Humans Are Going Nuts: More global chaos reduction systems, please?

NOTE:  The Joy of Saving the Human Race is now “The Human Survival Podcast.”  For a brief explanation listen to the episode on July 1, 2022, “The Name Of This Show Is Changing…”

This show is part of The Human Survival Project, a grassroots movement that encourages citizens around the world to push for transformation of the United Nations system.  We want humanity to have the tools to protect itself from global catastrophic threats, and solving global threats requires strong global systems.

** Connect and learn more at: https://www.thehumansurvivalproject.org/ **

--------------------------

In a bit over 200 years, the human population went from 1 billion to 7.8 billion.  In this very short amount of time we had an 8-fold increase in humans on the planet.  The planet was not ready.  Busy, clever humanity quickly chopped up and devoured the Earth.  Homo sapiens (humans) used to be simply one species among many in nature.  Now, humans have so thoroughly dominated the planet, our choices and actions determine how much of the planet survives – and determines whether we as a species will survive.

These many billions of people joined the planet before systems were put into place to accommodate so many people.  Systems to help us get along with each other, and to collectively make sure we don’t destroy ourselves and our planet.  Instead of thoughtfully planning for our collective future, we humans are just stumbling from emergency to emergency.

Today’s presentation is twofold:

First, a tour of humans’ presence on the earth, and the insane amount of pressure we’ve put on our natural environment and climate.

Second, just as importantly, a review of the incredible progress humans have made on poverty, education, life expectancy, health, peace and much more.  It’s clear – humans can solve big problems.

So, here I offer you equal doses of fear and hope.  And I suggest we put our heads together and cooperate, in a global way.

 

This show is also on YouTube.
Watch this episode here: https://youtu.be/TVlIGFanbv0 

Please subscribe, and tell your friends about the show.

 

Resources:

~ The Precipice: Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity by Toby Ord
http://www.tobyord.com/book

~ World population, last 12,000 years
https://ourworldindata.org/world-population-growth

~ World GDP over the last two millenia
https://ourworldindata.org/economic-growth

~ Vertebrate extinction rates since 1500
https://ipbes.net/global-assessment

~ One in four species are at risk of extinction
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-48169783

~ 4005 vertebrate species decline 60% since 1970
Zoological Society of London / WWF - Living Planet Index 2018
https://www.zsl.org/global-biodiversity-monitoring/indicators-and-assessments-unit/living-planet-index

~ CO2 emission by fuel type, World, 1751-2017
https://ourworldindata.org/co2-and-other-greenhouse-gas-emissions

~ Atmospheric CO2 levels last 800,000 years
https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/

~ Average temperature anomaly, Global, 1850 to 2018
https://ourworldindata.org/co2-and-other-greenhouse-gas-emissions

~ World temperature since last ice age
US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
https://www.climate.gov/news-features/climate-qa/what’s-hottest-earth-has-been-“lately”

~ Land use over the long term, World, 100-2016
How the world's land is used (world map comparison)
https://ourworldindata.org/land-use

~ Meat production by livestock type, 1961 to 2018
https://ourworldindata.org/meat-production

~ Global fishery catch by sector, 1950-2010
https://ourworldindata.org/seafood-production

~ Global freshwater use over the long run, since 1900
https://ourworldindata.org/water-use-stress

~ Inside Climate News - September 13, 2020
Deforestation Is Getting Worse, 5 Years After Countries and Companies Vowed to Stop It
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/13092019/forest-loss-rate-global-deforestation-amazon-fires-corporate-agribusiness-international-declaration

~ Global plastics production, 1950-2015
https://ourworldindata.org/plastic-pollution

~ World’s Top 500 supercomputers
https://www.top500.org/statistics/perfdevel/

~ The Independent - May 1, 2014
Stephen Hawking: Transcendence looks at the implications of artificial intelligence - but are we taking AI seriously enough?
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/stephen-hawking-transcendence-looks-at-the-implications-of-artificial-intelligence-but-are-we-taking-9313474.html

~ World population living in extreme poverty, 1820-2015
https://ourworldindata.org/a-history-of-global-living-conditions-in-5-charts

~ Life expectancy, 1771-2015
https://ourworldindata.org/life-expectancy

~ Global child mortality, 1800-2017
https://ourworldindata.org/a-history-of-global-living-conditions-in-5-charts

~ Literacy rate, 1820-2010
https://ourworldindata.org/new-literacy-dataset

~ Gender ratios for mean years of schooling, 1870-2010
https://ourworldindata.org/global-education

~ Numbers of autocracies and democracies, 1900-2018
https://ourworldindata.org/democracy

~ The decline of war deaths
https://www.ft.com/content/e448f4ae-224e-11ea-92da-f0c92e957a96

~ Global number of smallpox cases
https://ourworldindata.org/smallpox

~ Polio cases by world region, 1980-2016
https://ourworldindata.org/eradication-of-diseases

~ Deaths from malaria, 1990-2017
https://ourworldindata.org/malaria

~ Cato Institute - May 19, 2019
Why Measles Making the News Is a Sign of Progress
https://www.cato.org/blog/why-measles-making-news-sign-progress