5 ms·

I never understood this logic, population growth is 100% dependent on the amount of resources the system is able to produce, not the other way around. Resources

I never understood this logic, population growth is 100% dependent on the amount of resources the system is able to produce, not the other way around. Resources are the precursor to growth. It is not possible to grow unabated then one day realize we're 50% short on resources. Population necessarily has to stabilize at around 100% resource utilization.

fjsolwmv 9y ago
And when resources are depleted? That's the bomb.
- rukittenme 9y ago
  Resources don't plummet to zero. Prices rise gradually and people change their behaviors gradually. That's not a bomb.
  - rohit2412 9y ago
    1) Prices don't rise gradually on supply demand mismatch. They can rise as much as somebody can pay 2) People will not really change behavior. Say a country of 1 billion people can only grow food for 600 million people due to a draught. Maybe the food can be stretched to 700 million, but don't expect it to be enough for 1 billion people. In this case, hundreds of millions will die of starvation and the remaining 700-800 million will pay hand over foot for food. That is the "bomb".
- thinkloop 9y ago
  What would get depleted?
  - dredmorbius 9y ago
    Core strategic resources. A set of 14: http://i.imgur.com/L5qWNN9.jpg http://i.imgur.com/L5qWNN9.jpg Rainforests, coral reefs, ag land, coal, oil, gas, aluminium, phosphorus, tantalum, titanium, copper, silver, indium, antimony. Sources: http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120618-global-resources-stock-check http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120618-global-resources-st... http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbc.com/future/BBCF_infoData_stock_check.pdf http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbc.com/future/BBCF_infoData_stock_chec... A list of six: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2011/oct/31/six-natural-resources-population https://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2011/oct/31/six... Longer general discussion: http://pubs.iied.org/pdfs/G01035.pdf http://pubs.iied.org/pdfs/G01035.pdf
  - stevenwoo 9y ago
    We've actually driven Atlantic cod near the US/Canada close to extinction by overfishing recently in the 90's and had to curtail fishing for a long time to allow it to come back. Japanese freshwater eels are endangered from the popularity in sushi and put on a conservation list just four years ago. https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/01/unagi-endangered-eel-japan/423675/ https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/01/unagi-en... Chart of most popular fish stocks, what happens when popular fish get overfished: https://priceonomics.com/the-invention-of-the-chilean-sea-bass/ https://priceonomics.com/the-invention-of-the-chilean-sea-ba...

fjsolwmv 9y ago

And when resources are depleted? That's the bomb.

rukittenme 9y ago
Resources don't plummet to zero. Prices rise gradually and people change their behaviors gradually. That's not a bomb.
- rohit2412 9y ago
  1) Prices don't rise gradually on supply demand mismatch. They can rise as much as somebody can pay 2) People will not really change behavior. Say a country of 1 billion people can only grow food for 600 million people due to a draught. Maybe the food can be stretched to 700 million, but don't expect it to be enough for 1 billion people. In this case, hundreds of millions will die of starvation and the remaining 700-800 million will pay hand over foot for food. That is the "bomb".
thinkloop 9y ago
What would get depleted?
- dredmorbius 9y ago
  Core strategic resources. A set of 14: http://i.imgur.com/L5qWNN9.jpg http://i.imgur.com/L5qWNN9.jpg Rainforests, coral reefs, ag land, coal, oil, gas, aluminium, phosphorus, tantalum, titanium, copper, silver, indium, antimony. Sources: http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120618-global-resources-stock-check http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120618-global-resources-st... http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbc.com/future/BBCF_infoData_stock_check.pdf http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbc.com/future/BBCF_infoData_stock_chec... A list of six: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2011/oct/31/six-natural-resources-population https://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2011/oct/31/six... Longer general discussion: http://pubs.iied.org/pdfs/G01035.pdf http://pubs.iied.org/pdfs/G01035.pdf
- stevenwoo 9y ago
  We've actually driven Atlantic cod near the US/Canada close to extinction by overfishing recently in the 90's and had to curtail fishing for a long time to allow it to come back. Japanese freshwater eels are endangered from the popularity in sushi and put on a conservation list just four years ago. https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/01/unagi-endangered-eel-japan/423675/ https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/01/unagi-en... Chart of most popular fish stocks, what happens when popular fish get overfished: https://priceonomics.com/the-invention-of-the-chilean-sea-bass/ https://priceonomics.com/the-invention-of-the-chilean-sea-ba...