Human Behaviors Said to Make Things Worse.
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having too many children
agricultural burning
overconsumption of resources
failure to re-cycle
production/disposal of toxic waste
improper disposal of human waste
improper disposal of garbage
mis-use of pesticides
overcrowding
economic dependence on growth
depletion of soils by overfarming
erosion from removal of vegetation
urban sprawl
over-fishing
removal of carbon sinks (trees)
inefficient use of fuel
urbanizing farmland
urban growth where water is scarce
eating meat
World population would not be a problem if there were unlimited land,
unlimited water, unlimited resources. Unfortunately, with overpopulation,
there is the problem of sharing the same sized pie with smaller and smaller
portions. People in developed countries who have been accustomed to a better
quality of life are reluctant to give it up. In many cases, more efficient
use of resources has come along hand-in-hand with improved quality of life.
But there are still problems of overconsumption, exploitation, the
short-sighted search for an ever-higher quality of life, and the greed of
companies and individuals in cutting corners resulting in pollution and
reckless use of raw materials. Less-developed countries that, in the past,
had smaller populations such that slash-and-burn agriculture had less
impact, cities had fewer vehicles to send pollution into the air, and
industries were not as attracted by cheap labor and thus polluted rivers and
the air less.
This is a difficult subject. Should people have less children or should
people use less resources, pollute less? Or both? Should one problem have
priority over the other? The world population has doubled in the last forty
years. Who has contributed the most to overconsumption and pollution? The
more developed nations with a relatively stable population growth, but who
use 5-50 times the resources of the poor, or the less developed nations
whose populations will double again in 30 years, who will run out of food
and water first, and whose pollution due to agricultural burning, coal
burning, lack of emission controls, mis-use of pesticides, and toxic waste
from under-regulated industries, will only worsen with the increase of
population? And then there is the question of ownership and distribution of
resources, do the rich exploit the poor, and to what extent? As I said, this
is a difficult subject.
There is a delicate balance here: we want the poor countries to improve
their economic situation and to improve the family's quality of life. This
has been know to lower the birth rate. But we want the rich countries to
consume less, perhaps lower the quality of life. We need to balance the
quality of life between the rich and the poor, at the same time, hoping to
balance the family size between the rich and the poor.
Sustainability and Population Population is not of concern if there are
enough resources to go around. Important resources like water of suitable quality for
growing crops, drinking, cooking, and cleanliness, fertile soil for growing food and
trees, and fuel for warmth and cooking. Depletion of important resources leads to
poverty, disease, malnutrion and often death. Impoverished people are usually forced
to destroy their environment in order to survive. Sustainability is the practice of
conservation that will allow people to have enough resources through their life and
the lives of future generations. Sustainability is possible by conserving energy,
materials, resources, by new technologies, and by ensuring that the number of births is
low enough so that there is enough to go around.