(October 7, 2018 at 9:21 pm)Thoreauvian Wrote: I recently saw a program where a population expert said the present population of 7.4 billion had overshot the carrying capacity of the planet by 50%. We are only sustaining our population through burning non-renewable fossil fuels and otherwise mining our natural resources. He also said that the sustainable carrying capacity varies with the affluence of the inhabitants. The Earth could sustain 15 billion living at very low levels of affluence, but only 1.5 billion at American standards.
Adding to the information I posted above, this population expert did not arrive at these numbers arbitrarily, but did so after studying exactly how much food, water, land, and other limited resources are required to maintain living standards for populations with different levels of affluence.
And don't forget that with climate change, we are likely to reduce the present carrying capacity of the planet through increased temperatures, floods, droughts, extreme storms, and sea levels.
