Thoughts And Trivia

At the end of 19th century, the growing number of horse drawn carriages in London, lead one mathematicians to calculate the horse shit that will be generated 100 years hence, if the horse drawn carriages kept on increasing at the same rate. He predicted that by the year 1992, London would be under 16 feet of horse dung.

These things should be taken with a pinch of salt - the forecast, I mean, not the horse shit. A change of technology to Internal Combustion Carriages (Automobiles) could not have been envisaged then.
I strongly suspect that the environmental prophets of doom are committing that same mistake. They are creating s similar picture of doom due to pollution by the cars.
In any case a single volcanic eruption or a Tsunami can cause much more environmental pollution than a decade of pollution by cars.
I am confident that humanity will be able to discover the next source of energy sooner than later - which would make internal combustion engines a museum piece.
In any case the recent spate of natural disasters has refuted our belief that nature, if left to it, is benign to Human civilization. Nothing of that sort. Nature could wipe out the Human civilization, as suddenly,as unpredictably, as quickly, as remorselessly as it had wiped the dinosaurs.
Step on the gas man, till you you have time!!!

Posted by Girish Bhatnagar at Sunday, September 18, 2005