The 7 billionth member of the world population is going to be born on Monday, according to the UN!
And not only that, but according to the UN’s research, we will have a world
population of 9 billion people before year 2050!
But, this has consequences… With a bigger world population,
there will be bigger problems with the current resources that we are currently
using. The major issue is that the whole world has to share the earth’s
resources, and be able to do that in between the countries, and in a “green”
way so we are saving for our future growing population.
It is a face, the world’s resources are not enough, and therefore people
have to change lifestyles and use our resources in a more efficient way.
I don’t believe that the basis of the problem is that poor people in undeveloped countries have
too many kids, I think it is t he Westerners way of living that causes our
resources to disappear.
We need to figure out how we could spend less of these resources…
David Biello, the editor for environment and energy at Scientific American, suggested this for a more
sustainable use of resources: “Ultimately, the quantity of resources consumed… will
need to average out to six metric tons per year per person — a steep cut in the
resources currently enjoyed by people in Australia, Canada, Europe, Japan and
the U.S. As it stands now, an average American uses [32 metric tons per year].”
This is not the time to blame someone else, this is the time
where the whole world collaborates to increase everyone’s standard of living,
because the we will very rapidly pass the 7 billionth member and soon be up to
the 9 billionth member and hopefully have some resources in hand and provide a better life.
I just read that the 7 billionth person on this planet was a girl. But on another note, I think that you make such a valid point that the true problem isn’t how many children people in undeveloped countries have, but rather how citizens in developed countries utilize Earth’s resources. Despite most of the world’s population residing in undeveloped countries, a majority of the resources are used by countries such as the United States. I think that now is as good a time as ever to come up with more efficient ways to use natural resources and also start to change our lifestyles. Additionally, the effects of climate change are already apparent. I mean does it really feel like the end of October to you with a high of 80 degrees? There were historic snow storms in the Northeast to contrast that. If this isn’t enough to inspire people to change, I don’t know what is.
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely right when you say the real problem is developed nations depleting Earth's resources. Because we have never lived in a third world country and experienced poverty, we don't know what it is like to hold on to every little thing we have. We just waste things and we don't even think about it because we know we have the money to buy more. When in actuality we are just consuming even more and creating huge footprints. We get so lazy and drive three blocks wasting gas thinking we can just buy more of it (even though we complain of gas prices!) but the Earth doesn't have an unlimited supply of gas. Great post in enlightening us to think twice about using our resources!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting post Caroline, it definitely brings up an issue that has been the elephant in the room for quite some time now. This is a problem that crosses all borders; something that every nation will have to collaborate on if the issue is to be addressed. It's a very serious issue that will become more and more relevant as the world's population continues to rise. However, I am confident that we will make progress in this area. People in the private sector know that creating ways of sustainable energy / resource use has a lot of money making potential in it, so I feel that the market will naturally provide the ingenuity and creativity necessary to fulfill this goal. The only caveat is whether or not progress in this field will occur after it's already too late. Let's hope that's not the case!
ReplyDeleteAlso - this issue serves as more support for the argument that more American high school and college students should get involved in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) related fields.
Great post! We definitely need to work towards conservation of our resources if we need to support such a large global population. Especially in highly population-dense regions like india and china, something needs to be done about environmental protections to ensure that we can provide every human being with basic necessities to survive. And like Andrew says, it is gonna require a significant amount of cooperation and collaboration between nations if we are gonna make it happen.
ReplyDeleteTruly a great post. I’m glad that more and more are beginning to realize the importance of conserving resources and that there needs to be major changes in manufacturing along with household use of these limited commodities. As if helping to save the environment and natural resources wasn’t an incentive all in itself, there is an increase in government incentives to help large polluters and wasters to become more eco-friendly. The birth of the 7 billionth person serves to be a wake up call to the world and make the bold statement that the world is changing, population is increasing, resources are diminishing, now is time to step it up and protect the world in which we live in.
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