Do you think the human race will still exist in the year 3000

[Butterfly98]

My DS has just asked me this question. He's been learning at school this week about pollution and the damage it causes to the planet, animals and vegetation. Some species of animals are almost extinct all because of us humans. Surely a lot will have to change if humanity is to survive for another 981 years?! My DS is fascinated about the fact that if humanity is still around by then won't it be great to be able to look back at actual real recordings of our ancestors from over 1000 years ago! Imagine seeing their social media accounts and getting a real feel for what life was really like such a long time ago. What will have changed by then and how will we evolve? Can we get a lot more modern than we are now with new inventions? Interested to hear all thoughts on this.

He might be interested in the mass observation project.
I think we will exist in 981 years, it's a short time in the life of the planet and I think the planet is more robust than we think it is. There is a lot in place now to start combating climate change and the UK CO2 emissions are lower than they have been since 1850 (I think) according to a programme on R4 yesterday afternoon on the way home from work.
You might be able to find it on iplayer for him but I don't know what it was called because it had already started.

^ or whatever the radio equivalent of iplayer is

I believe Busted had a theory on this. I think probably yes, people will be around in the year 3000. But the social economic world order will be unrecognisable and unimaginable, much as 2019 would be to people of the year 1019. Environmental calamity could well cause the international system to break down (I think more likely than not over that period). But I don’t believe we would be capable of fucking the entire planet up, sufficiently badly to prevent bands of people clinging on one way or another, albeit at a much reduced quality of life, at least in peripheral regions with mild enough climates and natural resources. For the entire human race to die out, there would I think need to be an external event (asteroid or alien invasion), i.e. highly unlikely.

Humans will have killed most other humans off by then, could be reduced to the sustainable numbers in pre-industrial times say £1billion at most. No animals other than food animals and rats, all been wiped out by hunting and habitat destruction

I think humans will still exist in the year 3000, but not necessarily on this planet.

No of course they won’t. Don’t you read any science.

Ooh, interesting thread. I think that although technology has improved humanity's mortality rates overall, it's also made us vulnerable because of overpopulation and newer ways to kill one another. Maybe something like a pandemic would thin out the population enough that the remainder of the population would flourish.

Imagine how far we have come even in the last 100 years with regards to nuclear weaponry / chemical warfare etc. I think in the next 900 years it is a distinct possibility that we will have engineered something that makes life on this planet unsustainable for humans, or we will have succeeded in eradicating ourselves through nuclear war or some other man made catastrophe. If I had a crystal ball I'm not sure I would want to use it. Yes, 981 years IS a short time in terms of the life of the planet, but for the vast majority of that humankind did not exist to interfere in the natural order of things. Now that we do, its evident that we have the power to change things. In another 981 years, who can tell what changes we will have caused? Will the earth be able to stand another 9 centuries of global warming, pollution, population explosion, etc. I'm not sure.

I think artificial intelligence is a very real threat in the wrong hands and the danger will come from something directly man made as opposed to the result of environmental damage. The rate of technological change is happening faster than climate change. I think the Terminator films are not as far fetched as they move might have seemed.

A zombie apocalypse is imminent, so no way we will make it through to the year 3000

If we don't curb climate change, it's not that the planet will be completely fucked BUT we will have created conditions in which virtually all existing plants cannot grow and there will be mass crop failure. Owing to the fact that ultimately, in the food chain, all life relies on vegetation, there will be no food and yes we will become extinct. The planet will re-balance and life will probably re-evolve. too late for us though. Crop failure, coming soon. Unless we ground most planes and stop driving most of our cars and wasting so much heat and energy, fast. And we've known this for about 40 years, and done almost nothing. So buckle up, buttercup.
Sorry but it really, really pisses me off that so many people don't get this and don't actually want to get it. My kids. My grandkids. If I'd known... It was known, but not to me until it was too late not to procreate.

I think some will survive but many many will diet out as the worlds population reduces due to the impact of environmental factors on the food chain.

So tiny numbers compared to today. But still existing, yes.

Probably. But we still won’t have left the EU.....😉

Not much will change but we'll live underwater
And your great great great granddaughter is pretty fine

@floraloctopus thank you I will look that up for him

😂 @Shivermetimbers0112 yes maybe the Brexit debate will be still happening!

I think humans will still exist but not in the global civilisation we have now. In my opinion populations will diminish because of environmental changes and disasters, reduced resources and increased conflict (mainly because of reduced resources) and the structures we have now will break down. It will be a bit like a Mad Max world at some point with little law and order and tribalism and battling for whatever is left. Manufacturing and production in its present form will cease to exist. Maintenance of our present systems and infrastructure will stop such as our roads and buildings. No one will be maintaining nuclear power stations anymore so they will become unstable and result in nuclear disasters. Disease will wipe out many people.

In this country, water may have to be rationed in around 10 years, the amount of nutrients in our soil is falling. Worldwide, millions of species are becoming wiped out in our children's lifetimes, the world population has doubled in the last 50 years, resources are becoming limited, pollution has stained our planet, antibiotics are becoming less effective, the insect population is in trouble because of insecticides and other pollution, we have around 12 years to sort out global warming and climate change.

Our governments have been ineffective at doing anything about it, global capitalism and consumerism have been the catalysts for everything that is happening, but also inventions and discoveries that have had very good intentions have caused longer term problems for us and the world.

On a brighter note, we are going to win Eurovision tonight

I believe Buster had a theory on this

I think we will be hanging on by the skin of our teeth, but in much reduced numbers, as much of the land mass will have become uninhabitable. There will have been wars, famines and mass migrations on an epic scale, and law and order/civilisation as we know it will have broken down long before, but will be on the up again.

Either that, or at the 11th hour (i.e. right now), our leaders will pull their heads out of their collective arses, and finally impose some draconian laws that massively curtail both the freedom of private citizens to pollute by travel, consumption of electricity, waste/plastics/meat etc, and also to stop large corporations and vested interests/governments from raping the planet for the financial gain of the few.

The latter won't happen, so the first scenario will be what goes down.

Honestly I don’t care. Mass extinction has occurred five times, Dinosuars lived for millions of year and then...zilch.
I like the idea that we are a small part of the whole process.

My views are all pretty dystopian too sadly

Birds are dinosaurs, and there are still plenty of them around!

I agree though that being part of a bigger process is an appealing thought.

Oh no Eurovision is next Saturday!

Thinking about things like this hurts my brain. We're just animals but we have evolved to invent cars, tv, pubs, cinemas etc. But we're just animals! And we won't always be here. And when we're gone, who will consciously experience the earth and all the things we are concerned about conserving? Maybe no-one? Argh

I would think that the scientific proof put forward by busted is irrefutable.

Maybe Zager and Evans vision of the future of humans beats Busted!