And so it came to pass, that we became SEVEN BILLION strong!

[CommonKnowledge]

We are not breeding like rabbits. The average growth rate is abut 1.5. You are just being alarmist.

In the developed world perhaps; most countries in Europe have stabalised their population growth and America is reasonably stable. In the developing world however it's a completely different story; Africa and India in particular have much higher average birth rates. India is on track for being the most populous country in the world by 2030 if it doesn't do anything.

I'm not sure off the top of my head who said it but I remember hearing a quote to the effect of "if humanity doesn't do something to curb its population growth then nature will do it for us."

 

[holy king]

I wouldn't joke about it. Right now, when people talk of "wars for fresh water", people think they're nuts. In 10 or 20 years, this could become the reality. I'd say it already is in Palestine/Israel/Syria/Jordan area. One day it could be an issue in the American South-West and in dozens of other regions where fresh water resources are split between nation states or rival ethnic groups.

And fresh water is just the start. The more people there are, the more resources their economies require, and the faster they're getting depleted. Inevitably, one day we'll get close to a point where fighting over them will start to look like a good idea.

hands off our glaciers, czech!

 

[Algeroth]

hands off our glaciers, czech!

Pch! We're sitting on convergence of three watersheds. Keep your pristine glaciers, We have enough of dirty rivers.

 

[Winner]

hands off our glaciers, czech!

First, we make Schwarzenberg our king. Then we shall recover what rightfully belongs to us

---

Seriously, since Europe's population is more or less stable, I don't see why we should fight over water. We can deal with the problem of climate change.

On the other hand, if you have two countries that both depend on a shared fresh water source that's shrinking while their populations are booming, there is not much that can be done. This clearly shows how population growth is the problem we're facing today.

 

[Eat_Up_Martha]

I think it all comes down to energy. Water is extremely abundant, the real issue is desalination. If the world got serious about developing real, cost-effective renewables and a global smart grid, much of the quality-of-life issues with overpopulation would be solved, particularly those relating to health. The earth has the capacity to support 7 billion people or more; the issues we face are almost solely political in nature.

Global availability of family planning costs the same as Americans spend on Halloween. Global secondary education for a minor fraction of global defense spending. Global clean water access (with current technology and prices) for the same amount that Europeans spend annually on perfumes.

The whole Occupy Wall Street / 99% movement is really a microcosm of the global situation. It's not the amount of resources that's the problem, it's the distribution.

 

[classical_hero]

It is also how we use such resources.

 

[Haseri]

12 minutes to go.

 

[Cheetah]

Is this thread meant to have a different discussion topic to this thread?

It's not actually. I share many of the same concerns as Winner, but didn't want to make it all doom-and-gloom from the get-go. Guess I was too careful.

If nobody objects, could you (or some other mod) merge these two threads?

Right now we're having three threads discussing growing/over/population on Earth, and it's a bit redundant IMO.

 

[Cheetah]

Say hello to baby Nargis, Miss Seven Billion

Indian baby picked as world's seven billionth person

They also picked a girl in the Philippines, etc. It's all just estimates.

Also, Cheetah's came first, we should probably merge Winner's thread into this one.

Winner's thread has a different tone to this one however.

As I said in the other thread, I share many of Winner's concerns. As I somewhat indicated with the warning sign as the thread icon. I just didn't want to start this thread of sound like "We're all going to die!". Perhaps I made it too neutral/positive.

We should merge them, cause right now we have three threads discussing growing/over/population, and it's just confusing.

I don't much care which thread remains though.

 

[Phrossack]

I think it all comes down to energy. Water is extremely abundant, the real issue is desalination. If the world got serious about developing real, cost-effective renewables and a global smart grid, much of the quality-of-life issues with overpopulation would be solved, particularly those relating to health. The earth has the capacity to support 7 billion people or more; the issues we face are almost solely political in nature.

Global availability of family planning costs the same as Americans spend on Halloween. Global secondary education for a minor fraction of global defense spending. Global clean water access (with current technology and prices) for the same amount that Europeans spend annually on perfumes.

The whole Occupy Wall Street / 99% movement is really a microcosm of the global situation. It's not the amount of resources that's the problem, it's the distribution.

Desalination is far from perfect- see the PDF on the bottom of this link.
http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/reports/desalination-an-ocean-of-problems/
In short, it kills marine life, is very expensive, uses tons of energy, can pollute the water, isn't always effective at removing chemicals from the water, and is unnecessary.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Moderator Action: Threads merged.

 

[Ajidica]

Heh, I remember when in 2nd grade the world was 'only' 6.6 Billion.

 

[danjuno]

Hmm seems to me a nuking of somewhere is in order.... China perhaps ? just kidding but really this will only further our current global problems aka famine.

Excellent! I am writing a letter to President Obama as we speak.