7 Billion. Is it really as big a problem as they are making out?

It's all about exponential growth. The number 7 billion doesn't really mean anything but it's used to illustrate the point.

The more people you have on Earth, the more people they will eventually produce. And so on. The amount of humans born will continue to grow exponentially until it finally reaches a point in which we can no longer sustain ourselves.

Granted, that is decades away. But it is a forseeable problem. The more people living on Earth, the more resources are consumed. And the more living space is needed, which reduces the amount of farming space.

Originally posted by andersensrm
Evolution dictates that a population's reproductive potential is essentially unlimited, the limiting factor is food supply. We humans are unlike any other species we have ever studied. We have the power and technology to make due with smaller and smaller amounts of resources but we will always need a certain amount. When our population reaches a certain point, we will be forced into war to get everyday supplies such as food and water, and millions of people will starve to death. But hey don't listen to any of this, I mean Jesus is coming to save us right? Why should we Care? Well probably because Jesus doesn't exist and chances are that governments are going to fall apart and there will be massive chaos. We need to control our population before we deplete our resources and thus end the age of mammals

So far, I have to say that the above has been the best, most appropriate answer.

Look, the population is a problem. And it has nothing to do with geographical space.
Take a minute and think about this: where does your food come from?

.......


Well, it comes ultimately from the ground, right? Plants, fruit and vegetables, come directly from the ground - and the animals that we eat are herbivores, or predators that eat herbivores, and so their food ultimately comes from the ground.
So, everything's food comes from the ground...the plants and whatnot consume the nutrients in the ground...which come from the decay of once-living things. Decomposition. The food cycle.
Ecology 101, folks.

So, if we are persistently, and exponentially, increasing our food supply to feed our population, are the species of the world also persistently, and exponentially, increasing?
Nope. Sorry, folks, it doesn't work that way.
We are turning their energy (biological mass - you know, meat) into our energy...and only OUR energy...just for humans.
Listen, the earth is a finite system, yet what we're working at is geared toward infinite growth.

So, where's the fine line that guarantees catastrophe?
I've heard it projected to be in about 20-30 years, when our population reaches 9 billion.
I've heard it projected to be at 12 billion.
But, I think someone here said that the world could sustain 45 billion!? And what exactly would these 45 billion people be made out of? Sunshine dust? Soot and poo?
We are made out of food, just like any living creature is - and we are ALL in this together!

Come on!
We are wiping out an upwards of 150 species PER DAY, through pollution, deforestation, and starvation.
150 species a day, people!
When they are gone, what are we going to have to eat - well, except one another?

Of course, we're not the first species of anything to be going against the grain of 'nature' - of evolution.
The thing is, those species don't exist anymore. Natural selection and all that jazz.
But, we've been here for so long, doing this for so long? How could we be possibly causing our own extinction, and by extension the extinction of the majority of life on this planet?
Because we've been doing this only for the last 10,000 years - a blink of an eye on the biological scale of time.
That's how fast extinction happens: the blink of an eye.

We have to change...I think the vast majority of us here can agree with that.
But we have to first realize what it is that needs changing...
because for the last 10,000 years, all of our attempts toward change (think revolts, protests, uprisings, revolutions, legislations, laws, religions, institutions, etc.) have gotten us what we have today.
Sounds gloomy, doesn't it?
And it should!
But, we can change this...and I'll tell you this much, it has NOTHING to do with changing people.
People are people - we are all human.
It has to do with changing hearts and minds...about understanding how this mess has come to be, and why it has come to be!

Don't mistake me for something original, y'all. These ideas have been floating around for a few hundred years now. For me, this understanding began with a novel...Ishmael by Daniel Quinn.
Look it up, find it, give it a read. Then come back here and reread this.


Sorry to hijack the thread, guys...
I just seem to have a lot to say lately.


Toodles!
-onenotsaved

I would happily say that over here in the uk there would be two big reasons for more children being born here and that would be idiotic children giving birth to kids they cannot look after and before the kids that had a kid are old enough, the kid they gave birth to is now having a kid because her mother did it at her age and so on and so forth.

Bad cycle of copy cats. Should really stop younger people having children before they know what to do with themselves, just one idea.

It is not a question of how many people.
It is not a question of landmass.
It is not even a question of resources.

It is a problem of money, power, control. Period. Or the desire for each if you will.

Texas was ablaze and drier than dry, and the Northeast was drowning from Irene and massive rain storms, and we couldn't figure out how to help each other out. And that was all within the United States! How the heck are we going to be able to help Africa??

Originally posted by DenyStupidity

I would happily say that over here in the uk there would be two big reasons for more children being born here and that would be idiotic children giving birth to kids they cannot look after and before the kids that had a kid are old enough, the kid they gave birth to is now having a kid because her mother did it at her age and so on and so forth.

Bad cycle of copy cats. Should really stop younger people having children before they know what to do with themselves, just one idea.

edit on 26-10-2011 by DenyStupidity because: (no reason given)

Which is to say what?
Which has more influence on children - parents or the culture of the parents?
I agree that it is a problem, but stopping it from happening would just be treating an effect and ignoring the cause. Treat the symptoms and the symptoms will persist. Treat the cause the the symptoms disappear.

Originally posted by lpowell0627
It is not a question of how many people.
It is not a question of landmass.
It is not even a question of resources.

It is a problem of money, power, control. Period. Or the desire for each if you will.

Texas was ablaze and drier than dry, and the Northeast was drowning from Irene and massive rain storms, and we couldn't figure out how to help each other out. And that was all within the United States! How the heck are we going to be able to help Africa??

Amen!
One cannot formulate a solution based on the same thinking that caused the problem!
Control and power, man...domination. Money came after the fact.

And just think! All this crap began with people who had nothing but good intentions for us!

Originally posted by onenotsaved

Originally posted by DenyStupidity

I would happily say that over here in the uk there would be two big reasons for more children being born here and that would be idiotic children giving birth to kids they cannot look after and before the kids that had a kid are old enough, the kid they gave birth to is now having a kid because her mother did it at her age and so on and so forth.

Bad cycle of copy cats. Should really stop younger people having children before they know what to do with themselves, just one idea.

edit on 26-10-2011 by DenyStupidity because: (no reason given)

Which is to say what?
Which has more influence on children - parents or the culture of the parents?
I agree that it is a problem, but stopping it from happening would just be treating an effect and ignoring the cause. Treat the symptoms and the symptoms will persist. Treat the cause the the symptoms disappear.

Originally posted by lpowell0627
It is not a question of how many people.
It is not a question of landmass.
It is not even a question of resources.

It is a problem of money, power, control. Period. Or the desire for each if you will.

Texas was ablaze and drier than dry, and the Northeast was drowning from Irene and massive rain storms, and we couldn't figure out how to help each other out. And that was all within the United States! How the heck are we going to be able to help Africa??

Amen!
One cannot formulate a solution based on the same thinking that caused the problem!
Control and power, man...domination. Money came after the fact.

And just think! All this crap began with people who had nothing but good intentions for us!

and this is my point, the hidden meaning in my topic was that its nothing to do with the land we live on, as its pretty much infinite. If there is ground, most cases it can be used and considering how intelligent growing has become, not much land is needed to deliver a huge amount.

It's how those in true power, owns the huge bank roll, the infinite money system that wants to continue its puppeteering games. Those people just wish to keep us to the few, so they can gather us together and continue to play with us, play with our lives and make us feel the need to feed of what they give us, rather then seek our own refuge.

It's you people that continue to think this is some real threat, the threat of their being to many people that are adding to what they subconsciously or publicly feed you. Give up your freedoms so others can live freely, yet no one does. Its sickening.

we basically all choose to live a comfortable life, moving with technology and thinking that is what we deserve and should be able to use, as humans yet no other life form on this earth has those privileges. So we huddle together and choke each other for dear life when where not given something easily.

No extinction will happen to animals that are in demand because our demand, makes those animals that would normally die out, breed more and stay in existence. Chickens and Cows are good examples, pretty much useless but with our intervention, become good source.

Humans have gotten lazy and looked to a broken system for help, that does not however mean we cant backtrack on that system and become a little more responsible for life we create. Keep it to a minimum basically.

Originally posted by roughycannon
People seem to think its about space Ie. the amount of room we have to occupy, but its not its about resources we are currently out living our planet.

I seen on TV on QI link that we will be short on protein by the year 2030.

If we run out of protein what will we do?

We are also running out of helium too...

www.independent.co.uk...

People think this is nonsense but look at Africa, hey have basically nothing to sustain themselves, we have already started to give them some of ours but what happens when we run out?

I think they call it soyagreend if i remember right
But i'll be long gone by that time i hope