PopulationA human population approaching 7 billion can be maintained only by desolating the Earth. If wild habitat is given over to human cultivation and habitation, if rainforests can be turned into green deserts, if genetic engineering enables ever-higher yields to be extorted from the thinning soils then humans will have created for themselves a new geological era, the Eremozoic, the Era of Solitude, in which little remains on the Earth but themselves and the prosthetic environment that keeps them alive.<~ John Gray "...humanity is already the first species in the history of life to become a geophysical force. We have, all by our bipedal, wobbly-headed selves, altered Earth's atmosphere and climate away from the norm. We have spread thousands of toxic chemicals worldwide, appropriated 40 percent of the solar energy available for photosynthesis, converted almost all of the easily arable land, dammed most of the rivers, raised the planet sea level, and now, in a manner likely to get everyone's attention like nothing else before it, we are close to running out of fresh water. A collateral effect of all this frenetic activity is the continuing extinction of wild ecosystems, along with the species that compose them. This also happens to be the only human impact that is irreversible. " E. O. Wilson, The Creation. "Bush administration officials have spoken out against an agreement, reached at a 1994 U.N. conference in Cairo, that calls for controlling population growth by expanding access to health care and being more responsive to women's needs. U.S. officials argue that certain phrases in the agreement - including "reproductive health services" and "reproductive rights" - condone abortion as well as sex and condom use among teenagers." Source here 12/30/2002. LinksPopulation Growth over human history. Population and the Environment The Best Statistics Presentation You've Ever Seen People Centered Development Forum. International Planned Parenthood Federation States Rejecting "Abstinence-Only" Funding Federal --Government Has Spent Millions On Sex-'Ed' Approach, Now 15 States Not Interested 07 Jan 2008 CBS News reports: The government has provided states a $1 billion during the past decade for abstinence-only programs. But many say it just doesn't work, and they point to the teen birth rate's first rise in 15 years as proof. A growing number of states are taking a stand and actually rejecting federal abstinence-only funds. New Mexico just became the 15th. Population: the Elephant in the room Fertility Rate and Life Expectancy (see this graphic presentation.) From Right-Wing to Pro-Choice: The Shifting Goalposts of “Abortion Neutrality” U.S. teen birth rate up again, fewer pre-term babies (3/18/2009) What Stops Population Growth ? Video Hans Rosling The greatest shortcoming of the human race is the inability to understand the exponential function. Albert A. Bartlett, PhD, Emeritus Professor of Physics, University of Colorado. Consumption unsustainable: UN TIME BOMB: The human race is already consuming resources faster than the Earth can sustain, the UN report said, and an expanding population will make it worse (10/27/2007)
Ten Million Children
Worldwide Die From Lack of Health Care. (Does the 'pro-life' movement know
about this ?) 15 Shocking Tales of How Sex Laws Are Screwing the American People Human Rights Watch (on Sex Offender Laws) Malthus wasn't wrong, just early. See the long term forecast in environment or dieoff.com BibliographyThe Population Bomb: Paul Ehrlich THE LIFE AND DEATH OF NSSM 200, How the Destruction of Political Will Doomed a U.S. Population Policy by Stephen D. Mumford Republican War Against Women: Tanya Melich 1996 The Down and Dirty Politics of Sex See Freakonomics for an argument for a women's right to choose. Lake of Fire (2006 Movie) |