What's missing from the Climate change summit
An article in the Daily Telegraph says this:
Population growth is the one issue accused of causing driving climate change that no one at the Copenhagen climate summit dares to talk about.The Earth's population is already over 6 billion and climbing. Estimates are that it will peak to at least 9 billion by 2050. And keep in mind that in the past, these estimates were usually too low. The Telegraph article says 11 billion, and doesn't give a reference, but barring another world war, that number is probably more accurate.
The simple fact that more people = more carbon pollution = more climate change, seems to be lost in the equation. In fact it's worse than that; at least climate change skeptics can claim that the science here is not conclusive. But we all know, beyond any doubt, that more people will consume more energy and cause more pollution than fewer people will. There's no debate about that. So why is the UN so silent on the issue? Honestly, what is the point of using energy saving bulbs to save 20% of electricity, when in just a few years, the population increase will completely wipe out any savings?
As you can see on the chart above, it took hundreds of thousands of years of human history until 1959 to bring the world population to 3 billion. And within a lifetime, we've doubled that. And we are set to do it again.
I love people. I just don't see the need to have them all here on the planet at the same time. Keeping overpopulation off the climate change agenda is like having a fertility conference with no mention of babies. Or an discussion of fuel prices with no mention of oil.
My prediction: nothing substantial will be done until it becomes an immediate crisis. That's been the way of things for a very long time.
Update: The UN Population Fund did attempt to raise this issue ahead of the summit. But apparently, it's still too much of a "taboo" topic. Or people simply prefer to remain in denial. Click here to continue reading...
