Thread: Overpopulation....a threat or a myth?

You'll have to excuse me if I missed some points in the article, because I skimmed the second half. The article seems to address overpopuladion from a standpoint of population density. And, on that point, the article seems to present a valid argument against the threat of overpopulation.

But there are other issues, such as resource utilization or enviornmental impact (I'll admit, I'm having trouble thinking of others off the top of my head).

I expect a crash between 2035-2050 at our current rate of growth
closer to 2050

I intend to live somewhere that if the whole world stops, my garden will just keep growing.

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

You'll have to excuse me if I missed some points in the article, because I skimmed the second half. The article seems to address overpopuladion from a standpoint of population density. And, on that point, the article seems to present a valid argument against the threat of overpopulation.

But there are other issues, such as resource utilization or enviornmental impact (I'll admit, I'm having trouble thinking of others off the top of my head).

True, but my intent in posting about overpopulation and an apparent mathematically based argument against at least one facet of its validity was just that.

Human impact or lack of impact on climate change, I'll leave someone else to broach that subject since my guess is that it's one of those things that could be endlessly debated on both sides even more so than overpopulation IMO.

Chris L

Ah, I just meant to say that overpopulation ties into a number of other issues and has facets beyond population density; but I see your point.

If you lived in Miami,FL in the 1950s and then went back now you would begin to see the problem. Here is a broadcast of the Diane Rehm show addressing the issue. Dr Paul Erlich, author of "The Population Bomb", is one of the participants. All I can say is I'm glad I'm an old guy on my way out.

Thanks for bringing to mind the fact, and I agree with you, that overpopulation as a concept is multidimensional.

Chris L

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Dr Paul Erlich, author of "The Population Bomb", is one of the participants.

Yikes, Jimmy. I have not read his book but in the little I've read of him, that guy scares me!

Taken from Wikipedia:


In his concluding chapter, Dr. Ehrlich offered a partial solution to the "population problem":

"(We need) compulsory birth regulation... (through) the addition of temporary sterilants to water supplies or staple food. Doses of the antidote would be carefully rationed by the government to produce the desired family size".^[9]

Sounds very Eugenic which gives me the shivers.

Chris L

Originally Posted by ChrisL

Yikes, Jimmy. I have not read his book but in the little I've read of him, that guy scares me! Chris L

He scared a lot of people, including me, when he wrote his original book in the late '60s. His predictions didn't come to pass but he is still going strong with more books predicting dire consequences. I can only hope he is wrong again but it is a small planet.