I dont understand why there is any argument on weather or not the Earth is overpopulated.It clearly is.However its overpopulated due to how we live.All I'm saying is how we choose to live and treat the Earth determines the number of humans that Earth can support.I see no reason why we couldnt support 10 billion humans AND also live in harmony with all the animals if we wanted to.But of course we havnt chose to do so.Hell we could even have a healthy Earth IF we chose too.I see no reason to be optimistic thus far for humans to be around another 1000 years.
Ah, so you're a gambler.. And it's not a guessing game at all. There is a Great Extinction happing right now and it will only get worse and worse. Oh really, how's that? And what about all the other life on this planet?
Uh.. which cave have you been hiding in? Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Well, they are currently utilized by other living beings..
I don't think the world's overpopulated, but it wouldn't hurt if people took the initiative on their own to limit their family sizes, or even have no children at all. I would be against governments forcing people what to do, as in China. One thing people overlook is there's basically an infinite universe out there, with other planets we could live on (with varying difficulty). The human race is greatly shortchanging itself stagnating here on Earth. Another possible option in the (far?) future is as computer technology advances, we will probably learn how to interface the human mind to computers, and eventually maybe even be able to transfer human consciousness into computers. Transfer billions of people into a virtual reality of a safe redundant self-sustaining computer....problem of overpopulated Earth solved. Of course there's serious ethical and philisophical issues involved with this option, but nonetheless, it might become an option.
The UN Human Development Report of 1997 states: "During the last 15-20 years, more than 100 developing countries, and several Eastern European countries, have suffered from disastrous growth failures. The reductions in standard of living have been deeper and more long-lasting than what was seen in the industrialised countries during the depression in the 1930s. In Australia we maintain our population via immigration. Also we pay our people to have children AU $6000 for each child and addition ongoing support. Many smaller towns in Australia are giving away land and homes in an attempt to maintain populations. These dwindling towns suffer from unemployment, business decline, reduced health and educational resources. Housing a major part of most economies suffers badly from population decline. We need people. :shake:
Here is the neverending cycle of multiplication and being poor and starving at the same time: "Years ago, Ethiopia was the country that needed our help--pictures of starving kids hit our TV's and organizations begged Americans to feed the children. That was 30 years ago and there were 32 Million people in an area the size of Texas Many well meaning people opened their wallets and helped and the result? By 2000 the population had doubled to 64 Million people--still hungry, still no resources, still no hope of feeding themselves and still the focus of "Feed the Children" Campaigns. By 2015 the population is expected to be 90 Million."
Ethiopia - 5th Fastest Growing Economy in the World in 2010 - Economisthttp://nazret.com/blog/index.php?title=ethiopia_5th_fastest_growing_economy_in_&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1 Its so sad that so many are blinded...
1. It is easy to grow fast when you start from almost zero. 2. If population grows twice as fast as the economy, then the standard of living is still going down. You still didn't address how come after 30 years of aids, the only thing we achieved that they have twice as many starving??
So by feeding Ethiopia all these years its only enabled their population to thrive thus becoming impossible to feed em all.The more food sent the more people but with no end to the cycle.Basically a catch 22 due to them reproducing.The real question is why do thinking Ethiopians continue having children knowing full well their children are going to starve to death?? Please dont tell me its cause of lack of contraceptives since they can choose no sex over suffering starving children. There is only 2 unpleasant answers to this big problem as I see it.Either cut off all aid or give food/aid to each family but only if each familys Women agree to being fixed.
By what criteria? It ranks 30th on population density. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_dependencies_by_population_density
Populations in small towns are dwingling, but you haven't mentioned why? Is it because most of these are farming communities and have fluxuations in economic prosperity. That the youth of today prefer to move to the cities and have "clean", and easier jobs - with possibility of better wages and greater certainty. That job oppotunities in small rural communities are limited even at the best of times. I have lived in many of Australia small rural towns over the years... I was wondering where you live - country or city. The country areas are declining - but our cities are growing expedentially, this is causing areas of "overpopulation". Our most productive lands are becoming suburbs and our water supply on a knife edge (in these areas). This doesn't even mention the effect and competition for survival to the native vegitation of wildlife. I am glad for the national parks - but I have to wonder how long before the shave off some here and there..... I don't think we need more people - just people willing to move away from the cities, we need to better understand our environment and we need to undertake sustanable living - within each individual ecological regions - especially in the north and away from the coast... If the knowledge some immigrates can bring with them about arid zone farming and production processes can be applied here then the more the merrier. But you have to wonder why majority of immigrants remain within the eastern and norther cities - as a guess its because of the same reasons most Australians do... its easier.
If you want people to migrate away from the cities, you need the same thing we need in the USA: an aggressive telecommuting program, so they can keep those high-paying urban jobs but live somewhere else. In America it's an uphill battle, because the petroleum industry wields so much political power. (Look no further for evidence than eight years of Bush, its scion.) Managers are not encouraged to think "outside the box" and imagine ways to measure the performance of subordinates they can't spy on. The workers themselves are not taught to take charge of their home lives and help family or housemates understand that they're not home on holiday. Everyone is convinced that face-to-face meetings are the key to success, when in fact most of them are drains on productivity. Many corporate networks can't be expanded to home use without major upgrades in security and interfacing. Regional generic telecommuting offices have not been set up for people who really can't work at home. Webcams, multiple monitors and pass-the-mouse software, which make virtual meetings practical, are still expensive and there's no talk of subsidizing them. The Federal government, the 500-pound gorilla that establishes workplace trends, has not gotten over the inertia from the Bush era and has very little telecommuting. Considering that most civil "servants" accomplish nothing or actually produce negative value, it hardly matters where they do it.
Hmm... Personally, I have no intention of throwing in the towel or giving up on account of some retarded cancer. I have no intention of going into cognitive decline if I can do anything do avoid it, and I will have my entire skeleton replaced with titanium if it means not having to worry about a hip fracture. That is, one of the concerns that I rarely see being brought up is that we could see our lifespans double again, within our lifetimes. If it seems like science fiction to you, I will have you know we already did this at the dawn of antibiotics. Something to consider.
