Who knows how much internal energy is released by volcanism? Although Antarctica may be frozen solid, I read they are just discovering massive thermal vents in the Indian Ocean. Anyone guess how much heat is released into the oceans to eventually find its way upwards? Add on surface volcanos and hotspots, and it will dwarf the energy we coax out of atoms and coal and gasoline.
We are facing numerous extinction possibilities:
Volcanos and Deccan Traps
Meteors
Diseases
English Cricket team
Maybe I'm getting cynical, but I just can't lie awake at night worrying about all those 500 year McDonalds containers, or the people using faulty scientific logic to just plain make life harder for the rest of us!
As a matter of interest, I am flying a 747 to JFK tonight. I shall ask our flight planners to produce a flight plan restricted to 24,000' to compare. Of course, not everyone would get 24,000'. Based on current experience, we would have loads of flights restricted to 18,000' or below (with the whole world crowding into 24,000')! Hopefully an answer Sunday.