Red ants came from Brazil in the hold of one ship. They now have spread from Maryland to San Francisco covering the south. They are a pestilent invading species.
Man reportedly came from Africa and spread out over the earth. Breeding uncontrollable and living at the expense of every other living species on earth. We spread, encroaching on or destroying the habitats of many species and out right drive others to extinction.
China has many protection programs in place to protect the wild. But so much as already been destroyed. The Yellow river is the single greatest source of pollution to the Pacific Ocean. Many native species are either extinct or on the cusp of extinction. It is only one example that is repeated worldwide.
And still, humans continue breeding long past the tipping point at which the earth cannot support us. And still, we continue to procreate.
War, famine, disease and natural disasters trim our population but still we go on building our madness.
In the 70's, there was a movement called Zero Population Growth. What happened to that movement?
It still lives!
http://www.populationconnection.org/site/PageServer
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I wonder how much longer we'll be able to seek out the remote spots on the planet before they are no longer remote. I'm glad I'm the age I am because I have great worries about what the planet will be like in 70 years time when I'm no longer around. That's a selfish thought I know.
ReplyDeleteTraditionally, short lifespan and infant mortality encouraged large families to assure a surviving child to care for a parents old age. China used draconian measures to liit population growth, which are backfiring. some European countries now see children as an expense and not a benefit, and the birthrate is falling. Social institutions to care for an aging population strain the economies of many countries.
ReplyDeleteFarming, and industrialization enable one man to produce more than his family needs, leading to unemployment by young people in their prime of life, as compared with an agrarian lifestyle.
The earth factually is not overpopulated - yet. The amount of energy available to an individual is an index of a civilization. Existing energy sources are limiting because of the pollution associated with most. There are emerging technical developments which are game-changers in a most profound way. Recycling takes energy too, but the energy will be available and cheap. There can be work for everyone and cities may dissipate.
We live in a time for flux. the light at the ed of the tunnel is not an oncoming train.
It seems that attempting to navigate the streets of Shang Hi has had an effect on how I see the world although it is more orderly than he main streets of Katmandu.
DeleteWatching out of my hotel suite window, the dazzling lights and obvious energy consumption is more nightmarish than beautiful.
I recently heard that 3 to 4 hundred miles below the surface of the earth that there s more "fresh" water than there is in all of the oceans. If these scientists are correct, how will we get to it? I've also heard that the earth has a finite amount of water that does not escape our atmosphere. But if we keep polluting it, what does it matter? No matter the energy issue, we are destroying ecosystems at an ever more rapid rate.
Would we need to do this if our population was lower?