If you know anything about history at all, you know we are living longer in the last fifty years than for all of recorded history.
Many people now reach 100 years of age. However, more importantly, to most of us, between 1900 and 2000, people could expect to live 30 years longer. Life expectancy had increased from 47.3 years in 1900 to 77.0 years in 2000.
Meanwhile, at the start of life also more children survive. Infant mortality has declined almost universally.
While a part of the world could still be considered very poor by western standards, mankind as a whole, dies of fewer diseases such as the big killer Malaria and the 'common cold'. Many other dreaded pestilences have been first contained and then eradicated.*
In fact, now there are complaints that people might be living too long. How can we feed everyone? There are too many of us. Personally I doubt it.
I also doubt, that if the population grows, we will not find other sources of fuel and food. Man is an ingenious being, has survived much longer than we ever thought, and seems to be able to successfully adapt to any climate on land, under the ocean and even in space.
Since, I am musing tonight on whether it is genetically inherent in human nature to find something to worry and/or usually also, complain about. Might our speculating on overpopulation be just one more thing to complain about.
I personally wouldn't worry about overpopulation either using up all the land or being so filled with people that we would all starve to death.
China alone has, in 40 years, aborted more babies than the entire present population of the United States (315 million) and every year, again in China alone, twice the Los Angeles population is aborted.**
The same article reports that, since Roe vs Wade in 1973, the U.S. has aborted about 50 million babies. This would be about the population of England. Canada either doesn't keep, or does not provide, statistics.
With, China alone aborting enough people to equal the current U.S. population, before they are even born, in 40 years; at the other end of life a lot of people are considering, or already perform Euthanasia (most notably already lawfully premiered in Holland).
In addition to lives removed by Abortion and Euthanasia, Humans will probably always go to war with each other. That should kill off lots of people, drones firing or not.
Meanwhile, modern travel lets the whole world get the flu and/or spreads an epidemic within a day.
I don't think there is much chance we'll ever stay overpopulated for long.
Oh yes, I don't know how much weight the planet can hold, but so far wiki.answers.com *** gives us the following interesting information to the question, What percentage of the earth is populated by humans? It looks like there is a lot of room for even the biggest space hogging people we might imagine. I suggest we all consider the question posed, dispassionately, with the facts in front of us. For a change.
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*"...about a billion people still live in absolute poverty, and 852 million people suffer from chronic hunger and undernourishment mostly in developing countries. And still, 1.1 billion people lack access to improved water and 2.6 billion to improved sanitation. Diarrhea kills 1.8 million people each year; malaria - another preventable disease of poverty - annually claims 1.3 million lives; and indoor air pollution - because of burning wood, dung, and coal inside homes - is estimated to cause 1.6 million premature deaths each year." All of the above, "notwithstanding the substantial progress in human well-being in the past century."
p. 382 The Improving State of the World, Extending the Limits, Chapter 12.
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**March 19, 2013 National Post online was cited above for the abortion statistics. The entire article titled China has aborted equivalent of U.S. population. This article is likely available from them at the National Post offices in Toronto Canada , or from Mr. Kelly McParland or probably also, Britain's Financial Times.
China has aborted equivalent of U.S. population
Britain’s Financial Times recently reported on official abortion rates based on data from China’s health ministry:
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***wiki.answers.com
What percentage of land on earth is dominated by humans?
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***wiki.answers.com
What percentage of land on earth is dominated by humans?
Answer:
29% of Earth is land mass. Of that 29% humans occupy less than 1% of that area. Of the remaining 28% about 40% is pure wilderness. 14% is true desert and 15% has desert like characteristics. 9% is Antarctica. Most of the remaining 22% are agricultural areas. There may be other areas with a human footprint of some kind but it is insignificant in any relation to global warming.
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