Do the Math!
The ongoing discussions concerning global warming, peak oil, and sustainability come to us in a variety of mediums and by a plethora of experts, many of whom cannot agree and some hold completely opposing views to one another. They talk about carbon footprints, carbon credits, conservation, and the adverse effects of globalisation. Food miles is a calculation of how much petroleum it takes to get Brazilian bananas or Spanish strawberries to your breakfast table. We are inundated with information, opinions, and predictions, is there any way to make any sense of all this? Who do we believe, who can we trust?
It is a good policy to try to get to the core, the essence, of a situation in order to find the truth. With so much data available where can we begin? Why not begin with yourself? You are a bright and intelligent person. If you were to avail yourself of a logical, systematic, and irrefutable method of divining the truth out of a myriad of conjecture and hyberbole you would have the power of discerning the data into useable material by which you could draw your own informed conclusions. You do not need to be told by others if you think for yourself, believe in your decision making, and trust your instincts.
Our energy usage, and our natural resources, and the concepts to conserve or sustain their availability is a hot political topic. It is discussed daily in every country. It was also important enough for the UN Secretary General to highlight the problems, that shortages can cause, at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland last month. He asserted that "conflicts over scarce supplies" were triggered in areas of the Middle East and Africa, and that it was his hope that water shortages in these regions could be eliminated by 2015. Surprisingly enough he also touched on a subject of much controversy which is the fact that population growth is becoming a recognised detriment to sustainability. Most criticism is directed at developing nations; but, in fact the un-checked population explosions in the developed countries are where the greatest problems lie.
Professor Chris Ripley raised the debate in this article by Charles Glover in the Telegraph last summer. He says that the most disturbing aspect of the debate on overpopulation, as a inhibiting factor on environmental issues, is the fact that no one is willing to talk about it.
James, over at The Good Life, has 40 posts concerning overpopulation and the effects it has and will have on society. Politicians are duplicitous in their discussions and uninformed in their opinions of the real nature of population growth. The "zero population growth" concepts of the 70’s fell on deaf ears, and China’s "one-child" per family proclamation was condemned from every political pulpit in the world. You will not see a politician tackling this issue with any conviction. If you would like a pragmatic explanation of the fundamental issue at the heart of our resource requirements go to this site. It is a series of videos in which Dr. Albert A. Bartlett explains the dilemma of population and energy. Arm yourself with the innate, core facts of the situation and draw your own conclusions.
Broadband has just arrived in the bog! And I want to thank my good friend Maireid for sending me the link to Dr. Bartlett’s video, and although she sent it some time ago, I was only able to view it today.
- Politics, Environment, Culture, Caoimhin, Health, Irish Culture, Irish Politics, misc, All posts, Nature, World | Time: 10:47 am (UTC+8)
Excellent point, also raised by Bill Hicks many years ago when he suggested we “Take a break from our rutting for a moment to work out this whole food-air thing”. One of the political issues is economic growth, the great global objective. Our economic growth seems inevitably linked to our population, hence immigration is a good thing (no problem with this, I am not opening a can of worms!). So a growing educated population provides for the economic advancement of the future. Also people have a bit of a knee jerk reaction to the whole eugenics topic. Understandably. Popping back to our leaving cert biology for a moment, let’s not forget: Lag, Log, Stationary, Decline. That’s how populations behave in an enclosed environment with limited resources.
Comment by Thriftcriminal — February 11, 2008 @ 2:19 pm
Thanks for the comment Thrift! One of the points that Bartlett makes in the videos is that “sustainable growth” is an oxymoron, I suspect that the way politicians view economic growth is also oxymoronic. As the “Resource Race” heats up in the very near future the conduct and character of humanity will be tested. How we handle this crisis will be the defining legacy of mankind.
Comment by Administrator — February 11, 2008 @ 3:23 pm
Congrats! Caoimhin
I see you’ve been shortlisted for Best Newcomer over at the Irish Blog Awards.
Go celebrate!
Comment by steph — February 11, 2008 @ 7:45 pm
Thanks Stef! You didn’t too bad yourself!
Best of luck in the Finals!
Comment by Administrator — February 11, 2008 @ 8:12 pm
Congrats!
Comment by Feebee — February 12, 2008 @ 2:43 pm
Thank you Feebee and the same to you!
I heard about your book too, terrific news and congratulations!
Comment by Administrator — February 12, 2008 @ 4:22 pm
The chinese haven’t really solved too many problems with their one child, one family policy. There’s enough resources for everyone on this planet
Comment by Dr Thunder — February 16, 2008 @ 1:15 pm
Everyone that can afford it, I am sure you meant to say.
Comment by Administrator — February 16, 2008 @ 3:12 pm