How many of the world's problems come from over-population? ( Archived) (16)

All the ones that the Humans caused....

Suppose you have US$1,000,000 in the bank and you get 5% interest annually.

If you live off of $50,000 per year and live only off the interest, the money will last forever.

If you live off of $75,000 per year and live off $25,000 of the principal, the money will run out in 25 years.

If you live off of $100,000 per year, twice what the original interest was, the money will run out in 16 years.

The Earth and its resources are a lot like a bank account, it constantly generates interest of the principal it has. Trees clean the air, algae cleans the water, the food chain replenishes itself, etc.

The problem is, humans are not spending only the interest, we are idiotically spending principal as well. Worse still, not only are there more and more people (increasing population) but more and more people are using more and more resources (increasing industrialization). In my economic analogy, we've gone from spending $50,000 to spending $250,000 per year. Guess how long the analagous bank account will last as that rate? Six years.

No, I'm not saying the Earth will run out of clean air and water before 2020, but I am saying we're increasingly consuming more than the Earth can replenish. Even if there is zero population growth and no increase in oil consumption, we're likely to run out of gasoline and food by 2050. For those who don't know, most commercial fertilizers are made from petroleum products.

We've already hit peak oil and prices will continue to rise. For those with pathetically short memories, today's price of US$77 per barrel is more than what it was in December 2007.


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I remember as a kid that around 1980, the estimates were only 10% of the oil had been used then. We've used 40% in 30 years, yet some people think it will last forever; there are even idiots forwarding the term, "abiotic oil", suggesting that the Earth produces oil naturally like our bones produce our blood.

If people don't start cutting back now, both population and consumption, we're likely to see world wars and mass famines (tens of millions dead annually) in the decades to come. I'll consider myself lucky to probably be dead by then and have not had any kids who were forced to live through it.

There's one major failing in my bank account analogy: If we **** up the Earth and use up all the resources, we can't borrow from someone else and use debt to get out of the mess. Yet somehow, people think we can borrow, or perhaps there will be a "second coming" to save us.

Wrong. We have to do it ourselves.

Sure, our population can't just continue to increase without major problems, but for the moment I think the world's problems come from people's behaviours rather than their number.

There aren't many of us in the first world, but our decadent, unsustainable lifestyles wreak incredible amounts of havoc worldwide. For the rich, it seems that damage caused just increases with wealth, rather than number.

There's one major failing in my bank account analogy: If we **** up the Earth and use up all the resources, we can't borrow from someone else and use debt to get out of the mess. Yet somehow, people think we can borrow, or perhaps there will be a "second coming" to save us.

Wrong. We have to do it ourselves.

Finally,.......... SOMEONE that agrees with me !

Great analogy k rational. I couldn't agree more.

Did anyone notice that all the women so far answered either ALL or MOST. I think this shows that men in general are greedy with their choices. All "we" care about is getting lucky, screw everyone else and this planet.

Someone has to take responsibility for having too many kids. I could be wrong (please correct me) but I think I've heard that the biggest growth rate is in third world countries. I've also heard that, where women (and men) are properly educated and given lifestyle choices, the population finds a more sustainable level, eg one kid, two max generally.

Which begs the question - why do people in first world countries have large families? I'm not talking uneducated people, but middle classes who think that they have to have three children or more. They are being a bit selfish and short sighted.

I realise that having a large brood of kids is utopia to some people but it's just unnecessary these days and a drain on resources.

I'll get off my soapbox now.

i think china was so over populated. they limit people to one girl and one boy now.

World population is falling actually and it's unprecedented in world history for this to happen. This will cause untold problems for countries with ageing populations who need workers to support them. Don't believe what the Malthusians are telling you.