11 replies to this topic

[kiddX]

Hey guys, this is a topic I have been thinking about recently.
As recently as 1966, the world population was less than half of what the world's population is today - that is the world population has doubled in under 50 years. If this continues, by 2050 we will have a staggering 13.5 billion people (unless I messed up the math) and that assumes the population growth rate doesn't change.

The media and many politicians have been talking about sustainability a lot in recent months. Even my college this year got on the bandwagon and is working on making
the campus more "sustainable". I find these two concepts somewhat at odds. If our population continues growing at this rate, can our species ever be sustainable? Do you think our population growth will slow down? Is population control something that we should start implementing? What is a better thing for sustainability - our current programs or focusing on population control in AIDS-ridden developing countries?

Edited by kiddx, 26 April 2010 - 01:05 AM.

[Waser Lave]

The current population in many places is already unsustainable. If you look at China for an example they're already facing problems like major desertification and they have hardly enough water for their needs so they're having to embark on huge projects to deal with the shortage like damming, river diversion and a massive scale canal building project to try to move water from central China to the North. There's also similar problems with countries in the Middle East who have relied on fresh water aquifers for their needs which are now rapidly running out because of over-use and pollution. Then you've got the problem of food supply, our current population was only made possible by advances in technology which meant improved crops and things like irrigation so people could grow much higher yields. So to sustain an even larger population we'd need some more major advancements in those technologies again (if possible).

Let's just hope our population doesn't reach those kind of levels in the near future.

[luvsmyncis]

Birth control is our friend, people. Fucking use it.
Unfortunately, the poor, uneducated, and highly religious folks of this world will never use birth control, and our population, mainly of idiots, will continue to increase. You think you're surrounded by morons right now? Wait 15 years, and see what their kids are like. *shudders*

[chobitz]

Birth control is our friend, people. Fucking use it.
Unfortunately, the poor, uneducated, and highly religious folks of this world will never use birth control, and our population, mainly of idiots, will continue to increase. You think you're surrounded by morons right now? Wait 15 years, and see what their kids are like. *shudders*

Have you seen Idiocracy too?

Plus add to the fact that Texas is REWRITING HISTORY TEXT BOOKS to make it more "conservatively correct" and to "get rid of the liberal bias", and that mostly abstinence sex ed is taught, the kids growing up are going to be major idiots and have tons of idiot babies.

Edited by chobitz, 26 April 2010 - 06:49 AM.

[outsidedream86]

I was just listening to a talk on this issue. The guy found that population rates were beginning to slow in developing countries as women get more educated and begin working outside the home. Globalization is giving more women the opportunity to have paying jobs. The more freedom a woman has, the fewer children she ends up having. Want population control? Make sure women have rights in developing countries. Interestingly enough, if it weren't for our immigration policy, the US would be losing population because nobody is having children.

Oh, and condoms. Lots and lots of condoms.

[Sweeney]

Interestingly enough, if it weren't for our immigration policy, the US would be losing population because nobody is having children.

I find that extremely doubtful. Source?

[Waser Lave]

I find that extremely doubtful. Source?

There are some countries with a negative natural growth rate but I don't think the US is one of them, I think Germany is one and maybe Japan too.

[Bryan]

All we need is a good mass genocide, maybe a pandemic or two and a couple nuclear wars. We'll have that population down in a jiffy.

[Warriors]

you do know that ignorance has led to a high pop rate...Catholic Church has banned condoms thus the millions of Catholics abhore birth control...

[Mr. Hobo]

All we need is a good mass genocide, maybe a pandemic or two and a couple nuclear wars. We'll have that population down in a jiffy.

Yep we're overdue for some big war. My guess is India + Russia vs China for regional super power or Russia + Canada for control of the arctic

[Waser Lave]

Yep we're overdue for some big war. My guess is India + Russia vs China for regional super power or Russia + Canada for control of the arctic

I'd probably go with The World vs China because China does something stupid over Taiwan or maybe The West vs Iran/Syria/Yemen/Somalia for reasons either involving Israel or terrorism.

[Mr. Hobo]

I think the worlds taking a position of appeasement in regards to China (Olympics for example)
I don't think that China will make the mistake of pissing off the major nations to the point that they actually do something(especially since a boycott would destroy their economy and topple their government while giving the boycotting countries back a lot of jobs)

Ya terrorism causing another war is pretty likely. Hopefully they stick with stuff like the twin tower rather than nuclear or biological (which makes so much more sense )