Hello Hello awesome people of the Hive
However, before I hit the sack, I just wanted to jot down my thoughts on the following ....
Is the world overpopulated and what can we do to solve the issue?
In fact this is a prompt from @ecotrain in the ecoTrain community and you can see the full prompt and question in this post:
Q. "Is the world overpopulated and what can we do to solve the issue?"
Okay so the question is really a two in one special, and I will address the first question first, sounds reasonable yes, it;s a bit like start reading at chapter one before you hit chapter forty two and the solution to the whodunnit mystery!
Is the world overpopulated?
Note, before we proceed, the opinions laid out in this blog are just that, they are my opinions, and should be treated as such. In no way shape or form do I represent anyone or thing other than myself.
I believe the world IS overpopulated in the current context if human beings intend doing what they are doing in the alleged name of PROGRESS.
Throughout the history of planet earth, natural events have occurred that have controlled population levels.
Just look at the K-T event of 66 million years ago when a whopping big asteroid/meteor or comet landed in Mexico at Chicxulub and basically wiped out the dinosaurs in one fell swoop.
When it comes to humans, we have had our fair share of medical disasters over the years, for example:
- THE BLACK DEATH (1346-1353)
Death Toll: 75 – 200 million (Bubonic Plague) - PLAGUE OF JUSTINIAN (541-542)
Death Toll: 25 million (Bubonic Plague) - FLU PANDEMIC (1918)
Death Toll: 20 -50 million - HIV/AIDS PANDEMIC (PEAK YEARS 2005-2012)
Death Toll: 36 million
So we can see that over the years natural medical disasters have helped to cull human beings.
Now then, think on for a wee bit, what have we just endured?
The blooming coronavirus! Can you imagine if this had occurred a couple of hundred years ago or even in 1918? Without the medicines that we have now, could you imagine the death toll?
We have progressed our medicines, we have progressed our health care. We are living longer, and the world population did a body swerve on coronavirus deaths by having the technology to produce medicines to combat it.
One of the biggest killers has historically been malaria, but hopefully we are going to eliminate that.
We are making progress and we are eliminating natural medical disasters that have historically stopped our population growing as fast.
The undisputable fact is that our world population is growing and growing.
Yes, there are vast amounts of the world that are uninhabited. But how many of you reading this are going to go and live in the Sahara desert or the Antartic?
The reality is that much of our world is uninhabitable for the average person. So what do we do, we in the name of Progress build houses often by destroying natural habitats that protect our planet.
We build on flood zones, oh and we have more floods, funny that!
We build in forest fire zones and destroy the natural wind breaks, oh and we have more and more wildfires, funny that!
We pull down the planet's lungs which are trees to make of this that and the other.
We pollute the planet, we pump out more and more crap into the atmosphere and wonder why the temperatures rise, ice caps melt and sea levels rise, funny that.
All of this is done in the name of "progress"
We share the planet, we have no hesitation to cull numbers in a species if we feel it threatens us.
So long as humans have somewhere to live, who cares about the animals or fauna or wildlife in general.
I am okay, it doesn't affect me!
This is the attitude of too many people, and holding my hands up, I used to be guilty of behaving like that.
Now though, it is money, as long as people can buy their way out of something they will.
Look at all the people rushing to go and live in the big cities, this happens all over the world, and just purs more and more pressure on these places.
We are destroying the planet with the numbers of human beings that are ALREADY here, let alone with our children and their children adding to the problems.
Planet Earth belongs to all living beings, not just the so called appointed super species that is homo sapiens!
Yes I believe our planet is over populated by human beings.
Now did you read earlier, we will jump to Chapter 42 and answer the second question!
What can we do to solve the issue?
Do you agree with John Lennon who said ... There are no Problems, Only Solutions. I must admit to not agreeing with him on many things, but I am firm believer of solutions. I remember my first boss who told us all not to bring him problems, only solutions!
So as I believe our world is overpopulated, I have identified a Problem!
Oh dear, that means I need to provide a solution. As if I can solve one of the world's biggest problems just like that! However, I shall quickly make a coffee and then see if I can articulate a suitable solution. By the way if you have made it all the way here, then I am mighty impressed! Shocked but nevertheless impressed.
Image by JohnArtsz from Pixabay
Okay back with a coffee and time to wrap this up.
Population Control was tried in China, but the world will not carry this out again. In any event, IF this was to happen, people with money will bypass it.
One other destruction that I have not mentioned is our love of war from so many leaders both historically and currently.
This is an abhorrent method to control population, however short of nuclear war and who knows, that is now as close a possibility as I have known it my time on this planet, the world's population is so big that war will not be a solution for overpopulation.
Moving people around the land masses on our planet is unlikely to happen and will not solve the overpopulation.
No, I believe we as a race will outgrow the planet earth and not be able to harvest enough resources to sustain us all.
We have been investigating other planets in the Solar System. There lies the solution.
At some point in time space travel will become a new form of migration and we will inhabit one or more planets.
Afterall, we have a propensity for colonization! So it is only natural we solve our overpopulation of earth by finding additional homes in the Universe!
Many thanks for reading this and I apologise for this being so longwinded an answer to QUESTION OF THE WEEK SEASON 10.4 - "Is The World Overpopulated And What Can We Do To Solve The Issue?
As a footnote, this is my first published response to the one of the weekly questions, although I have read many answers in the past. Also a big thank you to @dreemsteem and @ecotrain for setting a Dreemport challenge here in ecoTrain for the next month! I for one am relishing it, and getting to know more writers from ecoTrain!
Thank you for managing to get this far and please enjoy your weekend and do what you love!