The Most Important R in Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
by When we look at the cause of most of our world problems, famine, over-fishing, global warming, deforestation, and so forth, the ultimate root cause is human demand. As we have a constant growth in population we are constantly increasing the rate of demand. The R we need to Reduce, is ourselves.
Do the Math
Many people think that as a couple, if they only have two children, they are not contributing to the population growth. However, a simply realization that both parents are alive, would indicate that in fact the population has been doubled, simply by having only two children. The children did not replace the parents.
Years ago our population did not swell as rapidly as it is today. Lifespans were vastly shorter and infant mortality was much higher. It has only been with recent medical advancement that we see families where there are children, parents, grand parents, and great grandparents, all alive. Since most people have siblings, they cannot even say their children are replacing their parents, since their siblings are probably also procreating, and their parents may still be alive.
In the the beginning of the year 2009 the world population has been estimated at just over 6.7 Billion people, a full billion more than ten years earlier, and more than double what the world population was only thirty years earlier.
Where years ago the population grew at a much slower and steady pace, it is now leaping and bounding, and without check will result in a disaster like we have never known. Our planet can only feed so many people, house so many people, and so forth. Stress, as the result of overpopulation in areas, and a lack of resources, has resulted in war already. Deforestation to grow crops will aid global warming, as crops do not have the same impact on the environment as a diverse and full forest. Meat will be extremely expensive as farmers will no longer have land to raise food for cattle, but will be forced to raise cereal and vegetable crops for people.
Photo Source http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4e/World_population.svg
It is One World
Currently Asia represents the bulk of the planets population, roughly 60%, so most people in less populated nations feel they do not need to control population growth, uttering statements such as “there is still lots of open space in Montana, USA.”. We must remember, however that while Montana may have space, we are all part of the same planet, and it does not matter where we add the people, we are still adding people. Mouths to feed, garbage to deal with, and so forth.
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Post CommentWill Gray
On January 4, 2009 at 11:56 am
Great article! I agree!
Darla Smith
On January 4, 2009 at 12:47 pm
Interesting article!
s hayes
On January 4, 2009 at 1:05 pm
Excellent well researched article
Sotiris
On January 4, 2009 at 2:56 pm
I don’t think that there is a problem with population. Scientists believe that Earth can feed up to 18 Billion people. The only bad thing is that few are wealthy and most of people starve to death. If only there was a way to divide the wealth fairly to all people, then we could see better days! Nice article, but I don’t agree with reducing population!
Ispellbad
On January 4, 2009 at 3:13 pm
I agree with some of this not all! Intresting artical!
Joie Schmidt
On January 4, 2009 at 3:28 pm
Exceptional work – thank you for sharing this invaluable piece*
Blessings.
Sincerely,
-Liane Schmidt.
Clay Hurtubise
On January 4, 2009 at 8:32 pm
Good piece. At present I think we have greater issues than population growth. We, in the U.S, consume far too much of earth’s resources. The world can handle a lot more, but it up to us to do better. Urban sprawl is now reversing. Further reduction could be attained by better regulations on land use, density allowances for cities, and more ‘walkable’ urban planning.
Thanks,
Clay
Ruby Hawk
On January 4, 2009 at 9:21 pm
I agree that we in the developed countries consume too much.We have too much waste and our farmland and woodland is taken up by urban sprawl.We can consume much less and we must.
PR Mace
On January 4, 2009 at 9:55 pm
Well done, thought provoking article.
Brian Daniel Stankich
On January 4, 2009 at 11:26 pm
Well written. An important but complex topic. I tend to agree with Sotiris and agree with others that ‘western’ lifestyle is out of control in some ways, while hundreds of millions suffer needlessly. Brian
eddiego65
On January 8, 2009 at 8:43 am
Excellent piece! I completely agree.
natureboy529
On January 9, 2009 at 9:48 am
Interesting stuff!
Michele Cameron Drew
On January 9, 2009 at 10:20 pm
This is a great article, with a very powerful and important message! I wholeheartedly agree. This wasn’t so noticeable back in our days, but the overcrowding has already begun to be noticeable to people my age and older. It is a very scary thing. I often worry about future generations
-M
Debra.
On January 9, 2009 at 10:52 pm
Oh, I also agree. Overpopulation is producing mass quantities of starvation, loss of jobs and wildlife. If it isn’t controlled soon, people will soon die off because the planet simply cannot support it’s human inhabitants.
Great article.
Glynis Smy
On January 10, 2009 at 1:11 am
I think with the world economy some changes in the way folk think about having large families. Here in Cyprus, financial handouts to folk for having a 3rd and 4th child ensures that the race survives, but at what cost eventually? (word has it a car is offered now for the 4th adding to the environmental burden)!
Interesting article, a lot to discuss and think about.Good Work.
R J Evans
On January 10, 2009 at 2:14 am
Thanks you for bringing up the real elephant in the room where the future of our planet is concerned. For some reason people are a little shy to point out that if population was controlled then we could more easily solve many other problems. We are truly a plague of biblical proportions and gaia will find a way to stop us if we do not do it ourselves!
Juancav
On January 10, 2009 at 7:44 am
As nations develop educationally, address this problem, do not forget that the economic situation in the world women joined the work, and this increase is devoted to family or work outside the home, not always for vocation, but by necessity. The important thing is not to reach a legal justification for the killing of a unborn.
B Nelson
On January 10, 2009 at 6:05 pm
to comment #17
I am not talking about “Killing of an unborn” I am talking about preventing pregnancy in the first place.
OhSugar
On January 19, 2009 at 4:13 pm
I love children. I regret having just two,I lost my only son three years ago. However, I don’t think I would want to have so many children that I couldn’t give them a quality life. Thanks for the article.