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by technopath
3721 days ago
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We're eating resources faster than we're replacing them. I suppose the alternative is to eat resources at the replacement rate - this is what sustainability is supposed to be about. Or perhaps some new technology will fix it. |
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No, we aren't (running out of resources).
The price of oil today is moderately higher (in constant dollars) than it was in 1946, but only moderately so.
http://inflationdata.com/articles/charts/inflation-adjusted-...
Pretty much every jump in the intervening years is directly attributable to political turmoil (e.g., war) rather than any real decline in the amount of oil available. Note that today's moderately higher prices are in an environment with active war going on in Syria and Iraq, historically two of the largest producers. If it weren't for that, oil prices might well have dropped below 1946 prices (again, in constant dollars).
Similar graphs hold for other commodities.
According to the pundits in the 1970s, we were supposed to be at the "Soylent Green" stage long before now. We aren't.
Old Man Malthus claimed that we were on the verge of the Soylent Green world (though of course he didn't call it that) way back in 1798.