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• Monday, October 22, 2007 04:11 PM

  Issue of world population growth

  Yes, the world population continues to grow but only half as fast as it did in 1963. The reason is that the population of European countries has been dropping significantly since the 1990s. The big gains in population are in big Asian countries as well as the southern hemisphere of the Americas. The United States has increased only slightly, mostly due to the red states who continue to have more than replacement numbers of children. The blues states populations are falling at near-European levels.

  The point isn't so much the raw number of breathing bodies born on the planet as the life style these bodies practice. We all know how much more planetary energy it takes to live a "developed world" life than a rural tribal existance. The amount of red meat we consume has significant impact. Other huge issues are how many cars and homes we own, how many travelling we do, how much stuff we surround ourselves with, how many taxes we are assessed to keep our society going, and how many services we demand.

  People can sip their beer and argue for population stabilization till the cows come home (so to speak) but that's just so much verbal methane . The issues raised are complex and not easily addressed. Beware the simplistic bromide.

  —skybird Read skybird's other letters
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