4 ms·

I think there are too many people. Problems of loss of habitat and the use of pesticides and fertilisers to increase food production are all solved with <less p

by foobar1962 7y ago

I think there are too many people. Problems of loss of habitat and the use of pesticides and fertilisers to increase food production are all solved with <less people>. The problem will solve itself, unfortunately. Even if we had cold fusion and unlimited free energy, we'd still have the problem of too many people.

mercurysmessage 7y ago
Unfortunately the people who will and are suffering from this, are the ones who did not cause these problems in the first place.
mikro2nd 7y ago
I think both problems will be solved with <less oil>. Population (of any species) is a function of available energy. Every since we humans learned to supplement our food supply using fossilised energy stores our numbers have skyrocketed. Take that energy away (hello Peak Oil) and our numbers will, inevitable fall. If we had unlimited free energy, we'd certainly still have too many people, not to mention cooking the biosphere with the waste heat from fusion processes.
- foobar1962 7y ago
  > ... cooking the biosphere with the waste heat from fusion processes Yes! Waste heat from thermodynamic process is something that I've never seen mentioned or discussed, only greenhouse gasses. Almost all the energy we use ends up as heat.
agentultra 7y ago
I'm not sure it's the population that's the problem -- there are a number of factors. If we globally stopped eating meat then a large portion of the land used for agriculture to produce livestock feed would not be needed and could return to forest. And we'd all live and be healthier for it (yay less heart disease and cancer). The amount of land used to grow food to feed cows is a large portion of the total agriculture output. Organic farming seems like it could be sustainable even if portions of our stocks are taken by insects. It'd be manageable without pesticides. And if we invest more in genetically modified vegetables we could grow them to be resistant to pests without filling the environment with pesticides. We humans used to be pretty good at permaculture: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permaculture https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permaculture
- foobar1962 7y ago
  Population is ultimately the problem. All land will either be used for housing or food production, there will be none "spare" for wildlife or environmental purposes.

mercurysmessage 7y ago

Unfortunately the people who will and are suffering from this, are the ones who did not cause these problems in the first place.

mikro2nd 7y ago

I think both problems will be solved with <less oil>. Population (of any species) is a function of available energy. Every since we humans learned to supplement our food supply using fossilised energy stores our numbers have skyrocketed. Take that energy away (hello Peak Oil) and our numbers will, inevitable fall. If we had unlimited free energy, we'd certainly still have too many people, not to mention cooking the biosphere with the waste heat from fusion processes.

foobar1962 7y ago
> ... cooking the biosphere with the waste heat from fusion processes Yes! Waste heat from thermodynamic process is something that I've never seen mentioned or discussed, only greenhouse gasses. Almost all the energy we use ends up as heat.

agentultra 7y ago

I'm not sure it's the population that's the problem -- there are a number of factors. If we globally stopped eating meat then a large portion of the land used for agriculture to produce livestock feed would not be needed and could return to forest. And we'd all live and be healthier for it (yay less heart disease and cancer). The amount of land used to grow food to feed cows is a large portion of the total agriculture output. Organic farming seems like it could be sustainable even if portions of our stocks are taken by insects. It'd be manageable without pesticides. And if we invest more in genetically modified vegetables we could grow them to be resistant to pests without filling the environment with pesticides. We humans used to be pretty good at permaculture: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permaculture https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permaculture

foobar1962 7y ago
Population is ultimately the problem. All land will either be used for housing or food production, there will be none "spare" for wildlife or environmental purposes.