In this continuing series, Editor Marilyn Hempel of www.populationpress.org , entertained “Population, Biodiversity, and Human Well-being” by Fred Meyerson.

Little known to most Americans, we wage war upon ourselves, all other animals and plants as we overpopulate the planet with the human species.

 

At www.populationpress.org , you will become educated as to our chances and choices for a sustainable planet and viable civilizations.

 

“The zero-sum game for the limited surface of Earth has an overwhelming favorite—humans and their well-being, broadly writ,” said Meyerson. “Biodiversity and habitat conservation to support the shrinking array of species may win minor battles in the competition for solar energy and physical space, but biodiversity will lose the war, as long as humanity continues to grow. This conclusion is not new, but recent sobering news about population trends, climate change, and mitigation proposals reinforces it.

 

“Over the past decade, the United Nations has raised its medium population projection for 2050 from 8.9 to 9.2 billion (the current population is 6.8 billion); 300 million additional people will eat a lot of food, use more energy, and do major damage to ecosystems and species. More disturbing is that those UN projections are based on the unfounded and unlikely core assumption that the “total fertility rates” of all countries will mathematically converge at 1.85 children per woman shortly after 2050 and then hold steady.

 

“In a world where national fertility rates range from 1 to 7 children, a spread similar to the norm in the 20th century, it boggles the mind to envision reproductive conformity within a few decades, let alone a long-term global below-replacement fertility level of 1.85 (~2.1 children is replacement fertility in a healthy modern society). For decades, UN demographers used 2.1 as the “magic number” to which all societies would inevitably hew, but they lowered that by a quarter child last decade, after observing that many European and Asian countries had not actually towed the modelers’ line and halted their fertility slide at 2.1, instead falling to 1.5 or below. The demographers’ overreaction was to cut the global fertility projection to 1.85.

 

“What does this have to do with biodiversity? A great deal. Almost every conservation plan outside of zoos depends on safeguarding sufficient habitat to support viable populations and ecosystems over the long run, through the calamities of an erratic planet. Biodiversity cannot become more space- and energy-efficient the way humans often have.

 

"Conservationists can sometimes overcome habitat loss and genetic bottlenecks and prevent extinctions by artificial techniques, such as captive breeding programs, invasive management, and ecosystem manipulations, but such solutions are expensive, risky, and temporary. In a crowded and climate-challenged world, conservation competes with both human food and solar/biofuel energy for surface area and sunlight.

 

“Space is still the final frontier, and we are the champions of the world, growing by about 79 million people per year, continuing that pace for at least another two decades, even under the rosy UN assumptions (the US Census Bureau makes similar projections). The projected decline in growth later this century depends entirely on two unrealized dreams: universal access to and use of effective contraception, and a global desire to average less than two children per family.

 

"We are far from achieving the former—roughly half of pregnancies, even in the US, are unintended. As to the latter, desired family size in many key developing countries are still 3 to 7 children and barely budging. Yet global interest and funding for slowing population growth are declining. Population policy was virtually absent from the agenda of the 2009 Copenhagen climate conference.

 

“But won’t human ingenuity overcome these demographic challenges, as we perpetually find ways to do more with less space and energy? Probably not! In the past 40 years, every global gain in energy efficiency has been accompanied by increases in affluence. Global and US per capita CO2emissions are almost exactly what they were in 1970. Emissions have grown with population, which has almost doubled. If we slow fossil-fuel use to protect the climate, we have to go back to the land (and water) for energy—and the zero-sum game.

 

“Because the space needed to preserve remaining biodiversity is more or less fixed, the remaining major demands—food, fiber, wood, and fuel—must continuously become more space-efficient, as population grows. That is a wonderful dream, but it’s an oil-pipe dream. The green revolution has its limits to growth, some of which are fossil-fuel related. Likewise, there is only so much cropland we can convert from food to fuel production before experiencing food deficits and starvation. At that point, parks and reserves look pretty enticing.

 

“We all love the high concept of preserving species and ecosystems, but when our own well-being is at stake, humanity will put people first. To give biodiversity a fighting chance, ecologists and everyone else must focus attention on managing the population of our own species.”

Response from Andrew Ferguson
Optimum Population Trust, U.K.

 

Fred Meyerson brings out very well the uncertainty surrounding population projections. And he is entirely correct when he says, "There is only so much cropland we can convert from food to fuel production before experiencing food deficits and starvation." Another thing that needs saying is that very many countries will not, for one reason or another, have the foresight to see that populations which can be supported without fossil fuels are much smaller than existing populations. The obvious corollary of this, not stressed in Meyerson's piece, is that every country must try to reduce its population to the level that might be supported without fossil fuels, and at the same time allow space for other life forms."

 

 

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If any of us, no matter what our race, creed or color might be, refuse to engage our U.S. Congress as we have not for 30 years as to the population/immigration equation-our children will find themselves living in a terribly degraded America where the American Dream will be described by the history books as a 'fleeting fantasy' from the era of 1950 to 2010.

 

These are several of the top organizations where you can take collective action to change the course of American history as well as in Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia. Take collective action at:

 

This is the best website to start:  www.numbersusa.com ; watch Roy Beck’s “Immigration by the Numbers” at 14 minutes. Bi-partisan and very effective. Become a faxer of pre-written letters to your reps to make positive  change.

 

Also: www.fairus.org ; www.capsweb.org ; www.thesocialcontract.com ; www.populationmedia.org ; www.worldpopulationbalance.org ; www.populationconnection.org ; www.quinacrine.com ; www.familyplanning.org/ , www.skil.org ; www.growthbusters.com; www.populationpress.org ; www.thinkpopulation.org ; www.carryingcapacity.org ; www.balance.org ; www.controlgrowth.org ; in Canada www.immigrationwatchcanada.org ; in Australia www.population.org.au andPublicPopForum@yahoogroups.com; in Great Britain www.optimumpopulation.org ; and dozens of other sites accessed at www.frostywooldridge.com.

 

Must see DVD: "Blind Spot" www.snagfilms.com/films/title/blind_spot/ , This movie illustrates America's future without oil, water and other resources to keep this civilization functioning. It's a brilliant educational movie! www.blindspotdoc.com

 

Must see: Rapid Population Decline, seven minute video by Dr. Jack Alpert-

 

Must see and funny: www.growthbusters.org ; www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXSTrW_dARc
Dave Gardner's Polar Bear in Bedroom:

 

growthbusters.org/2010/03/save-the-polar-bear-in-your-bedroom ; Dave Gardner, President, Citizen-Powered Media ; Producing the Documentary, GROWTH BUSTERS; presents Hooked on Growth: Our Misguided Quest for Prosperity, Join the cause at www.growthbusters.org ;760 Wycliffe Drive, Colorado Springs, CO 80906 USA; +1 719-576-5565

 

Check out this link with Wooldridge on bicycle and Lester Brown and panel discussion:

Tomorrow's Americaproject on www.youtube.com/contemporarylearning.

DC: 202-258-4887

 

Email: gac@starbrightmc.com

Link to www.tomorrowsamerica.com for more discussions on America's predicament.

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Frosty Wooldridge has bicycled across six continents - from the Arctic to the South Pole - as well as six times across the USA, coast to coast and border to border. In 2005, he bicycled from the Arctic Circle, Norway to Athens, Greece. He presents "The Coming Population Crisis in America: and what you can do about it" to civic clubs, church groups, high schools and colleges. He works to bring about sensible world population balance at www.frostywooldridge.com He is the author of: America on the Brink: The Next Added 100 Million Americans. Copies available: 1 888 280 7715