Winner of the "Not Understanding The Gravity Of The Situation" award goes to...

[billyskank]

...Neal Peirce:

The Transportation Tipping Point

By 2043, we're being told, there won't just be 300 million of us — there will be 400 million. With the roadways around our metropolitan regions increasingly clogged, how will we ever stay mobile?

Depending on the tea leaves you choose, some vividly contrasting futures emerge.

Vision No. 1 is "stay the course." Keep driving as we have. In 1980, 64.4 percent of us drove to work alone; in 2000 it was 75.7 percent, according to the Transportation Research Board's recent "Commuting in America" survey by Alan Pisarski.

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1130-29.htm

All I can say is: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

He worries about the number of cars on the roads in 2043? There aren't going to be any cars on the roads in 2043! He does, at the end of the article, mention the fact that the oil supply is depleted, but doesn't follow the thought anywhere. Maybe the price of oil is going to become so high quite soon that we'll be fighting each other, Mad Max-style, over petrol?

This is also the reason why I'm not so worried about global warming - the environmentalists say we must drastically cut the amount of carbon we burn, and I say: don't worry - we're going to.

What I fear is the wars and the famines that must surely come in the next decade or so, when competition for the remaining resources becomes acute. China needs a hell of a lot of fuel for its burgeoning economy. Think we're going to let them have it, when we want it just as badly? No, we will go to war, as sure as night follows day.

Actually, by the year 2043 I expect it all to be over, and for those of the human race that manage to survive that long, life will probably have settled down into a comparatively gentle agrarian mode.

[JNelson6563]

1. By then there will be other troubles

I don't see peace by 2043 because the oil's gone, I see trouble because there will be water shortages. We only think we need all the oil we use, we truly need the water to live. If you think the fighting is ugly over the oil, wait till it's about the water!

Julie

[billyskank]

2. When there's only 10% of the population left

there'll probably be enough water for everybody. ;)

[JNelson6563]

12. Yes, there's always that

I wonder what will be left to fight over then.

[sweetheart]

3. the sky is falling

The oil's gonna run out... economics will find new sources with higher prices,
the oil won't run out for a long long time.

Most of humanity by 2043 will live in urban ghettos, probably not with the
economic means to drive a car.

[SoCalDem]

4. "...comparatively gentle agrarian mode.."

IF they can figure out a way to pull up and dispose of all the asphalt & concrete:eyes:

I feel sad for the young ones.. I will be gone by then, but they may have to be the ones to undo a lot of problems they did not create.

[sam sarrha]

5. if we dont hobble the Fascists it will be over in less than 5 years

[maine_raptor]

6. Not to worry..........by 2036 there might not be any humans left

Asteroid 2004MN4 may hit the Earth by then.

See: http://www.thespacereview.com/article/384/1

"If 2004 MN4 passes through a “keyhole” in the error ellipse just 640 meters across—about twice the diameter of the asteroid itself—the object would enter a trajectory that would result in a collision with the Earth on April 13, 2036."

My only question is: Does April 13, 2036, fall on a Friday?

Oh, and as to where it may hit, see this map:

[magellan]

11. It's a Sunday

The Rapturistas will be pleased.

[LaurenG]

7. Excellent post!

Kicked and recommended.:kick: :yourock:

[FedUpWithIt All]

8. I am working on settling into a gentle agrarian mode, now.

No matter what happens in the world, we cannot escape the fact that we need to live simpler. Personally i crave a simpler life. I cannot think of anything i would rather be doing with the coming years than learning to live in concert with the planet. Growing and preserving my families food, living in an eco friendly home, developing a barter system with like minded folks, small animal husbandry, weaving....

I agree with you about where society may be heading. May you live in interesting times. :)

[trof]

9. "New York streets will be buried in horse dung."

That was the prediction sometime back in the 1800s.
;-)

[In_The_Wind]

10. I'll be 95 by then ...

just barely able to putt-putt along