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January 05, 2006

Over Population Drives Ecological Collapse

There is exactly zero chance of achieving equitable and just global ecological sustainability if global over-population is not immediately and aggressively addressed. While the harsh reality imposed by the Earth's carrying capacity and soaring population now rarely gets the attention it deserves, occasionally the press jots a once off article. It has been known for decades that exponentially rising human populations are clearly unsustainable and will lead in the mid-term to global ecological collapse. We are already seeing population causing ecological collapse in Haiti, Indonesia, the American southwest and elsewhere. Surely this will percolate through the global biosphere soon.

Any right-minded free thinker concerned about their place in the world and the state of the Earth would have one or two children at most, and would work to eliminate unnecessary consumption while carefully choosing Earth friendly products for the necessities. The next most important steps of righteous green living are to choose to become a citizen advocate on the requirements of maintaining large terrestrial and marine ecosystems, and working to dramatically reduce industrial emissions while restoring natural capital. These issues are the most important matters ever faced by humanity. Engage. Advocate. Agitate. Or we all die.

Comments

Hi Glen,
I would like to comment on the issue of 'Over Population'. First, we human are a part of the earth living system, thus our number will be managed not by us but by the earth herself(carrying capacity, overshoot etc., are valid hyphothesis but not proven). Poverty and starvation are generally the result of poor management of politico-economic situation, usually because some dominating-resource hungry nation/s are involved.

Second, over population is not the cause but effect of ecological collapse,the culprit is outdated social system resulting in decaying human and moral values resulting in ignorant worldviews.

This 'worldviews' created the present sophisticated economic system and its derivatives 'globalisation', market economy and the like. Its growth has been left unchecked for the past 200 years and it has produced an 'effective' but defective-mechanism of survival to sustain itself by the unsustainable means of self-destruction, well documented by the past and present destruction of nature and her resources.

Personally, I think 'ecological literacy' that promotes 'sensitivity' towards Nature is the long-term solution.

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