Why Is Space A Vacuum? Cuz Humanity Sucks Too Hard!

Slow Down, You Hoover Too Fast
(From the Weekly Grist--sorry I cannot link it)

Humans are consuming the planet's resources 25 percent faster than the earth can renew them, a rate "unprecedented in human history," the World Wildlife Fund said last week in its 2006 Living Planet Report.

If we keep it up, we'll need two planets' worth of natural resources by mid-century, and "exhaustion of ecological assets and large-scale ecosystem collapse become increasingly likely," says the report. The United Arab Emirates is stressing the planet most per capita, followed by the U.S., Finland, and Canada.

Humanity's ecological footprint more than tripled between 1961 and 2003, outpacing the global population, which more than doubled in that time period. Pollution, deforestation, habitat loss, and overfishing have caused the populations of many species to decline by about a third since 1970, WWF said.

But hey, good news -- if we reduce carbon dioxide emissions and fish catches by a full 50 percent, we could break even in resource use by 2080!

Straight to the source: Reuters, Alister Doyle, 24 Oct 2006
Straight to the source: BBC News, 24 Oct 2006
Straight to the source: The Times, Lewis Smith, 24 Oct 2006

(By the way, NPR ran a piece Friday night which reported that, while the claim is controversial, virtually the entire world food-fish stock will be decimated by 2048.)