Human Race running out of time.

[enterthemadness]

I think this has been posted, maybe even by me, cause I read this article months ago.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...e-extinct-100-years-population-explosion.html

Then this one suggest Earth can host 3 billion people.

http://makewealthhistory.org/2010/12/09/how-many-people-can-the-earth-support/

I think 4-5 billion is a good number of humans on this planet. We're at 6.8 now, 7 billion is the new milestone by end of 2011.

Only thing I can suggest is people wear condoms, people get fixed more, and if people have large families, fine the hell out of them.

 

[SentinelMind]

Meh, these scientists who hold nihilistic view of humanity have been saying this stuff for decades. I've driven around many parts of this country and see so much unoccupied land, territory, nature and then laugh at my recollection of doomsday calls that claimed we were massively overpopulated.

 

[dnno1]

I'll believe it when I see it. Right now, there is roughly 118 people per square mile on the earth. If we double every 32 years we would still be at under 1000 people per square mile. Just to give you an idea of how that would be, just look at india, which has a population density of over 2500 people per square mile.

 

[Dr. Evil]

We will be dead in 100 years anyways.....so it doesn't matter that much.

 

[dnno1]

That's the attitude to have. Don't you want to leave the world in a better place than it was when you found it?

 

[enterthemadness]

The problem is we can't feed all of the people already that's on Earth. And we've destroyed enough animal habits for human expansion.

 

[Abraham]

once enterthemadness provides proof that he has fixed himself and will not be personally procreating ill start taking his worries seriously

 

[hippie_hunter]

Yeah I stopped believing doomsday scientists after we didn't run out of food in the 1990's, global warming has become climate change after the world didn't turn into a desert by 2000, and we still have plenty of drinkable water.

 

[Morg]

once enterthemadness provides proof that he has fixed himself and will not be personally procreating ill start taking his worries seriously

enterthemadness is papa Duggar?

 

[enterthemadness]

once enterthemadness provides proof that he has fixed himself and will not be personally procreating ill start taking his worries seriously

Well it takes two to tango, and I doubt I ever have a partner, so not worried. I would like to get fixed though.

 

[DACrowe]

Overpopulation, climate change, and a lack of renewable energy are problems that are going to lead to mass famines and other problems in the 21st century. There are hard times ahead and those who laugh it off are naive and leaving a terrible world for their children....

But do I believe the world is going to end in the next century because of these problems? No, not for the whole species. Is there going to be a lot of suffering and loss in the next hundred years? Unfortunately, most probably.

 

[Ghostvirus]

I really hope I am alive when the world ends. Just so I can see all the elitest faces change from superiority to complete & utter reality of the terror they so arrogantly thought would never happen. It will be so beautiful.

 

[Scourge2099]

The whole overpopulation thing is stupid. There's large sections of land that have never been touched by humanity at all. The US has over 300 million people and there's plenty of areas in most states that have never been touched by man.

 

[DACrowe]

Overpopulation means more than square space. We're talking about sharing a sustainable amount of water or food. Third world countries suffer chronic famine now with a population a little under 7 billion. In 50 years it could be as high as 12 billion people. Factor in energy consumption needs as well. Fossil fuels are on their way out. Environmentally they're horrible, but economically the US will be competing with superpowers in China, India, a more solid EU, Brazil, etc. as these countries will reach the US's rates of consumption from population growth.

We're not just talking square miles. We're talking resources for food, drinkable water and energy in a ever globalized world. Those are where the walls are. Easter Island did not collapse because there wasn't enough room for everyone to have shelter. There were not enough resources.

That is the problem we can be facing in this century, I am afraid.

 

[Gamma Ray]

The world has a way of evening things out, be it through war, natural disasters, famine, etc.

 

[enterthemadness]

Excellent posts by DA and Gamma!

DA, what will....what are the new engery sources out there? Just solar and wind power? And hybrid cars?

 

[wiegeabo]

The thing is, if they develop abundant free energy and solve the energy crisis, that's just going to lead to more consumption and expansion.

There's an episode of the Lone Gunmen where they were on the search for a car that ran on water. Turns out, the inventor had decided to keep a lid on his working prototype because he realized that it would just lead to more cars, and therefore more roads. Roads which are made of petroleum, so the oil crisis isn't solved anyway. And we'll have paver over more tracts of land to support all these extra roads.

 

[wiegeabo]

The whole overpopulation thing is stupid. There's large sections of land that have never been touched by humanity at all. The US has over 300 million people and there's plenty of areas in most states that have never been touched by man.

And all that untouched land is integrated into the ecosystem.


And untapped, no matter how barren it appears supports a vast variety of species ranging from bacteria to insect to mammal. Some of these are migratory, which means they also support other areas.

Not every square inch of land can be developed. The last number I heard was that with, current technologies, we could support around 10 billion. That was a few years ago, so it might be a little higher now. Problem is, we'll hit that number in the next decade or two.

 

[StorminNorman]

Overpopulation means more than square space. We're talking about sharing a sustainable amount of water or food. Third world countries suffer chronic famine now with a population a little under 7 billion. In 50 years it could be as high as 12 billion people. Factor in energy consumption needs as well. Fossil fuels are on their way out. Environmentally they're horrible, but economically the US will be competing with superpowers in China, India, a more solid EU, Brazil, etc. as these countries will reach the US's rates of consumption from population growth.

We're not just talking square miles. We're talking resources for food, drinkable water and energy in a ever globalized world. Those are where the walls are. Easter Island did not collapse because there wasn't enough room for everyone to have shelter. There were not enough resources.

That is the problem we can be facing in this century, I am afraid.

Third World countries face famine due to the economic policies of their governments. The answer to the problem of scarcity has been the same for centuries: private property rights. Capitalism.

 

[SuperFerret]

Just because there's space doesn't mean that there's no overpopulation. If anything, one billion is far too many in my eyes.

 

[Visceral]

I'm having 35 kids, just ain't gonna stop

 

[wiegeabo]

I never understood people who have tons and tons of kids.

Don't they realize that every kid has to compete with their siblings for the love, attention, and money of the parents? And with each other when they get out into the workforce?


Of course, there's the explanation my CS professor used (he was the second of ten kids). His father was a theoretical physicist and said that one kid is infinite work. Since you can't have more than infinite work, you might as well have more kids. And, once the first kids get old enough, they can start helping take care of the younger ones. So your workload actually goes down

 

[StorminNorman]

That's one of the funny aspects of Social Security.

The biggest advocates for Social Security are from the left.

Those most worried about Global Warming are from the left.

The two are incompatible.

Social Security necessarily advocates a continued increase in population, where as Global Warming advocates a reduction in population.

 

[chaseter]

I am totally fine with the government imposing birthing caps. I want to face palm myself when I see a family of 8 running around in Walmart. We as a whole society would be better off if you can only have 2-3 kids.

 

[Arc-Light]

bah....we will just go the soylent green rout.....yup...it will be how do you want your people made...well done, rare etc t: