(It’s not all about how many people can survive)
Planet Earth can fit a million times more people; that doesn’t mean we should.
When scientist talk about overpopulation, they are not talking about the amount of empty space available; they are talking about how many people can Earth sustain. Now, you might have already known that, but I want to add something more to this; just because more people can survive doesn’t mean they will thrive.
With the help of newer technology, it is a lot more feasible to sustain a lot more people on Earth. The human species is of great power & capabilities. We can redirect & allocate resources with greater efficiency than ever before. We can mess with the DNA of fruits & vegetables to harvest a greater yield. Shit, we can even make it rain. Check out how they are doing that over in Dubai.
However, the problem with having more people on Earth, even if we can sustain them to live, is that this would cause an increase rate of resource extraction, consumption, pollution, waste, destruction, etc.
While many resources can be replenished, it still takes a long time for nature to be able to replenish the many vital resources. Fossil fuels, our main energy source, takes millions of years to replenish. Once fossil fuels run out, which they will, it’s Mad Max time! Other essential important resources we constantly use that are getting pushed to the scarcity zone are fresh water, sand, phosphorus, soil, and others.
Let’s say, however, that we have infinite resources; will this solve our overpopulation problem? Nope.
Why? Because more people will drastically cause so much more waste and pollution, we would toxify this planet into toxicity. All the pollution would be a disaster to our physical & spiritual health; as it already is in many parts of the world.
Have you not seen pictures of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch? Its 1.6 million square miles, twice the size of Texas. It’s all thrown out plastic, fish nets, styrofoam, and a bunch of other waste. And it’s not only in the Pacific Ocean; there’s another big as garbage patch located in the North Atlantic Ocean. And this is including the many polluted rivers, deserts, forests, etc.
We can allocate are resources better, use less plastic, recycle, and enact a bunch of other “green” methods, but the thing is, we are not just the only species on this earth. Our biodiversity is already critically damaged. We constantly destroy and encroach wild lands for agriculture/farming all for the sake of humanity. Killing off & endangering many species. We already caused thousands of species to become extinct. And it’s not just on land, but overfishing is a huge problem right now, too. If we only prioritize the needs of humanity, then Earth, at a certain point, will inevitably become a wasteland, thereby, jeopardizing our survival.
While new technology may come about, we must vitally understand that different ways of living will allow a different sustainable quantity of humans. Nevertheless, we must not only look to what is sustainable for humans to survive, but at the sustainability of the health of our ecosystem. If we endanger the health of the ecosystem, we are endangering our very own habitat, and thereby, endangering our survival. Just because more humans can survive on the planet doesn’t mean we’ll thrive.
We have the power to create & change the world, and the future children will pass into the metaphoric gates of life & be born into the world we create. What world will they wake up into?
Human happiness is the holy grail, but sustainability takes precedence.
