014-01-28T16:38:03Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > So why are there so many people in Africa and Asia that are starving?Where is the food and water in Africa and Asia? What, are you kidding? There’s a Starbucks every 500 feet where I am. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2014, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-disturbing-read-earth-will-expire-by-2050/679783/40 "2014-01-28T18:13:34Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > I think if people lived at the density of New York they’d fit in Texas. And then the garbage union goes on strike for a couple of weeks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-disturbing-read-earth-will-expire-by-2050/679783.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-disturbing-read-earth-will-expire-by-2050/679783.md?page=3)