Eco-Ordinary

Map of Human Footprint

 Image from http://veimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/16378/human_footprint.gif

A division of modern society exists who believe the principle way to save our planet is to curb our population, even to the point of human extinction itself.How much of this is fact and how much is fear-mongering? Let’s take a moment to explore some of the arguments.

One of the key questions in this discussion is “Just how many people can the world support?”  Unfortunately, there is no definitive answer because people have different value systems when it comes to quality of life.  Some would argue that we can support a large population if we used fewer resources.  Others would prefer a smaller population size that lived in greater luxury.  Some people highly value alternate species and in an ideal world would set aside large tracts of land to preserve natural habitats.  Others would be content in a world without wilderness, so long as humans and the species necessary to our continued survival prevailed.

For most of human history, our population has remained stable at around 8-10 million.  Then people began to grow crops and domesticate animals.  As our food sources stabilized, our population was able to expand.  The most recent growth explosion came about through technological advances, not only in agriculture but also in medicine and sanitation.  Today, the world population is estimated at 6.2 billion.  The United Nations projects that number to rise significantly in the coming years.

How has population affected us so far?  Currently, more than 400 million people face a scarcity of potable water.  Unclean water and poor sanitation kills millions every year.    In a majority of the developing countries studied by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the population has been growing faster than food supplies.  An estimated 600 million live in countries where cultivated land is critically scarce.  Most of the world’s oceans are already being fished to maximum capacity and coastal ecosystems are feeling the brunt of high population densities.  This doesn’t take into account the controversial issue of global climate change.

Some would argue that much of the world’s waste is due to excessive consumption of resources.  It is known that 20 percent of the world’s people, located in first-world countries, account for more than 80 percent of all resource consumption.  Yet when humanity lived in hunter-gatherer societies, consuming the barest minimum in natural resources, the world was only able to sustain a population in the low millions.  In fact, it is technology itself which has allowed our population to expand so heavily.  Obviously, a return to primitive society is not the answer. 

Then there are those who feel it is technology that will save us.  Most food scarcity crises occur because of a mismanagement of land and people, not through a true shortage.  With proper governance, we could increase production of arable land enough to sustain a growing population, at least in the near-term.  This technology already exists.  What these idealists don’t take into account is simple human nature.  When a resource is in limited supply, groups of people don’t naturally congregate together in a peaceful fashion to maintain and share that resource so that all may have enough.  Instead, the first inclination is to fight and to hoard anything of value.  When it comes to arable lands, such warfare leads to devastation from which only a tiny minority may benefit. 

It is obvious that a high human population is having an impact.  After looking at all the facts, I can honestly say that if you live in a technologically advanced country, the number one way you can help to save the planet is not to have excess children.

How many is too many?  In the next post, we’ll take a closer look at some of the personal and societal benefits and drawbacks to non-breeding.  Hopefully, this information will enable you to better make up your own mind as to whether or not future children are for you.  After that, we’ll discuss both voluntary and non-voluntary methods that have been attempted by various organizations in an effort to curb population growth, and what you can do to encourage the least harmful population control programs. 

REFERENCES:

http://www.americanreform.org/imagration/zuckerma.html

http://www.booksaboutthefuture.com/population-statistics.htm

http://www.cwac.net/population/index.html

http://www.actionbioscience.org/environment/hinrichsen_robey.html

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Global_Secrets_Lies/Myth_FoodScarcity.html

http://www.susps.org/overview/population.html

FURTHER INFORMATION:

http://www.indiana.edu/~cipec/

http://www.popenvironment.org/