http://www.outquib.com/debates/view/should-we-start-worrying-about-overpopulation Given the obvious/increasing effects of global warming & knowing it's caused by human activity, it's logical to suppose the more people there are in the world, the greater its effect. Should we start thinking about overpopulation & ways to contain, reduce or even reverse it? en-us Thu, 24 Jan 2008 20:12:19 GMT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://www.outquib.com/debates/posts/view/556
http://www.earthday.net/footprint/

The earth has more then enough resources to maintain many times the current world population of humans, we just need to use those resources more efficiently.

Reply to post ]]> Fri, 25 Jan 2008 16:15:34 GMT http://www.outquib.com/debates/posts/view/556 http://www.outquib.com/debates/posts/view/546
Population growth raises concerns about the scarcity of resources, primarily food and water, and secondarily physical space (secondary only because it's a further reaching consequence). Fortunately, these primary concerns can be easily assuaged.

Progress in bioengineering has/is/will yield crops with increased yield and improved nutritional values. And while the current political climate is volatile and tense at best and international policy making organizations inefficient, such organizations are poised to be an integral part of putting these resources into the right hands.

Where our policy makers stop, our populations begin. There's a school of thought that seems to indicate progress in the overall maturity of individuals in populations, especially in urbanized areas. Humanitarian efforts and awareness-raising organizations are getting these increasingly global and mature humans to donate and help (increasingly ;)).

With the primary concerns of food and water addressed, what about physical space and land area? Again this concern is far reaching, so there's the chance for many variables to influence this part of the equation.

The notion of terraforming a planet has always been exciting to me, and certainly it's one of the more fantastic solutions to 'running out of space.' Currently, Mars could be terraformed within 500 years, albeit at great expense. And, while neither practical or feasible, scientific progress and technology will continue pushing forward and in time it may become feasible to terraform Mars or other 'Earth 2' candidates.

But a terraformed planet isn't very useful without proper transport. Last Friday the serial entrepreneurs who founded Virgin Galactic released, with much fanfare, renderings and details for their WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo which are slated to begin flight testing in 2009. Although Virgin Galactic's mission is to commercialize space travel and not facilitate mass exodus, it's blazing trails that will be key in enabling such things.

I don't presume to be an expert on population growth or related issues, but it seems to be just another issue that we as a species are being forced to grapple with as the individual shrinks in the face of globalization. I reckon things will get worse before they get better, but I remain optimistic.

Reply to post ]]> Fri, 25 Jan 2008 11:00:15 GMT http://www.outquib.com/debates/posts/view/546 http://www.outquib.com/debates/posts/view/528
I could be wrong (and often am), but if the entire world population were to live in a metropolitan area (pick your favorite big city), we would need no more room than Alaska. That still leaves a lot of space for farming and resources.

Maybe the true worry here is that we are running out of resources for everyone. There just needs to be smarter management of these. Plus, being from Minnesota, I don't mind that fresh water becomes a highly sought commodity.

Reply to post ]]> Fri, 25 Jan 2008 07:01:14 GMT http://www.outquib.com/debates/posts/view/528