Are there too many people?

The real inconvenient truth: The whole world needs to adopt China's one-child policy

 

The "inconvenient truth" overhanging the UN's Copenhagen conference is not that the climate is warming or cooling, but that humans are overpopulating the world.

 

…The world's other species, vegetation, resources, oceans, arable land, water supplies and atmosphere are being destroyed and pushed out of existence as a result of humanity's soaring reproduction rate.

 

Ironically, China, despite its dirty coal plants, is the world's leader in terms of fashioning policy to combat environmental degradation, thanks to its one-child-only edict.

 

The intelligence behind this is the following:

 

-If only one child per female was born as of now, the world's population would drop from its current 6.5 billion to 5.5 billion by 2050, according to a study done for scientific academy Vienna Institute of Demography.

 

-By 2075, there would be 3.43 billion humans on the planet. This would have immediate positive effects on the world's forests, other species, the oceans, atmospheric quality and living standards.

 

-Doing nothing, by contrast, will result in an unsustainable population of nine billion by 2050.

 

Humans are the only rational animals but have yet to prove it. Medical and other scientific advances have benefited by delivering lower infant mortality rates as well as longevity. Both are welcome, but humankind has not yet recalibrated its behavior to account for the fact that the world can only accommodate so many people, especially if billions get indoor plumbing and cars.

 

The fix is simple. It's dramatic. And yet the world's leaders don't even have this on their agenda in Copenhagen.

 

…Unfortunately, there are powerful opponents. Leaders of the world's big fundamentalist religions preach in favor of procreation and fiercely oppose birth control.

 

…The only fix is if all countries drastically reduce their populations, clean up their messes and impose mandatory conservation measures.

 

Diane Francis

Financial Post, December 08, 2009