Green | August 03, 2009 | 8 comments

Overpopulation is not the problem – overconsumption by the rich few is

source: http://www.green-blog.org/2009/07/14/overpopulation-is-not-the-problem-–-overconsumptio...

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Simon Leufstedt writes...
"I often hear people saying that overpopulation is the main problem to our environmental and ecological problems. Some people even claim that it’s responsible for global warming. I also agreed with this idea before. But after reading more about the subject over the years I have changed my mind.

The rich countries in the “North”, i.e. the West, have a “rapidly decreasing” population which is “expected to decline over the next forty years.” Developing countries such as India, China and most of Africa on the other hand is where we will see future population numbers increasing.

And yes. It seems so easy to blame countries with an overwhelming rising population for being responsible for wrecking our planet, climate and environment. Because surely more people must mean more pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Right?

Not really. The West is responsible for about 80% of the worlds CO2 increase. An average person living in Great Britain will in only 11 days emit as much CO2 as an average person in Bangladesh will during a whole year. And just a single power plant in West Yorkshire in Great Britain will produce more CO2 every year than all the 139 million people combined living in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique.

As Fred Pearce from the Yale Environment 360 blog notes, only a small portion of the world’s people are using most of the planets resources as well as producing the most of the greenhouse gases. And those are living in the West:..." (see link for the rest of the post)
  1. groups:
    Green,   Max and Jason: Still Up,   Sustainable Agriculture
  2. tags:
    Green,  Environment,  Sustainability,  Over Population
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8 comments // Overpopulation is not the problem – overconsumption by the rich few is

  • Ricky84
    • 0
      Ricky84  

    • Overconsumption is the pet theory of over-population so I I’d really like to know how someone can reject one but keep the other.

      So why is this theory crap? Well take the US for example. We make up 5% of the world’s population and we use 30% of the world’s resources. Based on those facts, the ideas in this article and the theory of overconsumption we fit the bill as a nation of over consumers. The problem is that it breaks down when you add a little bit of perspective to the whole thing.

      The US being the most powerful and technologically advanced economy on the planet still produces about 30% of the world’s GDP. So in other words we take 30% of the world’s resources and produce 30% of the world’s goods and services. So what the hell are these overconsumption people talking about?

      If we took all the wealth in the world and redistributed it evenly would that really increase our efficiency and decrease worldwide pollution rates? You’d really have to do an amazingly complex and detailed peer reviewed study just to make that claim and unfortunately I didn’t see anything like that in this blog.

      If anyone is poised to adaquently address climate change and pollution it would be the US. Right now clean and green tech investments represent the fastest growing venture in the US. Even cash strapped NASA devotes at least a fifth of its budget directly to earth based science.

    • 3 years ago
  • BullDogg
    • 0
      BullDogg  

    • Yeah, we are like locusts aren't we? Don't feel too bad, because we are making progress...just at a snails pace. We take one step forward and China takes two back...

    • 3 years ago
  • SeaJade
    • 0
      SeaJade  

    • This is a good time to add Annie Leonard's entertaining and eye opening 20 minute "The Story of Stuff".

      "From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever"

    • 3 years ago
  • Ricky84
    • 0
      Ricky84  
    • SeaJade:

      Someone made me watch this video before and let me tell you it’s ridiculously biased. You’re really doing your cause a disservice by promoting half assed crap like “The Story of Stuff.” The part about computers alone was enough to disqualify this doc as useless. So here’s a critique, if anything you might benefit from knowing why so many people do or will disagree with this doc when presented with all the facts.

    • 3 years ago
  • larrysnotes
  • Wessagusset_Oracle
  • Armageddon_Now
  • larrysnotes
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