7 billion by 2010

[GasSavers_Scott]

Just today on CNN, it projected that the worlds population will reach 7 billion by 2010. Back in 97 it clicked over to 6 billion. In another 5 years, that extra billion will want to buy a car or bike. That soon to be 1 billion extra people has to eat and has to wear clothes. What is the maximum human capacity of Earth?

Also on the same CNN report, they figured in the ability to green 1st world countries and how long it will take for the 3rd world countries to catch up. The projection was in carbon and they figured our green house gas production will increase by 40% before we can turn the worlds overall carbon foot print around.

Economical cars, recycling, and compact flourescent bulbs are just the start.

[GasSavers_maximilian]

UN study thinks that the peak will be 9.2 billion around 2050.

[theclencher]

Stupid breeders.

[GasSavers_Scott]

I forgot the year, but the book Make Room Make Room, which became the movie Soylent Green estimated 10 billion would be Earth's capacity. Like old Chuck Heston said, "Soylent Green is people, soon they'll be breeding us like cattle, tell every one, Soylent Green is people!".

[GasSavers_roadrunner]

Originally Posted by Scott

I forgot the year, but the book Make Room Make Room, which became the movie Soylent Green estimated 10 billion would be Earth's capacity. Like old Chuck Heston said, "Soylent Green is people, soon they'll be breeding us like cattle, tell every one, Soylent Green is people!".

I saw the movie when it came out in the early 70's and enjoyed it so much.
This year I got the DVD and enjoyed watching it again. It was a bit depressing to watch, but it does make you think about overpopulation and its effect.

[GasSavers_RoadWarrior]

I heard we don't really need to worry until we're getting close to 25-30 billion, just seems overcrowded 'coz us silly suckers like to cluster.

[GasSavers_maximilian]

That's sounds extraordinarily optimistic, unless they literally mean elbow room divorced from any other concerns.

[theholycow]

25-30 billion? LOL. We all know how impossible it is to produce food and keep clean air and such for that many people. Besides those issues, though, the more crowded it gets, the more and worse diseases will go around...and the more crazy people will go on shooting sprees...and the more despots will kill thousands of people at a time...etc.

It can't happen. Maybe another 20%, then all those things combined with laws limiting procreation start knocking total population back.

[GasSavers_RoadWarrior]

Originally Posted by theholycow

25-30 billion? LOL. We all know how impossible it is to produce food and keep clean air and such for that many people. Besides those issues, though, the more crowded it gets, the more and worse diseases will go around...and the more crazy people will go on shooting sprees...and the more despots will kill thousands of people at a time...etc.

It can't happen. Maybe another 20%, then all those things combined with laws limiting procreation start knocking total population back.

Food production isn't so much the problem, i heard it worked out that there would still be something like 1 acre of land currently under cultivation or earmarked for agriculture per person, without re-greening deserts, and without high-yield techniques. You can find books with titles such as "How to feed a family on half an acre or less".. and those are relatively low tech methods. At the moment the biofuels people are saying things like "Hey we've got 8.5B acres of cropland we don't need for food, let's grow energy!"

Current problem in feeding people is where they are, the concentration of them in certain areas, and how much money they haven't got.... also ill-informed ideas about growing cash crops or western foodcrops that are totally unsuited to local conditions cause local problems.

Storage, preservation and distribution of food is getting somewhat more efficient, less spoilage and waste.

However, you might be right about diseases and societal problems making the population self limiting at a certain point... but I think the worlds largest cities have been at "critical mass" for such things for years.

[theholycow]

Originally Posted by RoadWarrior

At the moment the biofuels people are saying things like "Hey we've got 8.5B acres of cropland we don't need for food, let's grow energy!"

Now that you mention it, energy would be a huge issue...the size of it as an issue right now would look like a joke in comparison. "Can you believe that in 2009 when there were less than 7 billion people, they were worried about energy? LOL!"

However, you might be right about diseases and societal problems making the population self limiting at a certain point... but I think the worlds largest cities have been at "critical mass" for such things for years.

They'd get even more crowded, crossing the line if they're borderline now; and then there's plenty of people (like me!) who would go completely insane if they had to live in the city because there was nowhere else to live.