It’s fair to say that humans are tool-using animals. In fact our mastery of tool use has allowed us to become the dominant species on the planet. And over the years our tools have become increasingly complex. From the simple bone used to club someone over the head, to mastery of the wheel, the pulley, the printing press, computers, televisions, mobile phones and microwaves. All designed to make our lives easier and hold back the bloody jaws of nature, which sits waiting on the outskirts of our quiet little civilised lives.
ABOVE: Black metal album covers have been trying to warn us for years.
But there’s a problem. As machines got more and more complex, more and more complex materials were needed to make them. A rare element called Indium is used to make Liquid Crystal Displays, for example, which are used in everything from calculators to flat screen TVs. Hafnium does not occur naturally in nature, but is extracted from sand and used in computer chips and nuclear reactors. Gallium is used in a range of products, from semi-conductors to nuclear weapons. Not to mention the more common minerals and elements like Platinum, Copper and Zinc, which are used for a multitude of manufacturing puposes.
So just to recap- incredibly rare materials are being used in products which are mass marketed, many of which are designed to be disposable and replaced within 6 months. I’m sure that couldn’t possibly be a problem.
In 2007, German materials chemist Armin Reller sat down and worked out roughly how long our current known supplies of rare materials would last. The answer? Until about 2017. Less than 10 years. Indium, Hafnium and Gallium will be completely exhausted by that point. Zinc, which is used for such a myriad range of things that just listing two of them like “coins” and “bullets” barely does it justice, is expected to be used up by 2037.
And that’s just the short-term. Supplies of nickel, phosphorous and even copper are starting to get on the worrying side. They could conceivably be used up by the end of the century. But long before that, every TV, computer, radio, nuclear power plant, stove, flashlight and a thousand other devices would have gone dark. The old saying is that humanity is three hot meals away from anarchy. It’s possible anarchy could reign in the next 50 years.
ABOVE: Dogs and cats living together; MASS HYSTERIA!
People worry about the oil supply running out, but this is a far more immediate and pressing problem. Especially because, in a twist of irony so great that it proves God exists and that he’s a bastard, these materials are used in things like solar cells and high-storage batteries which are being touted as the green alternatives to petrol cars and coal and nuclear power. We’re replacing one set of problems with another, far more immediate set.
Luckily, my bunker is fully constructed and ready for use right now. And I have lots of spare parts. When the lights go out, I’ll be a mile underground, listening to my iPod and basking in the glow from the halogens.
Tags: The November Challenge, Ways The World Will End
January 10th, 2010 at 17:21
[...] was recently talking about how we were all doomed because basic stuff that we need to make things is rapidly running out. From [...]