Carnal Reason

Climate change is gonna get you:

Oh, and here’s my favorite — Dr. Sue Blackmore looking on the bright side in Britain’s Guardian:

“In all probability billions of people are going to die in the next few decades. Our poor, abused planet cannot take much more. . . . If we decide to put the planet first, then we ourselves are the pathogen. So we should let as many people die as possible, so that other species may live, and accept the destruction of civilization and of everything we have achieved.

“Finally, we might decide that civilization itself is worth preserving. In that case we have to work out what to save and which people would be needed in a drastically reduced population — weighing the value of scientists and musicians against that of politicians, for example.”

Hmm. On the one hand, Dr. Sue Blackmore and the bloke from Coldplay. On the other, Dick Cheney. I think we can all agree which people would be “needed” — Al Gore, the guy from the New Yorker, perhaps Scarlett Johansson in a fur-trimmed bikini paddling a dugout canoe through a waterlogged Manhattan foraging for floating curly endives from once-fashionable eateries.

Chicago Sun-Times

I must rise to Dr. Blackmore’s defense. She writes that In all probability billions of people are going to die in the next few decades. Let’s do the numbers. I take a few decades to be more than a couple of decades; let’s say a few means three. The world population is roughly six billion. Assuming a 90 year human lifespan, we would expect about a third of the six billion to die over the course of thirty years. So yes, we can count two billion or so dead in the next few decades, regardless of the wrath of Gaia.

I can’t help but notice that eco-catastrophe morality tales often feature an unfortunate but necessary culling of the herd. The heroic eco-prophets stand ready with godlike wisdom to decide who is allowed to live. And maybe settle a few old scores, or scam a little quid pro quo.

Posted on April 23rd, 2006 by pwyll
Filed under: eco-catastrophe, religion, science