In case it wasn't clear enough from the article, let me state it clearly here:
Overpopulation of the Earth, Contemporary and 20 Minutes into the Future, despite what you might have heard, is a myth. As in, Humanity is not going to run into a crisis because we are too many people.
We face many crises; Global Warming, Nuclear War, Pollution etc. But with our current technology and education, population is not a crisis in and of itself:
We produce more than enough food to feed everyone twice over
Our energy generation is constantly increasing too; even as renewables begin to replace non-renewables.
On top of this, our population growth is slowing down and is estimated to peak at the early 2100's
With food and energy not being crisis factors, the one thing that remains is resources. And while we definitely have concerns there, none of them are crisis-level, and the recsource-scarcity will not be a problem because of population, but because of living standard; as more people get better lives, they will want more resources.
This is seen in how the west, despite being numericly inferior, consume most of the consumer goods of today.
In the end recycling means that energy will be a crisis factor before resource scarcity will be.
I don't want to have to remove another claim that we are somehow facing an Overpopulation Crisis or that it's a sensitive topic.
We're not and it is not.
In case it wasn't clear enough from the article, let me state it clearly here:
Overpopulation of the Earth, Contemporary and 20 Minutes into the Future, despite what you might have heard, is a myth. As in, Humanity is not going to run into a crisis because we are too many people.
We face many crises; Global Warming, Nuclear War, Pollution etc. But with our current technology and education, population is not a crisis in and of itself:
With food and energy not being crisis factors, the one thing that remains is resources. And while we definitely have concerns there, none of them are crisis-level, and the recsource-scarcity will not be a problem because of population, but because of living standard; as more people get better lives, they will want more resources. This is seen in how the west, despite being numericly inferior, consume most of the consumer goods of today.
In the end recycling means that energy will be a crisis factor before resource scarcity will be.
I don't want to have to remove another claim that we are somehow facing an Overpopulation Crisis or that it's a sensitive topic. We're not and it is not.
This entire trope was made to describe the concept as used in contemporary fiction. Because as it is, it's almost a case of Dan Browned or In-Universe Factoid Failure to include it in a contemporary setting unless you have some means of justifying it. There's a reason it is a Failed Future Forecast and it is no coincidence that this trope was made around the time of Avengers: Infinity War.note
Edited by Theharbo