Mismanagement, inefficiencies, greed and other factors are to blame.Hans Rosling only verified, with statistics, what we already know, i.e. infinite growth of population is not possible because the exponential exponent is decreasing.
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According to a Harvard study, “Over the next forty years, nearly all (97%) of the 2.3 billion projected increase will be in the less developed regions, with nearly half (49%) in Africa.” Already strained with relentless population explosion, many developing countries, such as in Sub Saharan Africa and Southern Asia, will experience a degradation of their quality and length of life as they face increasing difficulties to supply water, food, energy and housing to their growing populations, which will have major repercussions for public health, security measures and economic growth. These situations are especially dire for populations in Uganda, Nigeria, and Bangladesh, which will double and, in some cases, even triple over the next 40 years. Learn more.
And your sources are?
brookings.edu/blog/future-development/2015/04/28/can-10-billion-people-live-and-eat-well-on-the-planet-yes/Can 10 billion people live and eat well on the planet? Yes.
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If we consider a grain-based diet with an already-moderate consumption of protein, current world cereals production could feed more than 10 billion people if distributed well.
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The yield gap between what’s needed and what’s being produced is still very high. Farmers in the Netherlands produce 8.6 tons of cereals per hectare, Ukrainian farmers produce 4 tons per hectare, and yields in Nigeria are stagnant at 1.5 tons per hectare
How we know the world population is in overshoot.
*]Loss of Fresh Water
*]Species Extinction
*]Lower Life Expectancy in the Fastest Growing Countries
*]Less Freedom, More Restrictions
*]Increased Emergence of New Epidemics and Pandemics
*]Depletion of Natural Resources
*]Increased Habitat Loss
*]More Intensive Farming Practices
*]Increased Global Warming and Climate Change
*]Elevated Crime Rate
Those are due to mismanagement and greed.Everything connects!
I don’t understand your point because I have not denied that individual humans have the capacity to do things. Overpopulation is not an individual phenomena.This, and your last comment below, show a way of thinking which considers people in the aggregate, as economic units rather than as individual human beings with the inherent capacity to do things.
World poverty is going down. Yes, if you set your level slightly higher, you can find bad-looking numbers, just as starting a global temps chart in the middle of the cold spell in the 1970s looks worse. It is also harder to find information about a number which is not the one generally used.
You are focusing on one symptom of overpopulation that has improved. Do you have anything to say about the other 11 symptoms, like hunger or lack of access to drinking water?However, global poverty is falling, and if two or more families get together, they might be able to afford a smart phone and use it to access education.
I responded to that because was obviously hyperbole.Wwhether or not the precise prediction of 6.1 B people using smartphones is accurate will remain hard to evalutate until the time comes.
I was referring to The Great Stagnation: How America Ate All The Low-Hanging Fruit of Modern History, Got Sick, and Will (Eventually) Feel Better by Tyler Cowen.People are always predicting that we have reached the end of innovation. Then someine comes up with something new…
The article you linked to is a “thought experiment.” BTW, did you read the comments?Mismanagement, inefficiencies, greed and other factors are to blame.
brookings.edu/blog/future-development/2015/04/28/can-10-billion-people-live-and-eat-well-on-the-planet-yes/
Sure some can be some can be partially attributed to mismanagement and greed.Those are due to mismanagement and greed.
Species ExtinctionLower Life Expectancy in the Fastest Growing CountriesIncreased Emergence of New Epidemics and PandemicsDepletion of Natural ResourcesMore Intensive Farming PracticesAll of the ‘overpopulation’ projections and fear mongering are thought experiments too. Some of the commenters jump to overpopulation despite other explanations.The article you linked to is a “thought experiment.” BTW, did you read the comments?
Sure some can be some can be partially attributed to mismanagement and greed.
Leaving out what may theoretically be partial, how do you account for?
Depends on the species. Some are due to human greed and carelessness. Others climate change. It is ridiculous to blame this on the number of people rather than on the character of people. Plenty of species have gone extinct without humans being involved.
Species Extinction
The rate of growth doesn’t mean they’ve already caught up with the industrialized nations. Also, in many poorer countries, they have higher smoking rates and more pollution due to lax regulations among other reasons.
Lower Life Expectancy in the Fastest Growing Countries
Again, it depends. Viruses mutate and so do bacteria. For the latter, the misuse of antibiotics is again not due to the number of people but the reluctance to do the right thing. If there really is an increase, some of them are due to unsanitary practices, the recent Ebola outbreak was due to this. Also, some epidemics are due to the anti-vaccine movement.
Increased Emergence of New Epidemics and Pandemics
High population density can play a role but that doesn’t guarantee more epidemics and pandemics if precautions are taken. It won’t stop all of them though but it’s not like fewer humans will prevent them as the past has demonstrated.
Varies from what is being considered but broadly it’s mismanagement and inefficiencies. An easy example is to look at some of the packaging. Do we need all of those layers? Recycling needs to be ramped up. A lot of things are recyclable. We’re also seeing a number of new materials that are stronger, less resource intensive and cheaper being discovered.
Depletion of Natural Resources
Better farming practices need to be practised. People have fears because we act as if it’s business as usual.
More Intensive Farming Practices
an experiment carried out only in the imagination. All the things that I pointed out in the previous post are ACTUALLY happening.All of the ‘overpopulation’ projections and fear mongering are thought experiments too. Some of the commenters jump to overpopulation despite other explanations.
That doesn’t mean they are solely due to overpopulation if at all. Even if a growing population is a contributing factor there can be ways around that depending on what the problem is. It’s not always a zero sum game.an experiment carried out only in the imagination. All the things that I pointed out in the previous post are ACTUALLY happening.
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Depends on the species. Some are due to human greed and carelessness. Others climate change. It is ridiculous to blame this on the number of people rather than on the character of people. Plenty of species have gone extinct without humans being involved.
Species Extinction
Although extinction is a natural phenomenon, it occurs at a natural “background” rate of about one to five species per year. Scientists estimate we’re now losing species at 1,000 to 10,000 times the background rate, with** literally dozens going extinct every day**
You have to consider the processes involved in each extinction. They don’t all have the same causes. Not all species going extinct are due to human encroachment. Not all species going extinct are due to overhunting. When humans can be blamed, it isn’t their mere existence that’s the issue, it’s the behaviour. Behaviours can be regulated.All your comments about greed and mismanagement are cherry picked. But of course, mismanagement and greed just add to the misery of an overpopulated would.
I did. Their criticisms can easily be used on their own claims namely the author was running on assumptions. They are doing the same thing too.Read the comments on the article you referred me to in a previous post.
We are talking about two different things: a problem vs a predicament.That doesn’t mean they are solely due to overpopulation if at all. Even if a growing population is a contributing factor there can be ways around that depending on what the problem is. It’s not always a zero sum game.
You have to consider the processes involved in each extinction. They don’t all have the same causes. Not all species going extinct are due to human encroachment. Not all species going extinct are due to overhunting. When humans can be blamed, it isn’t their mere existence that’s the issue, it’s the behaviour. Behaviours can be regulated.
I did. Their criticisms can easily be used on their own claims namely the author was running on assumptions. They are doing the same thing too.
All of these factors are intertwined The interactions among them are daunting [7]. Agricultural production must be increased some 70-100% by 2050 if humanity hopes to meet the demands of population growth, including the rising demand in emerging economies for meat-rich diets and increasing demand for biofuels, both of which will require a larger fossil fuel subsidy to agriculture and a takeover of more land for farming. Relatively rich nations such as China, Saudi Arabia and South Africa are already purchasing large tracts of land in countries such as Ethiopia and Senegal in order to produce food for their people and portable fuels for their vehicles as the crunch hits [16]. The results will be more greenhouse gas emissions, more land degradation, and higher food prices, as well as the displacement of many thousands of African farmers and villagers.
Source…mahb.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/2012_PRE_AHE_Solving-Human-Predictiment.pdfThe increased emissions will likely further alter precipitation and temperature patterns, threatening agricultural productivity worldwide. Increasing both yields and total food production will be made more difficult by the environmental effects of moving to more intensive and extensive agriculture, including accelerated losses of biodiversity, soil erosion, and depletion of vital aquifers, as well as further toxification of aquifers, surface freshwater, soils, and oceans, not to mention all living beings, including ourselves. The enhanced probability of famines is not the only likely consequence of the population explosion; others include the growing risks of epidemics, resource wars, terrorism, and deaths from violent climatic events.
More on Problems and Predicaments in our industrial civilization“Humans are very good at propping up the unsustainable and this often results in a fast and unexpected collapse” (Tainter 1998)
All of these factors are intertwined The interactions among them are daunting [7]. Agricultural production must be increased some 70-100% by 2050 if humanity hopes to meet the demands of population growth, including the rising demand in emerging economies for meat-rich diets and increasing demand for biofuels, both of which will require a larger fossil fuel subsidy to agriculture and a takeover of more land for farming. Relatively rich nations such as China, Saudi Arabia and South Africa are already purchasing large tracts of land in countries such as Ethiopia and Senegal in order to produce food for their people and portable fuels for their vehicles as the crunch hits [16]. The results will be more greenhouse gas emissions, more land degradation, and higher food prices, as well as the displacement of many thousands of African farmers and villagers.
In the span of approximately five years, things have rapidly changed in R&D. The major advancements in greener energy and the growth of these industries and how it’s starting to displace fossil fuels at this point in time would have been a surprise back then. There’s research on improving vertical farming, which will play a role in reducing land degradation.The increased emissions will likely further alter precipitation and temperature patterns, threatening agricultural productivity worldwide. Increasing both yields and total food production will be made more difficult by the environmental effects of moving to more intensive and extensive agriculture, including accelerated losses of biodiversity, soil erosion, and depletion of vital aquifers, as well as further toxification of aquifers, surface freshwater, soils, and oceans, not to mention all living beings, including ourselves. The enhanced probability of famines is not the only likely consequence of the population explosion; others include the growing risks of epidemics, resource wars, terrorism, and deaths from violent climatic events.
Keep faith in progress and pray for a Deus Ex Machina.In the span of approximately five years, things have rapidly changed in R&D. The major advancements in greener energy and the growth of these industries and how it’s starting to displace fossil fuels at this point in time would have been a surprise back then. There’s research on improving vertical farming, which will play a role in reducing land degradation.