Head in the Sand

One of the remarkable benchmarks of human achievement has been our ability to survive through some very difficult times. Although there have been a few major setbacks involving war and plague, human population has generally been increasing steadily since the dawn of our creation. Go forth and multiply; that sort of thing. In the last hundred years, our scientific and technological innovations have allowed more of the human population to survive for much longer periods of time. The end result: a total population approaching seven billion (that’s 7,000,000,000) people. Thus, what started as an indicator of human progress has become a harbinger of our own demise.

It amazes me that many people don’t consider overpopulation a threat. Then again, I’m equally amazed at those who renounce global warming, who throw away the sophisticated arguments of theoretical physicists because it runs contrary to their theology, or who rather foolishly put their faith (and their children’s sexual future) in so-called abstinence education. But people are often willing to ignore science (the very thing that got us here in the first place) if it is incompatible with their particular world view. Though I support the idea of questioning established beliefs, I never want to be so static as to be unchangeable when the tallies come in.

But I think the disavowal of global overpopulation as a problem is largely a western one. This is no surprise, considering the massive populations of nations like China, India, and the ever-crowded Japan. But before one dismisses overcrowding as an Asian problem, consider this:

World population doubles roughly every 40 years. Americans today have approximately 1.8 acres of land available per capita for the production of food. Of this, an American only needs 1.2 acres to sustain his dietary needs. However, with world population projections (roughly one acre lost due to urbanization, per person who enters the U.S. via border or birth canal), by the time the global population has doubled from its current number (roughly 40 years from now), there will be only 0.6 acres of farmland per capita, and “Asia’s problem” will reach the west. This argument doesn’t even take into account the issues of soil erosion or the shortage of ground water which will compound the problem.

Food export will be a thing of the past, which will increase the price of food exponentially. So, although you’ve noticed a lot of empty land on the way to Grandma’s house where lots of new housing subdivisions can go, you’ve neglected to think about food and other resources. (If this isn’t a good enough reason to get the kiddies to strap on a condom, then perhaps AIDS or other STDs would be… yes? No?)

The funny (read: sad) thing is that most people are waiting for science and technology to bail them out of whatever problems arise, when skepticism is no longer viable (i.e. taking one’s head out of the sand on the global warming issue, because one is getting a severe sunburn in the process). This is most ironic, since it is these very institutions that disbelievers rejected in the first place.