Editor,
The April 29 article on seafood sustainability (Daily Journal, page 15) carefully avoids the twin causes of all environmental problems: the suffocating number of people on the planet, and our fantasy of perpetual economic growth in a finite world.
A few quick facts are in order: In 1900, a global human population of 1.6 billion used an estimated seven billion tons of resources, two-thirds of which were renewable. Today, more than five times as many of us use 10 times the volume of resources, two-thirds of which are nonrenewable.
At last check, we annually dump more than 6 billion tons of plastic into the oceans, and 36 billion tons of carbon into the atmosphere.
We are the only species that does not regulate its numbers, and the only one that produces garbage, builds weapons, pollutes the air, land and water, and the only one ever to cause a mass extinction. We call ourselves the “only intelligent species,” while behaving like engineers of stupidity.
By numerous scientific measures, we are headed toward a global collapse of civilization — sometime between 2040 and 2070, depending on how much we might do toward reversing these trends.
We are told that population growth is necessary, if for no other reason than someone to care for our elders. Instead, we should accept the reality by which all other species live: When we can no longer care for ourselves, it is time to quietly and gracefully leave the world to the next generation.
Mark Behrend
East Palo Alto
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(4) comments
Right on the money Mark. I doubt you get to read the online comments, but you framed the issue perfectly. We the 'ENLIGHTENED" species of modified monkeys, spend way too much time playing at "King of the Hill" rather than looking intelligently at our overall human condition which is a shared experience for all of us dopey humans. Talk about taking our eyes off the ball at critical times, Wow.
That last graf about leaving is chilling. I always hate to bring Hitler in to a discussion but that is right out of his playbook.
I'm of the mindset that Jesus' second coming is near, hopefully well before 2040. Even if His plans are many years away, there is nothing man can do. God made a perfect planet to support life, stop worrying and enjoy life. Matthew 28:6 - Jesus said "no amount of worry will add an hour to your life." Try it it's refreshing and enlightening.
According to an AI search on Goggle. global birth rates are falling rapidly, with 71% of the world's population now living in countries with fertility rates below the replacement level of 2.1. Driven by higher education, rising costs, and access to contraception, global fertility has dropped from over 5 births per woman in 1950 to roughly 2.2 in 2023. Many nations face shrinking workforces, with the global population expected to peak in the 2050s, far earlier than previously expected.
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