The 6th Mass Extinction

Spaceless

Earth faces sixth mass extinction
(NEW SCIENTIST) The Earth may be on the brink of a sixth mass extinction on a par with the five others that have punctuated its history, suggests the strongest evidence yet.
http://www.newscientist.com/section/science-news

Daozen

The way i see it, if Earth has survived five already, it will survive this one too.

Of course, humans may not.

person

The way i see it, if Earth has survived five already, it will survive this one too.

Of course, humans may not.

:clap:

This is the important thing that is often missing when it comes to people's understanding of environmental problems. Environmental degradation isn't just about losing the polar bears or a nice place for some people to enjoy, its about how secure our human society is and ultimatly even our survival.

MindGate

Wheres the article??

DhammaDhatu

Wheres the article??

Jeffrey

echo

Daozen

Found it.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn4797-earth-faces-sixth-mass-extinction.html

DhammaDhatu

thanks. article says little, however

Jeffrey

The mahayana perspective is that the nature of the buddha is wisdom which spontaneously radiates to help all beings. At the bodhisattva level you realize the ungraspable nature of phenomina including that all the negativity (kleshas) have no essence and somehow one is liberated from these kleshas. They are presumably still there though they have no power to disturb the bodhisattva? Upon seeing the essenceless nature of the kleshas the bodhisattva realizes that all beings may come to complete and perfect enlightenment.

In the jewel ornament of liberation the antidote to attachment to peace is given as love and compassion. For example a parent may want a quiet evening, yet out of compassion for their children they spend time with them on their math homework.

Related to the topic concern for the environment would be a natural expression of the compassion. The bodhisattva would not be attached to the outcome. The world may be destroyed, but the indestructible heart essence: openness, clarity, and sensitivity, would not be destroyed. Thich Nhat Hanh discusses engaged buddhism in which the practitioner goes out into the world.

Ric

I think we all know someday all this will come to end. No surprise. I didnt read the article but I am aware that we are also due for a pole shift.

Sabre

And someday the sun will explode and burn the earth. 1-0 for impermanence.

Tikal2012

^^^ Hahaha

zidangus

And someday the sun will explode and burn the earth. 1-0 for impermanence.

Nice Hollywood description Sabre, I dont know about the explode part tough, maybe rephrasing it to, "someday the sun will gobble up the earth as it turns into a red giant" :scratch:
naa your right yours sounded more exciting and dramatic :thumbsup:

Jeffrey

I think the sun eventually explodes and the remainder becomes a dwarf sun or something. A white or black dwarf depending how massive it was. Maybe it contracts rather than explode?

zidangus

I think the sun eventually explodes and the remainder becomes a dwarf sun or something. A white or black dwarf depending how massive it was. Maybe it contracts rather than explode?

Ok this is a brief summary of the suns evolution after hydrogen stops burning in the core. Once hydrogen stops burning in the core the sun will expand into a red giant, the earth along with all the inner planets will be engulfed by the sun in this expansion stage. The Sun will not explode like a supernova, its mass is not large enough for this (only giant stars with mass larger than the Chandrasekhar limit 1.4 solar masses can undergo a supernova), and only stars which undergo CNO cycle do this, our sun undergoes the PP reaction chain in its core. Our suns fate is to expand into a red giant when hydrogen runs out, then it will begin to burn helium into carbon in its core. Next there will be a core explosion , however the outer layers of the sun absorb this. After this explosion the core can no longer create the required amount of energy via thermonuclear burning. This does however carry on in shells outside the core, with the sun now resembling an onion with an outer, hydrogen-fusion layer and an inner, helium-fusion layer which surrounds an inert core of carbon and oxygen. Next the sun will eventually generate an intense wind that begins to carry off its outer envelope. Then it slowly radiates its energy as a white dwarf about the size of the earth and eventually a black dwarf. The END
The evolution of stars can be seen in a hertzsprung russell diagram below


http://www.nmm.ac.uk/tserver.php?f=1_20020624100906.gif&w=736&legacyResize

SpinyNorman2

And someday the sun will explode and burn the earth. 1-0 for impermanence.

Yes, it's all happening next year apparently, 2012. ;-)

Spiny

Floating_Abu

And just for the pics

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2000596/Solar-flare-Sunspot-cycle-threatens-disrupt-Earth-communications-power.html

zidangus

And just for the pics

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2000596/Solar-flare-Sunspot-cycle-threatens-disrupt-Earth-communications-power.html

The sun has just come out of one of the longest minima of solar activity for a long time, which had a lot scientists worried that another mini ice age was going to happen like the one which occured from 1645 - 1715

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maunder_Minimum

Thankfully activity started to pick up again as you have shown Floating_Abu

Ric

If we get hit by a solar flare I wont be able to argue with u guys

Ill be too busy trying to be Mad Max.

Vincenzi

this mass extinction should be common knowledge...