On May 3rd, 2011 the UN Population Division announced the World population would hit 7 billion come October. Now the web is full of talk about overpopulation, so once again I will address this issue. (previous population post)
The US has 5% of the world’s population and yet consumes 25% of the worlds total energy consumption, and contributes 20% of the global greenhouse gasses. This means on average each American uses more than 4x the energy of the average person of the world! Before any American opens their mouth about the environmental dangers of overpopulation they should reference these statistics.
This article is full of graphs and information detailing World Energy and Population Trends – http://www.paulchefurka.ca/WEAP/WEAP.html
The Earth is not overpopulated, it is over industrialized and exploited. This Capitalist Global Market is concerned with profit above all else. In an economically stratified world it is much easier to make big profits from wealthy people’s wants rather than the majorities’ needs. The US boasts a high standard of living, but at what cost to the rest of the world’s livelihood?
The Greed for securing resources by the US has never been as evident as it is now. The answers to resolving our energy and resource riddle will be found in returning to a balanced life within the means of our biosphere. By eating seasonal local foods and by being industrious innovators to meet our own needs. This doesn’t mean our standard of living need to be lowered, on the contrary society would become more communal cooperative and engaged. One of the greatest illnesses of “civilized society” is loneliness, and suffering a disconnect from the natural world.
Here is another informative article on Overpopulation: The Tao of Population Growth
VT 4 Evolution 
Population in 2045 is projected to reach 9 Billion. Considering we cant feed our current population, things will be much worse unless we move to sustainable agriculture. Exponential growth will reach its capacity and there will be a die back unless there is a global movement towards sustainability, thankful that Humans have a long history of adaptation.
We CAN feed our current population but “we” choose not too. I agree there needs to be a complete global shift towards sustainability, part of this process is reassessing the use of our resources. Industrial Meat Production is a large part of the problem, the majority of our grain crops are grown, and the majority of agricultural land is used for meat production. Presently, if we were feeding the grains of the world directly to the people instead of to grow meat animals there would be more than enough for even 9 Billion people. This is also the case with bio-fuels, feeding corn to our cars instead of to people. It is a matter of re-prioritizing, under the existing model of Capitalism this is an impossibility. I am not an advocate of any particular political Ideology, I believe when we as Earthlings are ready IT won’t have to be an implemented system, these are always corruptible, SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES will just be the way we do things because it is for the benefit of All. It may be hard to believe but I think we are close to being ready for this change. Thanks for your comment. Peace, VT4Evolution
No, the earth is overpopulated, but it can be managed. The greed of bodies like the US, but equally this might be said of individuals as well, must be addressed to make it manageable. I agree with your core sentiment, but we cant escape from the fact that, even with the best management there are still too many of us. We have no surplus, we have enough; that ‘enough’ is not distributed, but it is there.
Greetings eyeonwales,
I appreciate your comment. Do you know about Permaculture, and the abundant perenial food gardens that can be established in basically any environment, even the desert? It does take time and energy, both of which we have, yet are wasting them on eroding our soils, polluting our water and air, all in the name of “making enough food for an overpopulated planet” ie. the Green Revolution.
I agree things got to change. The way humans “live off of the land” right now, you are right, we are “overpopulated”, but that will always be the case if we don’t change our ways of consuming finite resources. The carrying capacity of the Earth is much greater than 7 Billion if we stop waisting our resources and stop capitalizing off each other. The Meat industry and people’s addiction to meat have a lot to do with the symptoms of “overpopulation”; environmental degradation and resources scarcity. The US feeds enough grain into meat production to feed all of India and likely more than enough clean drinking water. So in my view it is more about priority.
There is enough food grown on the planet to sustain Everyone and many more, but not if we put in the excessive resources it takes to have a Mega-Scale meat Industry. I don’t think everyone needs to be vegetarian but sustainable meat production is a small scale local operation. The same goes for all animal products and even vegetables, the entire infrastructure of the industrial revolution in food production MUST be transformed if we want to continue, especially with climate change. Anyone who believes the “Developed”, “Civilized” world can continue the way it is, if only the world population was 1 Billion, are fooling them selves. It is this very system and the people who support it that are a burden to heavy for our Earth to carry.
You say “even with the best management there are still too many of us” yet you provide no evidence that this is a “fact”.
You say “We have no surplus, we have enough; that ‘enough’ is not distributed.”.
The “we” who has “enough” is consuming 4 to a 1,000,000,000+ times the resources a poor person is consuming. It isn’t just about distribution it is about resource greed. If poor people are not educated, nor have the strength to farm sustainably is it their fault? When mega corporations that promise bumper crops based on their chemical and GMO seeds farming, come in and destroy the top soil of entire countries, what happens? in India hundreds of thousands of farmers committed suicide. These are the same companies that say their GMOs and the green revolution practices are the only solution to feed an overpopulated world. It seems they are solving their idea of overpopulation not by producing more food to feed the increasing number of people but by getting farmers to kill themselves.
This issue deserves deep research and discussion, thanks for commenting.
Peace, VT4Evolution