Population Boom

In the year 10,000 BC there were about 1 million people on Earth.

In 0000 AD we had increased to 200 million

Along comes 1810 and we reach 1 Billion. The Earth can still support us all without being ravaged.

In 1900 there were 1.6 Billion folks on Earth. It's starting to get a little crowded and severe damage to other forms of life and the land and water are becoming apparent. Mechanization enters the picture and the "standard of living" for the more advanced segment of society increases demand per capita.

Shortly after 1960 the world's population reaches 3 Billion. By now severe degradation of our planet is running out of control.

In the next day or two our population will reach 7 Billion. Cars swarm over the planet spewing poison gas. From space at night the Earth is well lit; our demands for energy have become astronomical. Water, much of which is now contaminated, has become a "precious commodity" and huge international corporations fight for control of it. The seas, once teeming with life, are becoming lifeless deserts. Mining operations, including petroleum, ravage the land and poison it. The rain forests will disappear by 2030 and cannot be replaced. We have reached the limit of developing agricultural land and deserts are growing everywhere. One out of every seven people is undernourished; the cost of basic foods continues to rise. The world's economic system no longer works and the gap between rich and poor is growing faster and wider. No one has or even offers an alternative. A huge percentage of the world's people live on drugs, legal and illegal, because life has become so insane.

The root problem, the one whose solution would solve all the others, is overpopulation. There should be a population cap of 2 Billion; 1 Billion would be better. We only have one planet to live on. It might be a good idea to take care of it.

When I was in school way back "overpopulation" was a key topic.

Later, and more humans later, the topic dissolved. I have not heard for decades about the problem of overpopulation- and yet it has grown by billions.

What happened? Why did the issue die out so early on?

This should be an important issue- right there with health care. That we encourage not having lots of kids. Society will judge negatively someone with lots of tatoos, but six kids, that's fine.

This needs to be a priority, and I don't know why it's not.

[Silver]

It scares me to think about it~*

Is it man's competitive spirit that is causing all this havoc? What?

[Triner]

Originally Posted by Greybeard

...We only have one planet to live on. It might be a good idea to take care of it.

So true, more people need to recognize that. Between religion's "go forth and multiply" and corporate "anything for money", the Earth is getting trashed pretty badly.

If history is anything to go on, it'll take a swift kick up the collective human derrière to get change occuring.

[Silver]

Hmm. Maybe the cause of black holes in space are all the 'gods' spinning in their graves...?

Maybe if Having Sex were made a punishable offense?

Population & the planet's resources are much more a matter of intelligent & sustainable use of them than overpopulation. With using our resources in a smart manner the planet could support much more population than it has now.

Maybe have a law so each family can have a maximum of one child? Like they used to have in China I believe .........

[Swami Chihuahuananda]

Well , here we go ... or here I go again, speculating on the realistic possibility that humans are too stupid to live. Think of something like the Drake equation , that tries to estimate the chances of civilizations surviving to stages where intelligence and technology and interstellar travel are possible.

Collectively, we have shown some of those capabilities , but it's not a focused effort ; it's been almost all about enterprise for profit, with less pure research being done. Profitable advances have bankrolled pure research , and progress happens in the name of science and curiosity but also largely
out of greed , and the fear of the people in some other nation gaining an edge in the technology of warfare. So there you have it, the abilities to both create and destroy growing side by side, hand in hand , and so far, always with the potential of wiping out a large portion of the population.

Population boom ?... technology to greatly reduce population ?...
Now I'm thinking of one thing George Carlin said : "thin the herd"
I sure hope this knowledge doesn't fall into the wrong hands .
OOPS , too late .

Remembering some of what some channel said way back when... it's the biological, sexual, territorial imperitave that's been hardwired into us genetically , that's the root of these tendencies to do the things we do largely by impulse , mostly unable and/or unwilling to look at a bigger picture, to have foresight and a conscience beyond our personal needs and
desires .

I know that a lot of people are doing a lot that allows them to evolve further than others that continue to operate within these old limitations , but collectively it sure as heck looks like a painfully slow journey up out of
the caveman lifestyle that we seem to be stuck in . Breeding without concern for conservation of resources or pollution of the environment.
Governments that war and rot from within because of corruption . Apathy
on a massive scale in the richest country on Earth. It isn't really a pretty picture from this perspective , so I can't say I have a lot of faith in humanity
solving these serious problems . There are always pie-in-the-sky scenarios
involving wishful thinking, Divine intervention, alien assistance , but none of that has happened yet , and I'd bet my butt that nothing so dramatic is going to happen anytime soon , so we're left with ourselves , and as a species, we have a long way to go and a short time to get there.

[OnAPath]

Do you think the natural events storms, earthquakes, etc are the planet's attempt to solve just that?