Basic World Problems - Population

This is the first of two columns about basic world problems that require fundamental changes in the way we live. The first is about controlling population.

The second column, which will appear next week, is about the serious world-wide shortage of water.

The future of the world depends on one key issue:
population.

We can worry about the oil shortage, global warming, the food supply and many other topics. However, if we do not learn to control the world’s population, there is no feasible way to maintain life on earth.

That is the compelling message of David Paxson, president of the non-profit organization World Population Balance.

Paxson’s argument is simple and direct. It includes the following:

1. There are 6.5 billion people in the world today.
2. The net gain in the population of the planet --- the number of births that exceed the number of deaths --- is 200,000 every day.
3. There is zero population growth in Australia, Japan and Western Europe. Countries that are growing rapidly include India, Pakistan, Nigeria. Republic of Congo, the United States, Ethiopia and China --- among others. The net annual population gain is 70 million.
4. A global population of 9 billion is predicted for 2050.
5. The population could be stabilized if there were only 2.1 births per woman.
6. Currently, there are five births for every two deaths world-wide.
7. China and India lead in population. The United States has about 20 per cent of China’s population but its energy consumption exceeds that of both China and India.
8. The average American consumes more than 25 times more resources than the average person in a developing country.
9. The key to stabilizing the population is education. The more education people have, the fewer children they have.
10. Paxson’s message: “No matter what your cause, it is a lost cause without population stabilization.”

Lester R. Brown, director of the Earth Policy Institute, also has written about the need to stabilize population. His views are summarized in his book “B.3: Mobilizing to Save Civilization”. He said that the goal of Plan B.3 is to stabilize the world population at 8 billon by 2040 and to keep it at that level. Population can be reduced if each couple limits family size to two children. He adds that reducing the population will reduce the need for consuming food and other resources beyond the level that it is feasible to maintain. Forty-three countries now have stable or declining populations.

Both authors make it clear that civilization will not survive if we fail to set limits on population growth and we must do so before it is too late.