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Forty-five years ago when the first Earth Day was held, the catastrophe that awaited us was mass starvation, overpopulation, our supplies of oil and gas running on empty, and even a coming second ice age.
Every single one of those predictions was spectacularly wrong. The opposite occurred. But the doomsday machine rolls on. The declinism on the state of our planet and the well-being of our species permeates our schools, our churches, our malls, radio, TV, the Internet and our whole culture.
Six things from the article on why we are better off now.
1- natural resources are more abundant and affordable today than ever before in history.
2- energy resources are growing. Energy is the master resource, and it is super-abundant.
3- air and water are cleaner than ever.
4- there is no Malthusian nightmare of overpopulation. Birth rates have fallen by about one-half around the world over the last 50 years.
5- global per capita food production is 40 percent higher today than as recently as 1950.
6- the rate of death and physical destruction from natural disasters or severe weather changes has plummeted over the last century.
The way I see it, we seem to be a bigger threat to ourselves than the weather that God controls.
Or we could look at it and say that these Earth Day events have been successful. Things are better now. Yay. Of course, you can't take advantage of people when there is no crisis - so this viewpoint will not work.
Forty-five years ago when the first Earth Day was held, the catastrophe that awaited us was mass starvation, overpopulation, our supplies of oil and gas running on empty, and even a coming second ice age.
Every single one of those predictions was spectacularly wrong. The opposite occurred. But the doomsday machine rolls on. The declinism on the state of our planet and the well-being of our species permeates our schools, our churches, our malls, radio, TV, the Internet and our whole culture.
Six things from the article on why we are better off now.
1- natural resources are more abundant and affordable today than ever before in history.
2- energy resources are growing. Energy is the master resource, and it is super-abundant.
3- air and water are cleaner than ever.
4- there is no Malthusian nightmare of overpopulation. Birth rates have fallen by about one-half around the world over the last 50 years.
5- global per capita food production is 40 percent higher today than as recently as 1950.
6- the rate of death and physical destruction from natural disasters or severe weather changes has plummeted over the last century.
The way I see it, we seem to be a bigger threat to ourselves than the weather that God controls.
Or we could look at it and say that these Earth Day events have been successful. Things are better now. Yay. Of course, you can't take advantage of people when there is no crisis - so this viewpoint will not work.
To number 1-uhhhh...noo.... I don't even feel like I have to argue this because it's so obviously falst
To number 2-This is kind of a catch 22, the technology is there for new sources of energy, but big business has such a hold over what is used and what isn't that we're constantly stuck using fossil fuels, which are diminishing and which are harmful to earths atmosphere.
To number 3-I know first hand number 3 is incredibly wrong. The difference in the river that runs through my city from when I was a kid 20 years ago and now is depressing, and that's just 20 years. Pollution is at an all time high.
To number 4- What? what in the hell!? in 1950 the world pop was 2.5 bil, now it's 7 bil... yea...overpopulation is a HUUUGE issue.
Just keep telling yourself everything is alright, your sources are garbage.
To number 3-I know first hand number 3 is incredibly wrong. The difference in the river that runs through my city from when I was a kid 20 years ago and now is depressing, and that's just 20 years. Pollution is at an all time high.
You may want to tell your city that they are falling behind in cleaning up their water. Better yet - call CNN and tell them you are having a water crisis.
The fact is fossil fuels will continue to take the lead in providing most of the world’s energy needs well into this century.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates that 25 years from now, oil, natural gas and coal, collectively will account for 80 percent of the country’s energy consumption.
That same report estimates that renewable energy sources will grow to 12 percent of our energy mix, with the remaining 8 percent coming from nuclear power. Even under their most aggressive scenario, fossil fuels still account for 65 percent of our energy needs.
To number 4- What? what in the hell!? in 1950 the world pop was 2.5 bil, now it's 7 bil... yea...overpopulation is a HUUUGE issue.
The entire population of the world could fit comfortably in the state of Texas with each person getting over 1,000 square feet. Then the entire rest of the world could be one giant park.
The entire population of the world could fit comfortably in the state of Texas with each person getting over 1,000 square feet. Then the entire rest of the world could be one giant park.
I agree that overpopulation is largely a myth. But the example in the video is poor. We couldn't all live in Texas, because we couldn't grow a year's worth of food from that 1,000 square feet. Let alone the fact that to build our homes we would need wood(among many other things). Then there is technology, transportation, etc.
With that said, there have been plenty of calculations on the potential for the Earth to sustain life. Primarily that potential is derived from the relative access to food.
Depending on the structure of society, the types of foods we eat, our material standard-of-living, and access to things like fertilizers. The maximum population of the world would vary from about one billion, all the way up to something like 300 billion.
The one billion is if we stopped using fertilizers for food, and ran out of oil(forcing us to use trees for energy). While trying to keep a very "American" standard-of-living around the world.
The 300 billion would require us to reclaim effectively every piece of land possible for growing food(IE all the forests). It would also require us all to be vegetarians, and to eat a rather restricted diet of only the most productive plants. Plus, we would have to minimize as much as possible our transportation infrastructure, and increase the efficiency of cities(IE huddle most people into high-rise apartment buildings).
It speculates the number could be even higher if you could either reclaim part of the ocean(through geo-engineering), or to better manage the world's oceans as if they were farmland.
To me, the issue is less about maximum theoretical population, its more about "freedom".
It is hard to imagine a free world when its nothing but heavily managed agriculture and high-rise apartment buildings. And at some point, the government will have to regulate reproduction. Even in benign ways like through the tax code(IE China's one-child policy).
Sounds ****ty.
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