By Barry Barnett
On Nov. 15, 2022, the human population reached 8 billion—sooner than predicted or expected.
It seems almost taboo to talk about overpopulation and the destruction the human species does to the planet and its inhabitants. Or it just doesn’t get talked about.
Really, along with climate change, it should be the most talked about issue. Yes, war and peace, food insecurity, wealth inequality and poverty, corporate and political corruption, gun violence, energy, inflation…(fill in the blanks)…are important subjects to address.
But the burgeoning morass of humanity, ever increasing, is more than a “force multiplier,” as I have written before. It is a cause of all of the aforementioned problems, and more.
Excessive greenhouse gas emissions, soil depletion, nearly 3 million tonnes of pesticides slathered on the planet every year, urban stress leading to violence, habitat destruction leading to animal population reduction and species extinction—especially affecting pollinators, which could cause widespread crop failures and even human extinction—this is a non-exhaustive list of multiple interacting serious problems, all caused by overpopulation, and seriously affecting all the population.
The United Nations predicts a world population of 9.7 billion by 2050 and 10.4 billion by 2100.
Fortunately, population increase is slowing, but not fast enough. People need to be talking more about limiting the number of children they have, popularizing it much more in all media and making it “cool” to not have many children.
I for one would be totally for the U.S. (and other nations) mandating a maximum two child per couple reproduction rate, with rewards and fines; even better would be a one child maximum until reaching stability, which China had (with some allowances). This was estimated to have prevented 400,000 additions to its already overwhelming population.
Of course, this would have to be considered fairly acceptable by many.
If the human species doesn’t want to replicate the fate of the island rabbits who out-reproduced the food supply and perished, and if humans want to have something left of the beautiful natural paradise that was the entire Earth before the species exploded and dominated nature, thinking humans are beyond her—humans need to control their reproduction. And their overconsumption.
Thanks for this article. Whenever there is an event such as a fire that burn down a forest, we think of the devastation that relates to the human cost. It’s rarely mentioned the environmental costs. Every day I notice less and less natural habitat as more housing goes up. It’s disgusting and carries the same characteristics as cancer. Empathy for humans, I have none.
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I shared your article with my uncle in Atlanta, who writes about population issues. He asked me to mention that though he shares your concern, he worries that talk of mandates may be detrimental to advancing the cause.
Attached to this comment is a related article from his substack.
https://www.pleaseatmost2.org/p/our-habitable-capacity-2