Wait a second... since when are diseases manmade
Oh, 'for the most part'.
HIV/AIDS is an odd causation..
Is overpopulation cause for concern?
- Thread starter LucyDuke
- Start date
Oh, 'for the most part'.
HIV/AIDS is an odd causation..
Narz
keeping it real
Note : I did not claim that, not saying you are saying I did, just wanted to say that.
I read your exert & it was indeed interesting. However, it's not surprising that some agricultural land was able to maintain productivity despite the fall of the empire. After all, people like living & no one wants to keel over & die if they don't have to.
A rural area maintaining itself & a rural area maintaining large cities & a whole empire are two different things however.
Perhaps it was because of the collapse of the empire that certain areas were able to maintain productivity. Less pressure to overfarm & fewer mouths to feed in far away places. Just a theory, I don't know enough about Roman history specifically to back it up.
You like the word screaming, don't you?Bei said:
Maybe if people had listened 200 years ago we would be in a far better place today.
Your argument is like "Ha, my friend's been warning me not to drive drunk for years & years now & I'm still ok".
As the fine print of mutual fund ads say "past performance is no guarantee of future success".
Clearly the Mayan population was unsustainable or it wouldn't have collapsed so completely. Other factors were involved but a few years of drought wouldn't have been so devastating had the Mayans had fewer mouths to feed (and more food stored). They grew beyond their means to maintain themselves & now they're in the dustbin of history (well except for in the minds of a few hippies who think they were good at predicting the futureBei said:
).I'm all for more sustainable & less fossil fuel dependent systems of agriculture being implemented but one man's best-case scenario does not a reality make. Besides, as I've said numerous times before, humans require more than just food. Even if you could feed 20 billion people on the planet it would be too long before you couldn't feed anyone at all (i.e. : 20 billion living lifestyles even half-as-destructive as today's would destroy Earth's life-support system).Bei said:
Hmm, letting the Earth rewild herself & limiting humans to carefully designed nature reserves? Interesting idea, it just might work!
Even if true does that mean we should push population higher just because we can (assuming the ability of Earth to feed us remains static which is unlikely)?Kero said:
Turns out that the recent edition of Scientific American Earth 3.0 has a detailed article on overpopulation. It contains a decent discussion of per capita consumption as well as a discussion regarding growth rates.
Some neat numbers were: Chinese per capita consumption is not projected to reach American per capita consumption until 2040. (India by 2080). The most significant factor in dropping the number of babies born is education, a decent education can halve the birthrate. And the number of unplanned pregnancies per year is greater than the number our Earth's population rises each year.
Winner
Diverse in Unity
Turns out that the recent edition of Scientific American Earth 3.0 has a detailed article on overpopulation. It contains a decent discussion of per capita consumption as well as a discussion regarding growth rates.
Some neat numbers were: Chinese per capita consumption is not projected to reach American per capita consumption until 2040. (India by 2080). The most significant factor in dropping the number of babies born is education, a decent education can halve the birthrate. And the number of unplanned pregnancies per year is greater than the number our Earth's population rises each year.
The only way the per capita consumption in India can reach Western levels is a complete collapse of Western economy/society. Which is probably not going to happen, ergo only a few of the so-called developing countries can fulfill their dream of getting as rich and fat as the Westerners. For the rest, there is no hope - Earths resources will be depleted long before they even approach the living standard of present-day Western societies.
LucyDuke
staring at the clock
On newsstands now, or do you subscribe?
Agarwaen
King
Maybe they were saying that the Indian consumption per capita in 2080 would be equal to the Western consuption per capita now?
Narz
keeping it real
Wishful thinking. Chinese per capita income will never reach US levels. Even US levels will never again reach US 2007 levels.
Oruc
Reactionary
Do your predictions often come true?
It's a vice. I sometimes purchase pop-sci magazines from the newsstand. I bought it at Chapters the other day.
Narz
keeping it real
LucyDuke
staring at the clock
SS-18 ICBM
Oscillator
Has anyone suggested pop rushing a spaceship to Alpha Centauri yet?
40k colonists per ship isn't going to solve Earth's problems.
The population increased by 600 people inbetween those previous two posts
SS-18 ICBM
Oscillator
Pop rushing some solar arrays and wind farms then?
There is no reason to do so.
Winner
Diverse in Unity
But at least some part of humanity would survive
Until they'd start fighting because of the ideology and wipe each other out using planet busters 
Anyway, the Alpha Centauri's backstory is looking more realistic now; Earth is heading towards a disaster. Too bad we can't build such a space ship...
TheLastOne36
Deity
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2007
- Messages
- 14,045
Newstands, i read it today at the Polish copy-cat version of chapters/indigo. Was a good read, made my day at the mall worthwhile.
But at least some part of humanity would survive
Anyway, the Alpha Centauri's backstory is looking more realistic now; Earth is heading towards a disaster. Too bad we can't build such a space ship...
Overpopulation is no threat to the human species. Just billions of the individuals.
