Man using 100% of Earth resources NOW:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/Gone-in-8-months-What-Earth-produces-in-a-year/articleshow/48508467.cms

It's an absurd assertion. To compare, to produce the world's energy demand using solar panels, one would need to cover about 1 percent of the Sahara desert with solar panels. Of course, this is not the most efficient way of producing energy, but it gives you an idea of how much of the Earth's potential we are actually using.

Originally posted by KazetNagorra
It's an absurd assertion. To compare, to produce the world's energy demand using solar panels, one would need to cover about 1 percent of the Sahara desert with solar panels. Of course, this is not the most efficient way of producing energy, but it gives you an idea of how much of the Earth's potential we are actually using.

There are other resources such as fresh water and metals like copper. Copper is getting more and more scarce, which is pretty scary, we need all we can get.

Originally posted by sonhouse
There are other resources such as fresh water and metals like copper. Copper is getting more and more scarce, which is pretty scary, we need all we can get.

The supply of fresh water is practically unlimited. Cheap fresh water is a bit harder to obtain in some areas. Fresh water can not "run out."

The price of copper dropped 25% in the last year, was already cheap and can be recycled. Bulk copper costs a mere $2.31 per pound. It's not going to get "scarce" any time soon.

Originally posted by KazetNagorra
The supply of fresh water is practically unlimited. Cheap fresh water is a bit harder to obtain in some areas. Fresh water can not "run out."

The price of copper dropped 25% in the last year, was already cheap and can be recycled. Bulk copper costs a mere $2.31 per pound. It's not going to get "scarce" any time soon.

Here is one analysis of the copper situation:

http://dailyresourcehunter.com/the-next-metal-crisis-copper/

And this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_copper

Originally posted by sonhouse
There are other resources such as fresh water and metals like copper. Copper is getting more and more scarce, which is pretty scary, we need all we can get.

If the price of copper goes up, I will be celebrating as it means more wealth for Zambia. However, I changed jobs in part because the largest coppermine in the world in the Congo was put on hold for a while because of low copper prices.
Here in Africa phone lines and electricity lines are slowly being changed from copper to other metals because copper is easily stolen. But the reason it was used in the first place is that it is a good conductor and cheap.

As for the OP, please revisit this thread in 8 months so we can all laugh at you. You must either be able to show that Americans suddenly started economizing far more than currently or show us the global catastrophe as resources have run out.

In Zambia, lake Kariba is a bit low, but otherwise are natural resources are still very much present and most of them will still be there a year from now, and most of them are grossly underutilized due to lack of demand.

Originally posted by sonhouse
Here is one analysis of the copper situation:

http://dailyresourcehunter.com/the-next-metal-crisis-copper/

And this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_copper

The first is written by someone trying tell stock market advice and tries to support his case with poor logic such as how easy it is to steal copper - which has nothing whatsoever to do with whether or not copper will be harder to mine. In fact the recycleability of copper is very much against his argument.

The second does not support your case. In fact it says:

Tom Graedel and colleagues at Yale University calculate that by 2100 global demand for copper will outstrip the amount extractable from the ground.

So, it looks like we have another 75 years at least.

Originally posted by twhitehead
The first is written by someone trying tell stock market advice and tries to support his case with poor logic such as how easy it is to steal copper - which has nothing whatsoever to do with whether or not copper will be harder to mine. In fact the recycleability of copper is very much against his argument.

The second does not support your case. In fac ...[text shortened]... mount extractable from the ground.[/quote]
So, it looks like we have another 75 years at least.

One lifetime. Then what sports fans?

Originally posted by sonhouse
One lifetime. Then what sports fans?

Slightly higher copper prices are probably not going to mean the end of the world.

You're pretty old, so you might remember the 1970s oil crisis. I'm sure many people at that time predicted that we'd have run out of oil by now. And that's something we can't recycle (although we can produce it renewably and have non-oil alternatives for many applications).

Originally posted by KazetNagorra
Slightly higher copper prices are probably not going to mean the end of the world.

You're pretty old, so you might remember the 1970s oil crisis. I'm sure many people at that time predicted that we'd have run out of oil by now. And that's something we can't recycle (although we can produce it renewably and have non-oil alternatives for many applications).

It will probably come down to a deal where the price goes up high enough to make it worthwhile to process the 70 PPM stuff.

Originally posted by sonhouse
It will probably come down to a deal where the price goes up high enough to make it worthwhile to process the 70 PPM stuff.

Yes - the higher the price, the more viable non-viable deposits become. Of course, we are seeing the same with oil/gas - fracking would not be economically viable with pre-1970s oil price levels.

Originally posted by KazetNagorra
Yes - the higher the price, the more viable non-viable deposits become. Of course, we are seeing the same with oil/gas - fracking would not be economically viable with pre-1970s oil price levels.

I think adjusted for inflation, oil is about the same price as it was in the 1960's.

Originally posted by sonhouse
I think adjusted for inflation, oil is about the same price as it was in the 1960's.

It is not a question of price relative to inflation but price relative to cost of getting the stuff out of the ground. I disagree with KazetNagorra though. Fracking is a relatively new development that made previously expensive to obtain deposits cheaper to obtain which is why it has become popular. It is possible there would be less fracking if the price of oil was lower, but I don't think it would render most of it non-viable. The tar sands of Canada are an example of deposits that are being mined because of the high price of oil.

Originally posted by sonhouse
One lifetime. Then what sports fans?

Do you at least agree that your OP's 8 months is something of an exaggeration?

Originally posted by twhitehead
Do you at least agree that your OP's 8 months is something of an exaggeration?

No, we won't run out of copper in 8 months nor 8 years. He might be just foreseeing a big price jump next year though.