For hundreds of
thousands of years the human population grew at a low but steadily
increasing rate. Then in less than 200 years, the world population
went from 1 billion to 6 billion. The planet urgently needs population
control (so its natural resources and the environment do not continue
to be decimated for human consumption needs). The human species should
not feel entitled to extinct other species as a birth right. Birth
control, abortion and quotas need to be supported, if the planet is
to remain habitable in the long term.
Every
second five people are born and two people die, a net gain
of three people. At this rate, the world population is doubling
every 40 years and would be:
12 billion in 40 years,
24 billion in 80 years,
48 billion in 120 years,
Every
day:
200 million couples make love
100 million billion sperms are released
50 million ovules are produced
800,000 are fertilized
400,000 babies come to life
However, the
United Nations estimate that we will probably be 12 billion in 120
years.
Full-scale emergencies
now exist on a number of issues:
The world water cycle seems unlikely to be be able to cope
with the demands that will be made of it in the coming decades.
Land degradation has reduced fertility and agricultural potential.
These losses have negated many of the advances made through expanding
agricultural areas and increasing productivity.
Tropical forest destruction has gone too far to prevent irreversible
damage. It would take many generations to replace the lost forests,
and the cultures that have been lost with them can never be replaced.
Many of the planet's species have already been lost or condemned
to extinction because of the slow response times of both the environment
and policy-makers; it is too late to preserve all the biodiversity
our planet once had.
Many marine fisheries have been grossly over-exploited, and
their recovery will be slow.
More than half of the world's coral reefs are threatened
by human activities. While some may yet be saved, it is too late
for many others.
Urban air pollution problems are reaching crisis dimensions
in many of the megacities of the developing world, and the health
of many urban dwellers has been impaired.
It is probably too late to prevent global warming as a result
of increased greenhouse gas emissions
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