This thread has been started in reponse to this comment...
Originally posted by Wyn Hawks
...how do you think we managed to get to this over-populated modern age?
This is a misconception that alot of people seem to have just accepted. The fact is we are not overpopulated at all, here is a thought experiment with
alittle mathematics, please bear with me...
Hypothetically speaking, If you allot 3 square feet of ground space per person (standing room only), they would take up 20,702,201,664 square feet
(742 square miles - the same as a square 27.25 miles on each side). If each man, woman and child had a home with a garden that took up 2500 square
feet (50ft x 50ft), then the total space would be 618,824 square miles or 786 miles square. That is just a bit less than Australia's land area of
666,900 square miles.
In laymens terms - thats a home with a garden at 50ft x 50ft for every man, woman and child on the face of the planet with land left over in Australia
and still all of the rest of the world available...Now I know Australia is mainly desert, but this is hypothetical thought process of population vs
land mass.
If living in Australia is not your cup of tea, then here is the hypothetical thought process of population vs land mass in the USA...
The total land mass of the U.S.A is 103,671,742,065,706.3 sq ft, which converts to 3,794,066 sq mi again which coverts to 9,826,630 km squared.
1 acre equates to 43,560 sq ft
103,672,000,000 sq ft (land mass of USA) x 43,560 sq ft (1 acre), equates to 2,379,981,634 acres or 2.4 Billion Acres.
World population is at 6,707,000,000 (approx)
2,379,981,634 acres (USA land mass), divided by 6,707,000,000 (population, approx), equates to 0.355 acres per person.
Average US family resides in 12,870 sq ft which is 0.295 acres.
What does all this mean? well every man, woman and child could have 0.355 acres of land, and have MORE land than the average American has
today!!
Here is a visual representation for those that work better with visuals...
Now I am aware people will say this is deeply flawed. For instance "who is going to want to live in death valley where they record insane heat."
etc...
This is just hypothetically speaking just to illustrate a point, it's just to prove a point!
So I ask you, are we REALLY overpopulated?
edit on 5/11/10 by UnderstandingWisdom because: typo
Well to me this is very subjective...like to someone like me, who would rather take a hot poker to the eye than live around any other people
whatsoever, overpopulation is NOT a myth. But yeah if you're talking resources and facts, it probably IS a myth. But still to others who would love
to have it all in there hands it is also not a myth. Because they'd be happy if it was only them and their chums alive(I'm talking about the elite
here.) But in my eyes...it is not a myth because my day is jammed with people overrunning the roadways, crowding the stores, and getting just
basically up MY A$$; And I don't even live in a major metropolitan area!!!!
Yeah but no one would stay on their given plot of land for 24 hours a day.
They MOVE around. They drive cars, they walk, they ride the bus and take trains.To work, to shop etc. That's when you would really see how having so
many crammed in would not work. just my 2 cents.
Just saying that everyone would get an acre of land so the earth isn't over populated is absurd.
Each person needs a certain amount of space to support them.
Space with trees to make oxygen for them to breathe.
Space with food being grown so they can eat.
Space with factories to make their clothing, cars, homes, books, computers, medicine, etc.
The resources of the world are being depleted at a rapid rate.
The soil doesn't have enough nutrients to support people anymore, etc.
The world has too many people to be able to be sustained in any kind of healthy manner.
That's a fact.
well if your a rich person with, say, 45,000 acres, and your 20 closest neighbors have say, .25 acres, and their land is next to yours, well yeah,
over populated. who wants serfs and peasants living so close?
I think you are right, but you don't own majority of the world, and those who do are sick of giving up a quarter acre here, a quarter acre there.
dont you feel for them? I mean, god forbid, lets say Bush, has to live within 100 acres of a commoner.. bummer.
which btw is probably why he was rarely at the White house..
edit on 5-11-2010 by Myendica because: (no reason given)
Ya, I've seen these layman take on the overpopulation dilemma with nonsensical childish reasoning, and it's very, very sad to see. My only thoughts
are that you guys aren't really educated in sciences, and if you are, whatever specialty you choose didn't offer a broad enough comprehension to
gather a glance at the true state of the world. There is SO MUCH that goes into the equation, and simple talking about how much land there is vs. how
many people there are ... it just shows you haven't a clue what you're talking about. I've gone through some of the other factors time and time again
on these threads, and don't feel like repeating myself for the 15th or so time. All I can say is truly try to think this out before making such a
broad sweeping generalization. You haven't even skimmed the surface.
edit on 5-11-2010 by unityemissions because: (no reason given)
Typical of each and every overpopulation-denier I have come across, you think it is only about having enough room for people, while ignoring every
other facet of the problem.
How are you going to provide food, clean water, energy, transportation, etc etc for all these people you claim could fit in a given area?
Who is going to pay for all of your great ideas?
Every eco-system has a certain carrying capacity, be it in your own backyard, neighborhood, state, or in this case our planet. Since we cant do much
about global overpopulation, every effort needs to be taken to prevent our country from having more people than it can adequately support. This
includes elimination of ALL immigration, both legal and illegal for a period of at least 20 years.
edit on 5-11-2010 by BigTimeCheater
because: (no reason given)
Yes but no one occupies just a postage stamp. In fact, the amount of space a person needs is overwhelming.
Think we don't take up a lot of space? Fly over the midwest sometime and tell me if there is any point you see on the ground that isn't farmland.
We need space for roads, for offices, for schools, for police, for landfills, for the factories that make our cars, diapers, peanut butter, computers,
etc. The space to grow, store, slaughter our food. The space for airports. Not to mention the space for military. The place to grow the wood to make
your paper and houses. The place to make the plastic that we are overflowin the landfills with.The list goes on.
So if we could self sustain on a postage stamp, you have a point.