Can Our Earth Support Us As We Age?
April 22, 2008 by Liberty Kontranowski
Filed under Event, Extreme, Genetics, Green Health, Health, Medical History, Oddities, Science, Your Body, Your Mind
Image details: Question mark with the Earth as a dot served by picapp.com
Happy Earth Day, everyone!
We’ve been reminded quite a bit today about being green and caring for our Earth. So here’s my question: Can the Earth continue to care for us?!?
Over the weekend, Edna Parker of Illinois (the oldest known currently-living person) celebrated her 115th birthday. Also recently, Barbara Walters did a special on living to be 150. While this is fascinating and the idea of living past 100 sounds intriguing, when it comes right down to it, how will our world be able to support such an aging population? Here are some issues:
1. As it is, we have a dire nursing shortage. And we all know that living long doesn’t always equal living well. We would need more health care professionals to keep our health in check.
2. Living until 150, the new retirement age would be, oh, say…130. Can you imagine working at the same job for approximately 110 years? Of course not! Furthermore, how would our employers cover our healthcare costs? Would there ever be job turnover? Would a mid-life career change happen at about 80 years of age? Really.
3. Logistically, where would we put everybody? We’d have to develop more land, thereby cutting farming space, so what would we all eat? Where would we get all the water we need? What about car and public transportation emissions? Scary.
These are just a few thoughts that come to mind as researchers conduct study after study to discover the secret to longevity. There are many more issues, of course, and these hardly scratch the surface. But on this Earth Day, they are surely thoughts to consider.
So, what do you think? Would you want to live to 150? Do you think our world would be able to handle us? Chime in…
I wouldn’t mind living until I see my great-great-grandchildren grow up. As long as my health stays in decent shape and with my wife beside me, I wouldn’t mind living until 200 without a care for the world
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Interesting.
Longevity seems like a good idea but only if your remain healthy, wealthy, and wise…
Here are my thoughts:
1) That’s called the Tithonus Error : http://www.fightaging.org/archives/000058.php – “Healthy life extension means extending the healthy part of your life span, not more years of infirmity.” Plus we could always train more health care professionals – humanity has faced and solved far worse problems.
2) I doubt that people would keep the same job that long. Most people change jobs and careers now even.
3) In the more developed parts of the world people are already having less kids, they aren’t even reproducing at replacement level in some cases. Over time agricultural techniques are getting more and more efficient at producing food, so I’m sure we can find a way to feed everyone. We will have to find better sources of energy that don’t pollute the environment anyway, regardless of how long we live, if we are to survive at all.
Also, if you start thinking far enough in the future – we may very well have people living in space stations, etc. so finding space for everyone wouldn’t be a problem.
I watched the ABC show “Live to 150 ,,, Can You Do It” and I enjoyed it. However I was a little disappointed that they did not talk about anyone who had already lived past 150 years. I have researched people who had lived 150 years or more, such as Li Ching Yun, who died in 1933 at the age of 256 years. As I was researching these supercentenarians, I came across a few of these people that are still alive today that have surpassed 150 years. Of these incredible people, my focus is now on a living, breathing immortal whom I fully believe is nearly 2,800 years old.
My intentions was to find out how these amazing people survive for so many years. I fully believed that if we could model the lifestyle of these supercentenarians, we too could live a much longer and healthier life style. I have summarized what I have found on my main blog: Ben-Abba.com which I intent to publish starting with my first book: “Secrets of an Immortal – An Eyewitness Account of 2,800 Years of History”.
The global nurse shortage is a world wide crisis. It is a real problem today that does not seem to get the attention it deserves. Currently there are only 15 million practicing nurses. They are the front line of our healthcare system and without them it cannot function. The shortage stems from a number of factors such as: steep growth in population, a declining number of applicants to nursing schools, an aging workforce, and a baby boom generation that will require concentrated healthcare services in coming years. The first baby boomer recently applied for Social Security indicating that the generation that once said, “never trust anyone over the age of thirty” may once again call upon those under thirty to help relieve the nursing shortage as the boomers reach retirement age. Many of my previous generation, generation X, elected not to go into the nursing profession, which leaves us to pick up the reigns where the boomers left off. There are several ways to help in the shortage besides actually becoming a nurse. I am attempting to do my part with this blog as my starting point. I’m nineteen and a senior in high school six weeks away from graduation; I plan to go on to college and major in either business or political science. I’m not asking my readers to all become nurses, as I am not, but instead use the resources available to them to help the shortage whether your expertise be in a hospital setting, politics, technology, or any profession you have chosen; there is something you can do to help. I’m calling on everyone, my generation specifically, to fight for nursing and our healthcare system. I encourage my readers to embark on a mini-crusade, so to speak, against the nursing shortage by pooling whatever resources are available to them. There is more to come so be sure to check back, also check out http://www.MyNursebook.com for more ways to get involved.
Some people will live longer, but not everyone will. An increase in longevity will bankrupt the nation though (increased social security and medicare prescriptions).