Comments due Dec. 1,2017
Global Footprint Network data shows that humanity uses the equivalent of 1.7 planet Earths to provide the renewable resources we use and absorb our waste.1 If all 7+ billion of us were to enjoy a European standard of living - which is about half the consumption of the average American - the Earth could sustainably support only about 2 billion people.
It is crucial to understand that the longer we continue consuming more resources than the Earth can sustainably provide, the less able the Earth can meet our resource needs in the future - and the fewer people the planet can support - long-term.
Evidence of unsustainable resource use is all around us. Global aquifers are being pumped 3.5 times faster than rainfall can naturally recharge them.2 Eventually they will run dry and hundreds of millions will suffer. Topsoil is being lost 10-40 times faster than it is formed.3 Feeding all 7+ billion of us will become increasingly difficult. Oceans are being overfished, and a primary protein source for over 2 billion people is in jeopardy.4 Worldwide, we have lost over half the vertebrate species in the air, water, and land since 1970.5 How many more species can we lose and how many more ecosystems can we destroy before humanity’s own existence is threatened?
It is important to note that the depletion of non-renewable resources such as fossil fuels, metals, and minerals that make a European standard of living possible are not included in Global Footprint Network data. This includes all the tons of oil, coal, iron ore, copper, and hundreds of other minerals and metals that make modern life possible. Taking these non-renewable resources into account suggests 2 billion people living at a European standard of living may be the upper limit of a sustainable global population.
Climate change will only add to the strain on the planet’s ability to support all 7+ billion of us. Climate scientists are warning us to expect lower crop yields of major grains such as wheat, rice, and maize.6 Rising sea levels could create hundreds of millions of climate refugees. And climate disruption is likely to create increasing levels of resource conflict and civil unrest.
Adaptation to climate disruption will be much easier with a much smaller global population. We can achieve a smaller global population tomorrow by beginning a dramatic reduction in births today.
All of us want a viable, sustainable global home. If we allow overpopulation and overconsumption to continue, the evidence is mounting that billions will suffer and that we will leave future generations a much harder, bleaker life.
Reducing birth rates now can save us from the likely increase in death rates that awaits us if we do nothing. Solving overpopulation is essential in building a sustainable future.
16 comments:
DeShawn McLeod
What gives?
Environmental economics seems to be a boiling pot of pessimism, ignorance, and an impending doom. Like the last article we’ve reviewed, it seems the remedies to alleviate resource-allocation-stress on the future doesn’t seem like something anyone wants to do now. Why would they? They won’t see anything change in their lifetime.
What would a European standard of living look like in the US? And does this include all income brackets? What income brackets make the biggest dents in resource consumption? Who’s doing the polluting? Who’s depleting earth’s natural resources?
These are questions I don’t think the public considers when we’re asked to ‘reduce, reuse, and recycle.’ If the future shall see a bright day, education is the first thing to start with. Explain to those who are coming up that taking care of the earth is essential. Trying to change the minds of people who are already stuck in their ways (and willing to pay for it) seems like a waste of time.
What’s an effective way we can educate our future of this “impending doom?” There are so many issues that require our attention, resources, and capital. But, there’s only but so many that actually get tackled. What will it take for the United States to change?
Ignorance is bliss is the saying. Which may be so but that bliss is quickly destroyed when reality starts to catch up. Generally speaking, and unfortunately so, human beings tend to be selfish and care about themselves, their needs and the easiest way to sustain those needs without weighing in the consequences of the "bigger picture". Using resources that the earth gives us naturally is the easy way out, so to speak, and we continue on, ignoring the damage we cause by abusing the gifts earth has given us.
The media speaks little on this, but the thought of entire countries being subjugated to becoming refugees is horrifying. People should think about this when they chose to scroll past yet another climate change notice, tune out another natural disaster that’s on the news, etc. There are all of these little things that aren’t even being directly told to us, yet we ignore it because reality scares us. How can we conquer something we are scared of happening if all what we do is just sit around hoping the damage will somehow fix itself? The answer is that it won’t. There needs to be a more active role in everyone’s life if they want to continue calling this earth a home for themselves and for generations to come.
Daniella Antolino
We obviously have a tremendous problem on our hands as a society and everyone is in denial and only cares about their wants rather than the needs of everyone else and the environment. European standard of living is way less than the US so you know we are using way too many resources for our earth to keep up. Human beings are selfish and think we should deal with this problem when it is too late. We are ignoring all the damage to the earth, us, and animals. For example, like stated in the artlicle Global aquifers are being pumped 3.5 times faster than rainfall can naturally recharge them. Eventually they will run dry and hundreds of millions will suffer. Topsoil is being lost 10-40 times faster than it is formed. Feeding all 7+ billion of us will become increasingly difficult.
How can we fixed this? We need to come together to find a solution, no one is looking at the bigger picture yet climate changes are increasing rapidly, we are over populating, and ruining the environment faster than it could ever recover. If we speak out more into the media, or make people more aware to scare them into the dangers we are walking into maybe some people will help and take a stand. However we make people more educated we must do it quickly or the consequences won't be good. People will be very shocked at what happens our environments soon.
Paola Idrovo
Everything contained in this post rang especially true. We as a society, and as a country specifically, continue to consume without regard for the consequences of our actions and the environment is paying the toll. The difficulty in remedying this situation is that capitalism has become the means and the ends of our society. Capitalism and the consumption it compels has come to dictate almost all aspects of human life, including daily choices that in aggregate lead to the environmental problems this post describes. This makes every individual responsible, at least in part, for the degradation we are experiencing. This also empowers each individual to make manageable changes (generally speaking) that can help mitigate damages. However, these changes are not ones we humans are willing to make. Or, our unwillingness to make these changes suggests the price you pay to change your lifestyle is still to great in comparison to the benefits we would receive from those changes (we are unwilling to pay the price). This confirms the overwhelmingly pessimistic view I have, and that this post shares, that humans will not make changes until environmental problems begin to affect their lives in immediately endangering ways. Unfortunately, at that point it will probably be too late for our planet.
Rebecca McMann
All over the world there are different cultures that have positives and negatives. This post hits many true points and it is quite sad that many of these issues may never come into direct light of what is going on and people will just brush past it and keep going. People seem to have issues with looking beyond their direct situation and do not seem to mind what will be effecting things in the long run. On top of this denial people continue this by not wanting to admit that they are the cause of the majority of all the problems that we are now facing. They do not want to admit what they are doing and so will not be able to learn what they can do to alleviate the issues we see now and especially do not want to look into how what is happening now will possibly cause even more atrocious problems in the future. People who go through life with this mind set also barely see what is going on right in front of them such as what is in their groceries let alone what is going on with global aquifers and how them running dry will effect the ecosystem. When it comes to how the US and Europe differ in lifestyle it is so purely true that European nations tend to have a less standard f living and are more cautious about how much they use. Both countries have a lot to learn from each other and the US could use some caution and less arrogance when it comes to supporting the world in which we live in. Increased education on what is going on in the world could make a huge difference. When people find out with correct information what is going on and realistic ways to fix their lifestyles are taught and able to be applied it will help make the dent needed to make any difference to our world and the future of humankind and the worlds species alike.
With the increase of the human population around the world, the sustainability around the world becomes a serious problems for every one who lives around the world. There are around the 7.6 billion people around the world right now in this point. The much more serious problems faced by humans now are if we still consume much more than the Earth can support, the less resources will the earth provide for next generation in the future. The example for problems of resources can be saw in global aquifers, we consumed 3.5 times more than the rainfall can cover and we will suffer the problems of lacking of water.
The depletion of those non-renewable resources such as fossil fuels, metals and minerals which will be non-renewable. It's a series problem for humans if we run out of those resources. The climate changes in our planet causes the lower production for major grains to support our human consuming and sea levels is disrupted by climate changes. Every human must take this seriously, if we still have overconsumption and overpopulation. It's necessary for us to reduce the birth rate in order to save us and build a more sustainable development.
Alison Zhabotinskiy
Exactly like the posts from the previous weeks, we still see impending destruction of the planet and population this week. It is extremely unfortunate knowing how much destruction we are causing, and even more unfortunate that we have the knowledge and the ability to take matters into control. Though by the end of the post there is a dramatic plea to attack the issue of overpopulation in order to suffice a somewhat sustainable global home. However, as ideal the goal and idea of solving overpopulation and getting our population to an estimate of two billion, is unrealistic in the long run. The idea of controlling the population has been floating around for a long time, however the population just seems to be further escalating… just like our immense use of non-renewables. But if we take into consideration that we should be conserving our energy and resources, and combine it with a plan and action to gradually control the planet’s population, then in the long-term there could possibly be a weight lifted off of the planet and all of us living on it. But until it is realized and understood by everyone that these factors are major issues, there will be no change and no future as much as many of us want there to be.
Earth population is around 7 billion and not everyone is equal when its come to consumption level. Europe and US consuming more than any other place in the world. There are different standart of living around the world and European countries and US consuming so much of our worlds energy. In the article it mentions that if everyone around the world consume the same amount as consumed in Europe the earth would not be able to sustain. There would be problems with climate changes, food would became scarce. So with this amount of population our world would not be able to sustain us. What we need to do is we should learn and teach others how to use our energy and environment much more better. We should reduce our population in order to consume less. As a result, the world would not be able to sustain us if we continue to consume at this rate.
Sustainability. As of late, there has been disagreements as to whether we are in an environmental crisis. With that being said, there is no argument against the claim that our natural resources are depleting. The conversation begins to differ in regards to the rate at which we are consuming and the rate at which these resources can be replenished. Our population is growing and so are our appetites. This is why countries like China have previously implicated laws to reduce the birth rates in order to decrease populations that were rising exponentially. All over the world, including in the United States, people have begun to change their diets in order to help decrease the number of resources consumed. Vegans and vegetarians may decide to lead the lifestyle due to the rights of animals, but they also are helping reduce the amount of resources used to produce our food. Overgrazing is one of the top issues when it comes to meat consumption. It requires a vast amount of land to grow animals, which we then kill and eat. We also have to feed these animals. With a growing human population, some scientists claim there will soon no longer be enough land for both humans and the animals we eat. The biggest problem that I forsee as of now is that people are not pushing for change. If people continue to fail to place an importance on this issue, no government official will speak up to implicate laws. The best we can do is educate people on the severity of the issue.
Jaquille Ward
This world will come to an end sooner than we know it if we don't act on these problems now. The longer we wait to change our habits will only make matters worse for everyone. People need to stop pretending everything is fine and that we are not causing any damage to the world because little do we know, this world is at risk of not being survivable in later generations. Many people want to remain ignorant about this and not listen or care about the effects environmentalists explain about. Well the effects are real and it's happening faster than we think, so we need to educate ourselves and start making a change. We are abusing and taking advantage of the resources provided by this earth and selfishness/greediness doesn't help anybody. Consumption is way too high and America should know that very well because we consume so much stuff that does not even be used and we just throw it away. We're just making life harder for later generations and that's not fair to them, so we have to be considerate and try to preserve as much as we have now. Climate change is bad enough and we definitely do not need it to get any worse.
Yunjia Guo
I agree with most of the post's perspective while I doubt how can we solve this issue in the real world. The unsustainable resources are very well-used and will not be sufficient for human's future demand. Not only the natural resources including water, soil, and metals, but also animal species are losing due to the climate change and our overconsumption. You brings up the topic about reducing in birth rates could solving the problem of overpopulation. However, how should people put effort to reducing the birth rates? I doubt this because I come from a country that used to have "One Child Policy" and now have"Two Child Policy". When the One Child Policy was just published and implemented, massive problem arise including violence enforcement was applied. Now we criticize that the policies violated human rights. Also, in our situation, urban areas observe the policy very well while the lower income family in the rural area usually fail to obey the policy due to the lack of enforcement. This cause the problem of the imbalance population between urban area and rural area, too. I totally agree that our world needs a reduction of population while the problem is really how can we make it happen.
Jordi Isidor
When we read about these problem, we have to do it in a way that we not only bother about but we try to act. The longer we wait the worst it can be to our planet and our future in this planet. If we all agree on saving this planet we have to understand that sustainability has to be our main focus, because that way we are able to accomplish things like clean energy and 0 co omission without hurting ourselves and the planet for a long period of time
Olivia Gonzalez
Our earth, our home, is being used up at a rate too great for it to be able to replenish. The exponentially growing population is too accustomed to using up resources without care for the world's sustainability. At this rate, the human population would need 1.7 earths to be able to continue to provide us with the resources that our lifestyles expect and have become accustomed to.
What solution could fix this? As we have learned through this class, the human population is not paying attention to the rate at which their resources are being used. The governing bodies must step in to create legislature preventing humans to use resources at the rate in which they do. This could include taxes and stipends or banning laws.
Although government interference seems extreme, it may be the only way to make the extreme difference the world needs to continue to be an inhabitable environment.
Peidong Yang
Overpopulation is undoubtedly an increasingly noticeable problem that exerts negative influence on sustainable development and resources supply. Professor Hawking also expressed his worries on the overpopulation this year. He said that in the later of this century, overpopulation will be a serious, and by the year 2600, the world population would be standing shoulder by shoulder, and the electricity consumption would make the Earth glow red hot. Obviously, our earth is becoming smaller and smaller for us due to the exponential growth of world population. One subsequent problem following the overpopulation is the limited supply of resources. If we continue to maintain this population growth rate and expect to enjoy American resources consumption, resources of earth would soon be totally consumed. Actually, the resource consumptions have great difference among developed countries, developing countries and the third world. People in developed countries, like USA, even with a small population occupies the most supply of resources. I believe that developed countries have the responsibility to reduce their over-consumption and wastes. On the other hand, birth control is another available method. China is a leading example in birth control. Due to the consideration of population, China carried out the birth control in the last century, which regulated that each couple could only brought up one kid. In reducing the explosive population, birth control is very effective. However, it also results in the social aging in China. Hopefully, this global problem can unit all human beings to strive together. But from my perspective, expect for these previous mentioned methods, galaxy colonization is another acceptable strategy. With the fast progress of space technologies, interstellar travel will be soon accomplished. Human race has existed in the earth only for 2 million years, but has made incredible accomplishments. Civilization began about 10 thousand years ago, and the rate of development has been steadily increasing. It is our time to boldly go out the earth and embrace the unexplored space to find unexpected things and spaces no one has gone before, if we continue our development for another million year.
It's interesting because this topic is something that was on my mind this week. I remember reading an article stating that the world was running out of avocados due to the high demand of avocado toast that millennials have created. It made me wonder if something as simple as avocado's were drastically decreasing, what other aspects of the world could possibly be scarce.
I remember we previously discussed the government not managing the way our resources are being used. While it's easy to blame the government because they hold power, it needs to start within ourselves to make actual change and to allow them to see the problems. If we raised more awareness and cared more regarding our planet, the government would have no choice but to do something and address the issues.
Overpopulation is definitely a huge concern due to the population growing at a faster rate. If something does not happen now for containment of our resources, it will eventually lead to the elite individuals being the only group to have certain resources. Hopefully this is something that will be addressed in the future
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