The whole point of life is to reproduce, but do we have to do it so damn well?
A new study released Wednesday by the Population Reference Bureau confirms that the world population will hit the 7 billion mark in 2011, beating the earlier forecasts that predicted 2012 as the magic year. According to the Census Bureau, as of this writing, the world population is 6,777,408,158. In 1960, the world population was 3 billion, which doubled in 1999 and is slated to double again to 12 billion around 2065.
According to the bureau’s 2009 World Population Data Sheet, 97 percent of the growth will happen in developing nations in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. According to the report, the world’s highest fertility rate is in Niger, where women are producing 7.4 children in their lifetimes. But “even with declining fertility rates in many countries, the population is still growing at a rapid rate,” said Bill Butz, president of the PBR.
What does this mean for the future in the battle against climate change? While we race feverishly to reverse the deleterious effects of carbon pollution that threatens future life, our efforts are largely meaningless and will have zero impact in light of this wildly unregulated population growth. The math is simple: say we reduce carbon emissions by half for all new cars. If there are twice as many people driving, what ground has been gained?
A July study released by Oregon State University revealed an ingenious method to stop global warming: Yep, have less children. But this is only true for people in high-consumption western countries. For instance, a US-born child has 160 times more impact on the environment than a child born in Bangladesh. The report states that, for Americans, “the carbon legacy and greenhouse gas impact of an extra child is almost 20 times more important than some of the other environmentally sensitive practices people might employ in their entire lives – things like driving a high-mileage car, recycling, or using energy-efficient appliances and light bulbs.”
Speaking of lightbulbs, who’da thunk!?
