Those of us who pay attention to science are worried about climate change. It is a problem that may extinguish the human race, and possible most of the higher forms of life. The contributors are legion. But, the most important single contributor, by far, is the human population. There are too many of us.
Keeping this short, I read the book “The Population Bomb” published in 1968, by Paul Ehrlich. Those predictions did not manifest in part because of science advancements and the ability to produce more food.
However, each advance in food production generates a greater demand upon the earth. Second, humans have an insatiable desire for, in my words, more and better. Poor people in the U.S. today live better than any king in the Middle Ages. But we want more.
There are about 8.5 billion people on this earth. It’s easy to write, but not easy to truly understand. Some say we will bad 10 billion by 2050. Only 25 years from now.
Regardless of how much green electricity and concrete we produce, the human race, as a whole, will always want more.
I suggest that until we get control of the human population, the long-term outlook is bleak. This merits a long discussion and an essay is being considered.
What do you think? What do you see as the greatest threats to humanity? Have you any thoughts on how to mitigate those problems?