eburacum45, ever hear of the Yeast Mold Factor? If you put mold in a sealed petre dish with a nutrient base and just leave it, it doesn't go completely extinct. In almost all cases after the population crashs when the resources are used up it stabilizes at 3% of the maximum initial population. I can see that happening to us. So at what did you say, 9 billon? We'll then die back and stabilize at 30 million world wide. Sounds good to me.

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Gimme a minute to read through Jay's latest observations...

Assuming we don't use one of the thousands of possible ways for us to kill ourselves, life on Earth should survive as long as there's an Earth. Land life however is not gauranteed, but something will be squirming here foe a good long time. I think it may possibly even survive solar expansion, as by then we (or our successors) will have found a way to move the planet, and maybe even the wisdom and foresight to actually do it before the first flare touches the surface (not to contrast them with us short-sighted moderns or anything).

I dunno. There have been times in the past when people were told to die for the greater good. None of them seemed too thrilled about it.