What Bill Gates Is Afraid Of

OlIv0rIolI said:
The biggest problem I see with the whole Global Warming debate is that one side denies it exist while the other side portends doom and gloom.

I want a honest debate on the benefit/cost analysis. I mean more carbon and more warmth means more food for plant life and a longer growing season. With the exponential human population growth, it will alleviate some of the problems of food shortages. Sure some agricultural areas will not be as productive as before many other areas can be opened up for cultivation. Also it is harder for humans to die from heat than it is to die from freezing. There are many other potential benefits.
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There are positive and negative consequences ... one issue with them is that we are not a single entity ... we have some 190 (give or take) nation states on the planet ... what benefits one might hurt another (and that tends to promote war) ... increased warmth is also more beneficial for disease and drought (as well as providing more energy for hurricanes/typhoons and other weather phenomenon) ... humanity will likely survive global warming (if it doesn't result in too many wars) but it is hard on animal and sea life ... also note that some of the mass extinction events have resulted from substantial changes in climate or oxygen levels

Ultimately the solution is not trying to manage greenhouse gases (I think that ship has already sailed) but to move into space ... while all of humanity resides on one planet we are ripe for extinction from any number of events ... if we are spread throughout the solar system then it would be virtually impossible to wipe all of humanity out ... if we care about our species at all we should devote most of the global resources towards space expansion
 
I as much as everyone here desire space colonization. The devil is in the details. There are currently no economic benefits to be had from sending people up there.

When the Europeans arrived in the Americas, there were ridiculous amount of resources that can be harvested and traded to sustain themselves on day one. Tobacco, Sugar Cane, Molasses, Timber, Gold/Silver, Fur, Agricultural products, etc. Right now, the moon, asteroids, mars, are desolate wasteland that will require decades of huge government subsidies to support the venture. We are talking trillions of dollars here. Lets face it our government will rather give that money to bankers to play with on Wall street or to welfare to buy votes than help expanding the human frontier.
 
kumquat said:
How timely:

http://elpais.com/elpais/2015/06/02/inenglish/1433262397_622650.html

An unvaccinated 6-year-old recently showed up in a Spanish hospital with diphtheria. First case in the country in almost 30 years.
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http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/spanish-boy-diphtheria-dies

The kid died.

“The family is devastated and admit that they feel tricked, because they were not properly informed,” said Catalan public health chief Antoni Mateu. “They have a deep sense of guilt, which we are trying to rid them of.”
 
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