6 billion -> 10 billion: Population's the Big Environmental Problem

Let me say that I was trained and practiced as an environmental engineer my entire life. I am now retired and spend a lot of time in Southeast Asia (specifically Indonesia) where I can see clearly environmental problems things like the reduction of rain forests and the effects that an ever growing human population is having upon the earth.

From what I can see, the root of all environmental problems in the future is a rapid growing world population. Obviously, as the population grows, it also expands into areas that formerly were largely unpopulated. In addition, as the world population becomes more “civilized”, each individual consumes more and more resources. So we get a multiplying effect: more people are born and each new person consumes more during their lifetime resources. This in essence quadruples the problem.

Right now we are starting to see evidence of this rapid population growth. Society is trying to treat the symptoms the problems that crop up…. Trying to recycle wastes, put pollution controls on factories and cars, improve our efficiency growing food, etc. But these efforts are like taking an aspirin when you have a cold. Treating the symptoms by never curing the virus which causes the cold and perhaps pneumonia. What good does it do to cut automobile emissions by half when twice as many people are driving cars?

As long as we turn a blind eye toward population control and reduction, then all our efforts to
1) stop the consumption of non-renewable resources,
2) halt the destruction forested and populated open space,
3) reducing carbon footprint, and
4) maintain food supply to the world are all impossible goals.

So what is the solution to population control. The worst imaginable, but yet most likely to happen, is either a catastrophic disaster such as worldwide feminine or a major nuclear war. A more humane and logical answer would be to impose a 50-year moratorium, which would allow one couple to have only one child. Of course, this could only be accomplished by the implant of some birth control capsule that would prevent both men and women form having additional children.

Another measure that needs to be taken is to simply not allow extraordinary medical measures to be taken to save a human life after age 60. If a person over age 60 cannot survive without artificial life support, complex surgery, or implants, etc, then he/she would be provided with drugs to stop the pain, but allowed to die a natural death. [Note. I am 61 years old as I write this – so don’t think I take the proposal lightly].

Most people who have not considered the consequences of overpopulation would reel in shock at the mere mention of such draconian measures. Personally, I put the idea right up there with rules like “Thou shalt not murder”. “Thou shalt not overpopulate the earth” – commandment #11. What is the price you are willing to pay to provide future generations a bright future? I consider it a crime against humanity to allow anyone to pump out multiple children and live artificially long lives, thereby destroying the quality of life for my yet unborn grandchild.

That’s my solution and it is the only one that will work. So the next time you see or hear people telling to drive smaller cars and recycling garbage, remember it is all a vain attack on the symptoms caused by the disease of overpopulation and is all for naught.