From: Spike (spike66@comcast.net)
Date: Thu Jul 24 2003 - 09:14:54 MDT
-----Original Message-----
From: Andrew Clough...
...Still, it seems absurdly anthropomorphic to claim that we are rushing
in to
save the Earth just in time...
The term anthropomorphic isn't the one you are
looking for perhaps, which means assigning human-like
characteristics to animals, such as Bambi-izing deer.
...When the solar system (and galaxy and...)
blooms we'll be able to claim credit, but even if every human alive were
killed off instantly, I bet another species could evolve to intelligence
before the big ice comes...
We needn't assume intelligence is necessary. I
could imagine some kind of bug or worm that somehow
manages to dig its way down to the oil fields or
coal seams and break down that carbon.
But it does leave some questions, such as why was
it so late in the game before a archaeo-carbon
scavenger evolved? Carbon based life on this
planet was already very much in decline before
the last few thousand years when human started
digging coal, and the last couple hundred when
we started pumping oil. Perhaps the fact that
we came late suggests that it is not at all
inevitable that any archaeo-carbon scavenger
arise in the general history of life, and that
most planets are not thus rescued. We may
go to other planets and find that the most
common case is for the planet to be sterile,
yet have fossil rich carbon layer somewhere
below the surface.
spike
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