The Butterfly Effect

[imoldernu]

Seems as if this is showing up more often, as we (and the world) become more sophisticated.
An example, from our local news this morning:

"Local man's operation delayed because of zika virus."

Not what you might expect. The problem is because of a local blood shortage... Iowa. First of all, blood donations are down because college donors are still on summer vacation, a normal situation.
The problem is exacerbated, though, because of a new screening requirement that asks if the donor has been to certain foreign countries where the zika virus has been detected. While not a permanent exclusion, it does reduce the normal number of volunteer donations. The fear is that these people, who are regular donors, may not return., thus reducing the normal continuous supply.

The Butterfly Effect seems to grow, as the world becomes smaller, and more densely populated.

Comments and concerns welcome. In particular, perhaps those that might affect you during your own lifetime.

 

[easysurfer]

On the butterfly effect. I think we are more connected overall then we tend to believe.

 

[harley]

Seems as if this is showing up more often, as we (and the world) become more sophisticated.
An example, from our local news this morning:

"Local man's operation delayed because of zika virus."

Not what you might expect. The problem is because of a local blood shortage... Iowa. First of all, blood donations are down because college donors are still on summer vacation, a normal situation.
The problem is exacerbated, though, because of a new screening requirement that asks if the donor has been to certain foreign countries where the zika virus has been detected. While not a permanent exclusion, it does reduce the normal number of volunteer donations. The fear is that these people, who are regular donors, may not return., thus reducing the normal continuous supply.

The Butterfly Effect seems to grow, as the world becomes smaller, and more densely populated.

Comments and concerns welcome. In particular, perhaps those that might affect you during your own lifetime.

I used to donate blood regularly, and this sort of thing happens every time a new disease/syndrome occurs (Mad Cow, AIDS, H1N1, etc). It impacts the blood supply for a while, then testing becomes easy and everything goes back to normal. No big deal, no big butterfly. And don't base your beliefs on the news media. As Don Henley said:

I make my living off the evening news
Just give me something
Something I can use
People love it when you lose
They love dirty laundry

 

[Totoro]

Comments and concerns welcome. In particular, perhaps those that might affect you during your own lifetime.

The biggest scariest things in the world are old, but some are getting scarier because of interconnectedness:

• Pandemics. One nasty bug that gets out of hand and you'll have billions dead. Europe lost one third its population because of the plague. It won't be contained next time.
• Supervolcano or massive earthquake. Failed crops, mass hunger .. not a new threat again, but supply chains are so finely tuned can get a massive disruption so easily. Just one measly volcano in Iceland for example can shut off all air traffic. We're not prepared.
• A massive disruption of the core internet infrastructure. Most things are run by devices built by a few manufactures. Not that worried about, but still. We'll get some major outages sooner or later. People will die as a result.

Still meteors scare me the most.


Apart from the mundane obviously: my own silly mortality ..

 

[HFWR]

The Iron Butterfly effect...

https://youtu.be/UIVe-rZBcm4

 

[audreyh1]

I see butterflies flying around my yard all day everyday. I don't see how they can affect anything.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_effect

 

[DrRoy]

We are here talking about it because the isthmus of Panama rose from the ocean starting about 3 million years ago. OK, stay with me here.

From "Children of the Ice Age": When Panama rose, it blocked an Atlantic current that flowed into the Pacific. This increased the salinity of the Gulf Stream. At higher salinity, the water was heavier, and around Iceland instead of flowing into and warming the Arctic Ocean it sunk to the sea floor. The cooling of the Arctic led to the start of the (geologically) recent ice ages. Other climactic effects included cooling and drying of the African tropical forests, home to the Australopithecus hominids of the period. The considerable loss of their preferred habitat led over time to their extinction and the evolution of the genus Homo and eventually to us, Homo Sapiens. How is that for something that happened a third of the world away?

 

[harley]

Panama and continental drift is a damn big butterfly.

 

[Koolau]

I wonder what will happen when thousands return from the Olympics. If the Zika virus tags along, it could be devastating. Forget the butterfly effect - what about the mosquito effect?

 

[RobbieB]

I don't worry about this stuff and really don't care.

Bring on the asteroid, bring on the bird flu, bring back the black death. Kill millions!

Nature will do what it will do and there is nothing to be done to fix it. Why worry?

Dead is dead and if you're dead you won't worry anymore anyway eh?

Have fun now! Live life to the fullest! Savor every minute, every feeling, every emotion, every flavor and scent. The clock is ticking -

 

[Gumby]

The Butterfly Effect is certainly not a new concept. As the proverb regarding Richard III (died at Bosworth Field in 1485) begins "For want of a nail . . ."

 

[audreyh1]

I wonder what will happen when thousands return from the Olympics. If the Zika virus tags along, it could be devastating. Forget the butterfly effect - what about the mosquito effect?

Yeah - definitely!

 

[Totoro]

Tiger mosquitoes of the can-carry-zika kind already found in Europe - was in the news today.

I can imagine this spinning out of control and leading to a baby bust while it lasts.