I often think, with our more modern ways of dealing with the dead, and our ever growing population, will we come to a point where we run out of certain elements vital to new life? Of course, it would be a temporary and ugly situation if and when it happened, but is it possible??
First we have all the currently living people who are taking up 'x' amount of several elements of life. Then we have the deceased and either not yet decomposed, or cremated. So those elements are also taken out of circulation, some forever and some for at least a few hundred years. Caskets are now entombed in concrete, thus slowing the return of elements even more than in the past.
Also, we have a larger animal population, with farming and all these pets. We're also stripping more elements from the soil that aren't always responsibly and promptly returned.
Do you see where I'm going with this? Don't you think that if no great tragedy strikes the human race, and it continues on as normal, we'd end up at a point where we'd come close to, or actually deplete at least SOME of the elements vital to life? Our life, animal's lives, and plant life? Would we have to revise our policies of dealing with the dead, and have to grind up and spread the bodies over the land? Of course, not in OUR lifetimes, but in the not so distant future.
First we have all the currently living people who are taking up 'x' amount of several elements of life. Then we have the deceased and either not yet decomposed, or cremated. So those elements are also taken out of circulation, some forever and some for at least a few hundred years. Caskets are now entombed in concrete, thus slowing the return of elements even more than in the past.
Also, we have a larger animal population, with farming and all these pets. We're also stripping more elements from the soil that aren't always responsibly and promptly returned.
Do you see where I'm going with this? Don't you think that if no great tragedy strikes the human race, and it continues on as normal, we'd end up at a point where we'd come close to, or actually deplete at least SOME of the elements vital to life? Our life, animal's lives, and plant life? Would we have to revise our policies of dealing with the dead, and have to grind up and spread the bodies over the land? Of course, not in OUR lifetimes, but in the not so distant future.
The lower mantle alone is like 5 times the size of the upper mantle. As far as elements go, and even with the exponential population growth models we are showing today, we would run out of clean water WAY before we would run out of elements.
Running out of water would result in massive wars and famine, killing off much of the human race.
Running out of elements is less likely to happen than a meteor striking the Earth.