Planet earth has evolved over 4,500,000,000 years, the last 100,000 years bearing the burden of a prolific parasite, Homo sapiens. Just like the aphis is a tiny predator on the huge rose bush in my garden, if I don’t spray it, it will quickly overpopulate and kill the rose. This is easily understandable by scientists, trained in rational reasoning, as an evolutionary fact. Evolutionary “law” is the Survival of the Fittest, that is, the fittest to reproduce and continue the species. The aphis cannot think, or see, that the essential environment for the species may be threatened if there is too much success in breeding, and thus too many burdening the rose bush. The rose dies, but there are many other roses, and other plants to infest, so the aphis has survived as a species.
One might hope that Homo sapiens, who have developed the ability to think and reason might be able to see this danger. But apparently this doesn’t happen, it is beyond their capability. They cannot see that there aren’t more planets to infest. (There may be, in the cosmos, but we’re a long way from being able to spread to them.)
Some biologists have estimated that the sustainable number of Homo sapiens on this garden planet is about 2,000,000,000. We’re now at 7,000,000,000, heading toward 11,000.000.000. We’ve know of this “population explosion” for decades now. Paul Erlich wrote “The Population Bomb” in 1968. He was at Town hall last year and his topic was Sustainability and limited Consumerism. He didn’t mention the “Bomb”, and when asked about it, he said that he had given up on controlling population, and our only chance was to control consumption.
And now a new paper: “A killer plague wouldn’t save the planet from us”; New Scientist 29 October 2014 by Fred Pearce states: “Whether it’s a natural decline, a strict policy or a disastrous plague, none of these population drops would be enough to fix environmental problems like climate change. The sticking point instead lies in our high consumption of natural resources.”
There is an “optimistic” scientist: Wolfgang Lutz of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis of Laxenburg, Austria, who has argued that the world population could peak at 9.4 billion as soon as 2070, and be back down to 9 billion by 2100, without population control or a great epidemic. He says that improvements to women’s education in particular reduces fertility rates, by overcoming obstacles to using contraception and lowering desired family sizes could do this and that UN population projections don’t expect this (or include it in their models). “It’s not just the head count that matters, but what is inside the heads.” (difficult to model).
The main obstruction to intelligent population control (our usual method has been war) is religions, all of which encourage more babies to be indoctrinated into the church to expand their domain and power.
We’re in need of some good ideas, some brave politicians, an escape from the current downward spiral. Let’s look for a real long-shot in this Tuesday’s elections!?
noobtube on Sun, 2nd Nov 2014 8:49 am
The “OVER”-population problem is in the United States and Australia.
Even Canada is not too bad, if not for the Americans destroying the Canadian environment to feed the American population.
South Americans are okay.
Africans are okay.
India and China are okay.
Russia is okay.
It is the Americans who are the insects on the rose, devouring everything on the planet.
Americans are like locusts. They show up in the most pristine, beautiful, and lush environments and call it UN-developed.
Then, the Americans build their factories, and malls, and subdivisions, and highways, and call it progress and development and wealth. The Americans pollute the streams, the air, the soil. Trash the landscape. Cut down the forests. Plow and bulldoze the natural habitats.
Then, when it all blows up in the face of the Americans, they blame the Chinese, or the Mexicans, or the Africans, for the destruction.
When things were going well, the Americans say it is because of their “exceptionalism” and their manifest destiny and their right.
When things go badly, it is “well anyone would have done the same thing” or “it is a HUMAN problem” or “it is natural”.
Americans are worthless garbage… a plague on the planet.
Apneaman on Sun, 2nd Nov 2014 12:29 pm
noobtube
I live in Canada and I can tell you there is way too many people here already. I feel stifled. Especially foreigners from other countries; brown countries (my ancestors were immigrants, but we all white so it don’t count eh)I mean just yesterday I went on a 19km round trip to Walmart (I really did not NEED anything, but gas is down and I got a few extra bucks & it’s my right). So it’s the day after Halloween and I always go to load up my discounted high fructose candy (we got free healthcare so who cares)and there are all these foreigners digging through the discount bins trying to steal my mini KitKat & O’Henry bars. I had to settle for plain old Hersey bars and Skittles. Fucking foreigners! Your right noob there are too many people (foreigners) consuming and it’s all the good stuff too.
Davy on Sun, 2nd Nov 2014 1:29 pm
Noobster, it is an honor to be someone you hate. I pity you for the small brain you have. I pity you because I see you living a miserable life. Why else would you rant like you do? You have turned to the dark side and it will swallow you up in a hate lust black hole.
paulo1 on Sun, 2nd Nov 2014 3:18 pm
Well Apnea,
In my valley in Canada we have about 1 person per sq km. Not too crowded. We grow our own food for the msot part and never go to Walmart. If I head up the coast the density might drop to .05 person per km squared.
Maybe you just live in a crowded place. Maybe you could move to somewhere more remote. Having said that, I am sure glad you are not my neighbour. I have dark curly hair and you would probably hate me for it.
Paulo
penury on Sun, 2nd Nov 2014 3:21 pm
It is not only Americans that you could label “useless garbage” but I presume that Noobtube knows a lot more Americans than I do. Having lived in many countries for many years, I find the majority of the humans to be the same regardless of race,religion or political status. What I have found is that Americans have more money. Americans judge other people and other societies by the amount of money each has. Once in London I overheard an American woman ask the clerk about an item for sale “How much does that cost in real money?” Americans in my experience equate personal wealth and social status to be a more accurate indicator of a persons worth than the real important things. I could tell stories of the treatment I have seen Americans subject poor people to and none of them reflect well upon our country.
JuanP on Sun, 2nd Nov 2014 3:48 pm
Interesting at first, but what was the point?
Apneaman on Sun, 2nd Nov 2014 6:09 pm
Paulo, I forgot to put/sarc off/ at the end of my fake rant. I thought it was obvious, but apparently I have over rated my writing skills…again. I was in a nice valley 6 month ago; the Shuswap valley, in the town of Salmon Arm, BC to be precise. I had to move down to Vancouver to be near my Mom, since she needs help now.
Makati1 on Sun, 2nd Nov 2014 7:52 pm
Like the aphids on the rose, America’s predator/controller (USSR) was crippled a few decades back, but is now revived and trying to regain control of the Western pest.
Humans used insecticides to destroy the aphid’s enemy/controller. Now Asia is spraying the world with fast growing non-dollar trade in an attempt to limit or destroy the predator empire. Pay back is a bitch!
Kenz300 on Sun, 2nd Nov 2014 11:18 pm
Endless population growth means endless migration of people……….
Kristen on Sun, 2nd Nov 2014 11:49 pm
What a nonsensical article. First of all, calling the reader stupid in the title is in bad form (as if all articles who try the same ploy). Secondly, the research is not new nor is the premise. We are all aware that we are killing the planet.