Could paper eventually become obsolete?

Question

Could paper eventually become obsolete?

Answer 1

Yes, if people keep having s*x.

Global warming -- a gradual increase in planet-wide temperatures -- is now well documented and accepted by scientists as fact. A panel convened by the U.S National Research Council, the nation's premier science policy body, in June 2006 voiced a "high level of confidence" that Earth is the hottest it has been in at least 400 years, and possibly even the last 2,000 years. Studies indicate that the average global surface temperature has increased by approximately 0.5-1.0°F (0.3-0.6°C) over the last century. This is the largest increase in surface temperature in the last 1,000 years and scientists are predicting an even greater increase over this century. This warming is largely attributed to the increase of greenhouse gases (primarily carbon dioxide and methane) in the Earth's upper atmosphere caused by human burning of fossil fuels, industrial, farming, and deforestation activities.

Average global temperatures may increase by 1.4-5.8ºC (that's 2.5 - 10.4º F) by the end of the 21st century. Although the numbers sound small, they can trigger significant changes in climate. (The difference between global temperatures during an Ice Age and an ice-free period is only about 5ºC.) Besides resulting in more hot days, many scientists believe an increase in temperatures may lead to changes in precipitation and weather patterns. Warmer ocean water may result in more intense and frequent tropical storms and hurricanes. Sea levels are also expected to increase by 0.09 - 0.88 m. in the next century, mainly from melting glaciers and expanding seawater . Global warming may also affect wildlife and species that cannot survive in warmer environments may become extinct. Finally, human health is also at stake, as global warming may result in the spreading of certain diseases such as malaria, the flooding of major cities, a greater risk of heat stroke for individuals, and poor air quality.

Climate change is very likely having an impact now on our planet and its life, according to the latest installment of a report published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). And the future problems caused by rising seas, growing deserts, and more frequent droughts all look set to affect the developing world more than rich countries, they add. The report is the second chapter of the IPCC's Fourth Assessment -- the most comprehensive summary yet of research into the causes and effects of climate change. To read more, visit Effects of climate change tallied up.

Factors

Greenhouse Gases

The increase in greenhouse gases caused by human activity is often cited as one of the major causes of global warming. These greenhouse gases reabsorb heat reflected from the Earth's surface, thus trapping the heat in our atmosphere. This natural process is essential for life on Earth because it plays an important role in regulating the Earth's temperature. However, over the last several hundred years, humans have been artificially increasing the concentration of these gases, mainly carbon dioxide and methane in the Earth's atmosphere. These gases build up and prevent additional thermal radiation from leaving the Earth, thereby trapping excess heat.

Solar Variability & Global Warming

Some uncertainty remains about the role of natural variations in causing climate change. Solar variability certainly plays a minor role, but it looks like only a quarter of the recent variations can be attributed to the Sun. At most. During the initial discovery period of global warming, the magnitude of the influence of increased activity on the Sun was not well determined.

Solar irradiance changes have been measured reliably by satellites for only 30 years. These precise observations show changes of a few tenths of a percent that depend on the level of activity in the 11-year solar cycle. Changes over longer periods must be inferred from other sources. Estimates of earlier variations are important for calibrating the climate models. While a component of recent global warming may have been caused by the increased solar activity of the last solar cycle, that component was very small compared to the effects of additional greenhouse gases. According to a NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) press release, "...the solar increases do not have the ability to cause large global temperature increases...greenhouse gases are indeed playing the dominant role..." The Sun is once again less bright as we approach solar minimum, yet global warming continues.

GLOBAL WARMING HAS TO STOP BEFORE WE ALL DIE.

HUMANS MADE THIS MESS AND HUMANS ARE THE ONLY ONES WHO CAN CLEAN IT UP!

Answer 2

lol paper will go round and round. I mean all this history is written down in it. Believe me no one will try to get rid of it. Unless of course it becomes a matter with all the cutting of trees and such. In that case...dear don't worry about by that time you and I will not being standing on this planet any longer... ^_~

Answer 3

Don't bet on it.  The demise of paper has been predicted for the last 20 years.

Answer 4

Yes, of course. However paper is an organic material and organic material has a living cycle. Cellulose as the main component of paper is easy to loose it's bond, if the bond are cutted off because of water even weather then paper will no longer able to be used anymore.

The main use of paper is to absorp ink, if the cellulose has been broken then it can't be absorp the ink anymore.

Answer 5

Not so long as:

1.  The government requires paper records to prove eligibility for tax deductions should ther be an audit;

2.  Paper records are REQUIRED to prove many things in court;

3.  Paper records are required for proof of insurance;

and MANY other cases where printed records are required to prove things.

Answer 6

Paper shouldnt become obsollete. They are needed for paper documents, exams, to teach younger children who will be enrolling to kindargarten. Also newspaper businesses, magazine businesses, novels  and so many other stuffs are done with paper.

Answer 7

Probably not.

But we can use hemp to make it instead of trees.  Hemp is much more sustainable.

http://www.forestethics.org/article.php?...

          Forest Ethics has much infomation on the  Boreal Forest of Canada and how it's being ravaged to make junk mail, toilet paper, paper towels and consumer catalogs.

"Less than 8% of Canada’s Boreal Forest is protected. It is being logged at a rate of 2 acres a minute, 24 hours a day."

That's 2,884 acres a day. or 1,052,660 a year.

"The United States consumes more than half of all the trees logged in the Boreal—many in the form of catalogs and junk mail. Clearcutting, mining, and oil and gas development have already devastated half of the Canadian Boreal and half of the historic range of the Boreal’s iconic woodland caribou. Is this remarkable wilderness—vital in cleaning our air and water and in mitigating the effects of global warming—more valuable as a forest or as junk mail?"

"If you care about clean air and water, you care about the Boreal Forest. Stretching from Alaska clear across Canada to the Atlantic Ocean, the Boreal is an astonishing wilderness—one of the largest intact ecosystems in the world. It holds more freshwater than anywhere else on the planet and plays an essential role in cleaning the air we breathe. After the oceans, the Boreal stores more carbon than anywhere else in the world. It’s also home to threatened species like woodland caribou and wolverine, as well as wolves, bears, fish and half of North America's songbirds."

Answer 8

Don't count on it. It might, but that's probably many years in the future. But then again, people will probably always want to send things through the mail, which will require paper (or cardboard) to make the envelopes.

Answer 9

not everyone has a computer and/or a t.v.

Answer 10

I have heard it to be a paperless society for so long since the invention of the computer....today we use more paper than we did 30 yrs ago....especially since the fax machine and copier.

Until all of the world can trust a machine to store documents..it will never happen.