The clock is ticking
Gerson: A New Faith-Based Agenda - Newsweek National News - MSNBC.com
I've heard two things in recent days that are pretty disturbing:
1. Around 2048, the population of Earth will double to about 13 billion (yikes!)
2. Around 2048, the oceans will be effectively fished out.
At about the same time all this talk is going on, there's a lot of talk about helping kids in Africa, the AIDS problem, more cases of tuberculosis, etc. We're also finding new ways, via science, to extend a person's life span and the quality of life for all those years.
The problem I see is that, in one hand, we're killing the Earth by overpopulating it; and in the other, we're trying our damnest to preserve and extend human life.
We can't do both at the same time. Can we? What will happen, as I see it, is sometime before 2048, resources will be at such a premium that a really big, global war is going to erupt. And/or, despite our best efforts, billions (probably the majority of human population) will suffer. More land will HAVE to be cleared to produce food, which means we can kiss our rain forests goodbye.
I will be in my seventies when 2048 rolls around. With all the pressures on our environment, and the subsequent pressures on society, I am really not looking forward to my "golden years." Is there anything we can do to ensure that those people who are around the middle of the century aren't looking at dead oceans, crowded countrysides, lack of food and resources... What are our options?
There are some pretty draconic ones, others are just heartless.
1. Not to give a damn about the poor, underdeveloped countries. Anyone with a beating heart can't subscribe to that option; but the underdeveloped world accounts for the vast majority of humans on this planet. Left to their own devices, without special life-saving technologies, perhaps at least this section of the world will level out population-wise very soon. But the suffering level would be too high.
2. Let's start a war! That's always been successful at killing off millions of civilians. Look at WWII for a good example.
3. Population control. China already has a "one child" policy. Some more detached provinces of China even force sterilization and abortion (which is illegal). Something heavy-handed will have to be passed as a law, limiting our basic, human rights. Telling people to stop having sex isn't going to work by itself.
4. Stop looking for ways to extend human life. Take all the money from cancer research, etc, and put it into education, social welfare, etc. Improve the quality of life for everyone, while they have time on this Earth. But don't extend that time.
5. Get the fark offa this planet. This is the best option. But it is also impossible. Scientists don't believe we will be anywhere NEAR the technology needed to (for example) travel faster-than-light for another hundred to two hundred years. If ever. Outside of that, we'd have to engineer space ships that are self-sustaining for hundreds of years. And a lot of them. VERY expensive.
One can also hope that, in time, we'll develop new technologies that will help feed all these people without killing off entire species (or ecosystems). Better feed practices for private, local fish farms, so we don't have to farm the ocean to death. But who is to say what's going to work? All I know is, by most scientists' best guesses, and from what I feel about these guesses, we only have about 40 good years left on this planet. Something drastic needs to be done. Or, perhaps, Mother Nature herself will find a way to take care of us, once and for all.
I've heard two things in recent days that are pretty disturbing:
1. Around 2048, the population of Earth will double to about 13 billion (yikes!)
2. Around 2048, the oceans will be effectively fished out.
At about the same time all this talk is going on, there's a lot of talk about helping kids in Africa, the AIDS problem, more cases of tuberculosis, etc. We're also finding new ways, via science, to extend a person's life span and the quality of life for all those years.
The problem I see is that, in one hand, we're killing the Earth by overpopulating it; and in the other, we're trying our damnest to preserve and extend human life.
We can't do both at the same time. Can we? What will happen, as I see it, is sometime before 2048, resources will be at such a premium that a really big, global war is going to erupt. And/or, despite our best efforts, billions (probably the majority of human population) will suffer. More land will HAVE to be cleared to produce food, which means we can kiss our rain forests goodbye.
I will be in my seventies when 2048 rolls around. With all the pressures on our environment, and the subsequent pressures on society, I am really not looking forward to my "golden years." Is there anything we can do to ensure that those people who are around the middle of the century aren't looking at dead oceans, crowded countrysides, lack of food and resources... What are our options?
There are some pretty draconic ones, others are just heartless.
1. Not to give a damn about the poor, underdeveloped countries. Anyone with a beating heart can't subscribe to that option; but the underdeveloped world accounts for the vast majority of humans on this planet. Left to their own devices, without special life-saving technologies, perhaps at least this section of the world will level out population-wise very soon. But the suffering level would be too high.
2. Let's start a war! That's always been successful at killing off millions of civilians. Look at WWII for a good example.
3. Population control. China already has a "one child" policy. Some more detached provinces of China even force sterilization and abortion (which is illegal). Something heavy-handed will have to be passed as a law, limiting our basic, human rights. Telling people to stop having sex isn't going to work by itself.
4. Stop looking for ways to extend human life. Take all the money from cancer research, etc, and put it into education, social welfare, etc. Improve the quality of life for everyone, while they have time on this Earth. But don't extend that time.
5. Get the fark offa this planet. This is the best option. But it is also impossible. Scientists don't believe we will be anywhere NEAR the technology needed to (for example) travel faster-than-light for another hundred to two hundred years. If ever. Outside of that, we'd have to engineer space ships that are self-sustaining for hundreds of years. And a lot of them. VERY expensive.
One can also hope that, in time, we'll develop new technologies that will help feed all these people without killing off entire species (or ecosystems). Better feed practices for private, local fish farms, so we don't have to farm the ocean to death. But who is to say what's going to work? All I know is, by most scientists' best guesses, and from what I feel about these guesses, we only have about 40 good years left on this planet. Something drastic needs to be done. Or, perhaps, Mother Nature herself will find a way to take care of us, once and for all.
posted by xanadian at 9:21 AM
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