What About Human Population?

The holidays are taking their toll on research - typical. Still, I have been able to find a very interesting article, in which the..."UNESCO's chief of sustainable water resources development, Professor Shahbaz Khan, said overpopulation's impacts were potentially more economically, socially and environmentally destructive than those of climate change." LINK. This article was published in the Canberra Times.

UNESCO....not exactly a bunch of crackpots. I wonder if Dr. Khan has signed up for the February 2009 Global Population Speak Out action? LINK to GPSO website

Earlier, I was reading an editorial in the British Medical Journal. A couple of physician/scientists were proposing that family doctors encourage their patients to stop at one or two children. How revolutionary! Then I read the responses. These e-responses are often disappointing. People always trot out the argument against population limits: "population is declining in Europe!" European populations may be declining...if so, it's probably due to the fact that people are far more environmentally aware in Europe than they are in the US. Or it could be that they're responsible parents and they want to concentrate their resources to give their 1.7 children the best upbringing they can. Either way, Europeans already have a far more sustainable infrastructure than the US. That's why we Americans really have to focus on this work at home.

Also: just because we're only acknowledging the problem now, doesn't mean that it hasn't been a problem for a long time.

That's why, despite the fact that birthrates are declining in some industrialized countries, it's still important to encourage one child families and reduce total population numbers. Our current population level is NOT sustainable; that is evident from the damage we see in the environment, from the water tables sinking faster than they can be replenished by rain.

Births need to be planned. Contraceptives need to be available free of charge, no questions asked. Our total population needs to come down, not stabilize at the current numbers!