“Waite rides a bicycle most days. However, Waite’s footprint grows when he arrives on campus or has to rent a car to attend a meeting out of town,” Lafferty reported.
"The moment I show up at work, I suddenly violate the fair Earth share and I become unsustainable. Carrying capacity and footprint are tied to the global economy, which has quadrupled since the world’s population doubled,” said Waite.
“That leads to a fear that slowing population growth might not ultimately curb greenhouse gas production if more people achieve Western lifestyles,” said Barry Rabe, a University of Michigan political scientist who studies environmental issues. “India and China are developing rapidly and have already affected climate change. China is opening an average of one coal-fired power plant a week to meet electricity demand. The power plants emit carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas.”
"Everyone in China wants two things: their own apartment and their own car," Pimm said. "That change is going to have a massive effect on the planet."
Lester Brown, president of the Earth Policy Institute, said the sustainability question is a loaded one, “"People ask me how many people the Earth can sustain. I usually respond that it depends on whether you want to live like an Indian or an American."
“For example, farmers worldwide grow about two billion tons of grain every year. Each American consumes an average of 1,760 pounds annually, mainly because of the grains used to feed farm animals. If everyone on the planet consumed that much grain,” Brown said. “Earth would support about 2.5 billion people.
But in India, people consume about 440 pounds each. If everyone else in the world did likewise, the world’s grain would support about 10 billion people.”
Population, water and food lock horns. Growing one ton of grain requires 1,000 tons of water. Water shortages already occur in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. As water flows from agriculture to support growing urban populations, more grain must be imported.
“Alternative energy, touted as a possible solution to burning fossil fuels that generate greenhouse gases, also adds a factor to the food equation,” Lafferty reported. “Soybeans are increasingly in demand for biodiesel. And ethanol production now vies with food for corn. Brown estimates that by 2008, half of the U.S. corn crop will go to ethanol.”
"Seventy percent of all corn imports in the world come from the U.S., so what happens to U.S. corn crops affects a lot of countries," Brown said.
Waite said this competition for energy and food will change the landscape, “If we were to replace our reliance on fossil fuels and instead grow fuel plants that would require setting aside lots of land to produce ethanol. We don’t have enough land worldwide to meet those demands. Demand for food, fuel and materials already consumes more trees and crops than are being grown worldwide.”
Waite compares the issue to a bank account. “Humans are already drawing on capital rather than interest, and once that is exhausted, they will find Mother Nature reluctant to make a loan.”
For more information concerning our future, contact Dr. Alan Kuper at alankuper@earthlink.net. As you surmise through this series on the next added 100 million Americans, we’re crafting a mighty deep chasm for our children. Check out www.uscongress-enviroscore.org for a greater understanding of what we face.
As you can see from the first part of this series, I showed you what I’ve seen in the USA via my travels as well as my observations throughout my journeys around the world. In latter portions of this series, you’re hearing from the experts to verify what I have seen. We must connect the dots, take action and prevent a horrible overpopulation future for our children by taking action today. “We can bring about population stabilization gracefully or nature will do it brutally.” Henry Kendell
Take action: www.thesocialcontract.com ; www.numbersusa.com
; www.fairus.org ; www.firecoalition.com ; www.capsweb.org
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