How much radiation could the human race sustain?
 
We all know that a solar flare’s radiation can do a great deal of damage. They’ve been known to do everything from disrupt communications, to kill the entire crew of an unshielded shuttle. But just how much everyday radiation in our TerraBases can be absorbed without causing irreversible damage to our homes, cities, and bodies?
 
Given the capabilities of our artificial atmospheres, leading scientists now have a number to the outer limits of acceptable exposure: 350 parts per millionth. However, the compiled average of radiation measurements from TerraBases and space stations across the galaxy is currently at 382 parts per millionth.
 
 350 isn’t much further from the 382 ppm we’re at right now. It seems like a fairly insignificant difference. What would happen if our ppm stayed above 350?
 
Increased radiation production would – and has – caused temperature increases on every planet and station. The hot and cold extremes would continue to separate, which could mean a scarcity of resources to compensate. Warmer temperatures would mean the ice caps on colder planets would continue to melt, with sea levels that would rise dramatically when they are gone. Warmer weather also means longer mosquito seasons for planets that are still fighting malaria and dengue fever. Longer and longer droughts would - and have – come each year. Galactic food prices would rise and cause unrest in stations that are fighting to feed its citizens now.
 
Even if you can withstand all that, there are natural wonders that will be gone within a generation. Located past Baronessland in Auster, is the Great Barrier Belt. A magnificent "living" organism similar to an asteroid belt in appearance, the belt is extremely vulnerable to increased radiation levels. The amount of radiation the Belt has absorbed is causing large sections of it to crumble. If the ppm ever goes to 450, it would dissolve completely.
 
450 isn’t that much further from the 382 we’re at now.
 
It’s almost inconceivable to think that just a century of increased exposure could create massive changes for multiple environments. Especially when factors like sunspots, methane, orbital irregularities, and regular weather abnormalities have existed for millennia on all planets and stations.
 
Yet, small, repeated practices – like moon-top resource removal, nuclear-powered FTSL shuttles, and garbage dumping on solar surfaces – have begun to add up and multiply.
 
You don't have to go far to see the effects that being over 350 ppm are having. After all, fires are rampant across the Perseusian arm of Kroy due to continuing drought. In parts of Mari, there will be no drinkable water if the ice caps continue to melt.
 
But perhaps, most notably, are the drastic changes in the weather in Auster Territory.
 
One month ago a massive solar storm plowed across Auster's home planet. In its wake, it left a number of citizens suffering from acute breathing problems – a normal reaction of high exposure to particle pollution.
 
Is all this overexaggeration? Is it just scare tactics or bad advice?
 
Imagine if a doctor told a patient that his high cholesterol put him at great risk of having a heart attack. If that patient would only make some sacrifices, like a change in diet or a more active lifestyle, he could live longer and better. But if that patient decided to ignore the doctor’s advice, just so he wouldn’t have to change, he’d put himself at risk for a serious, life-threatening illness.
 
Would anyone who relied on, loved, or depended on that man think ignoring that advice was a chance worth taking?
 
 
 
http://www.350.org/about/science
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/12/1206_041206_global_warming.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming