Defending the Truth

So who all thinks that we need to limit how many children we have, to preserve the planet...for our children ?

I had five children .

OD

May 07, 2007 12:00am
Article from:




HAVING large families should be frowned upon as an environmental misdemeanour in the same way as frequent long-haul flights, driving a big car and failing to reuse plastic bags, says a report to be published today by a green think tank.
The paper by the Optimum Population Trust will say that if couples had two children instead of three they could cut their family's carbon dioxide output by the equivalent of 620 return flights a year between London and New York.
Full coverage: Climate change in-depth
John Guillebaud, co-chairman of OPT and emeritus professor of family planning at University College London, said: "The effect on the planet of having one child less is an order of magnitude greater than all these other things we might do, such as switching off lights.
"The greatest thing anyone in Britain could do to help the future of the planet would be to have one less child."
In his latest comments, the academic says that when couples are planning a family they should be encouraged to think about the environmental consequences.
"The decision to have children should be seen as a very big one and one that should take the environment into account," he added.
Professor Guillebaud says that, as a general guideline, couples should produce no more than two offspring.
The world's population is expected to increase by 2.5 billion to 9.2 billion by 2050. Almost all the growth will take place in developing countries.
The population of developed nations is expected to remain unchanged and would have declined but for migration.
The British fertility rate is 1.7. The EU average is 1.5. Despite this, Professor Guillebaud says rich countries should be the most concerned about family size as their children have higher per capita carbon dioxide emissions.
The Sunday Times

I do not have or want any so that must be a good thing.

Whew! I was feeling sooo guilty. Let's just say I had your quota then, to even it out . LOL

OD

There could be a market for children quotas. Couples with no children could sell their quotas to those wanting children. Sounds like a market approach solution to this problem.

Akuma you are such an entrepreneur !

OD

Perhaps this is a guarded argument against the Muslim population bomb.... After all, Europeans are not reproducing at replacement level, neither the Russians, Japanese, etc.

So, if they want to have 4 wives and 44 kids, they would have to support 3 other families of Europeans who aren't reproducing at replacement level in order for the privilege of having all those kids!

Nah, the environmentalists would NEVER have anything like that in mind, would they?

Ah, no. China is the worst, followed by the mostly Hindu country of India, followed by the good old USA.
Heres some facts with links.

According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, the resident population of the United States, projected to 05/15/07 at 01:52 GMT (EST+5) is
301,841,971
COMPONENT SETTINGS FOR MAY 2007
One birth every.................................. 8 seconds
One death every.................................. 13 seconds
One international migrant (net) every............ 27 seconds
Net gain of one person every..................... 11 seconds

U.S. POPClock Projection


World POPClock Projection

According to the International Programs Center, U.S. Bureau of the Census, the total population of the World, projected to 05/15/07 at 01:53 GMT (EST+5) is
6,595,153,982

Monthly World population figures:
07/01/06 6,528,089,562
08/01/06 6,534,625,672
09/01/06 6,541,161,782
10/01/06 6,547,487,051
11/01/06 6,554,023,161
12/01/06 6,560,348,429
01/01/07 6,566,884,540
02/01/07 6,573,420,650
03/01/07 6,579,324,234
04/01/07 6,585,860,345
05/01/07 6,592,185,613
06/01/07 6,598,721,723
07/01/07 6,605,046,992

World POPClock Projection

Populations by country as far as the 1 percentile:
1 People's Republic of China 1,321,000,000 20.05%
2 India[1] 1,129,000,000 17.14%
3 United States 301,819,700 4.58%
4 Indonesia 234,950,000 3.57%
5 Brazil 186,500,000 2.83%
6 Pakistan 163,630,000 2.48%
7 Bangladesh 150,500,000 2.28%
8 Russia 141,400,000 2.15%
9 Nigeria 134,700,000 2.04%
10 Japan 127,720,000 March 1, 2007 1.94%
11 Mexico 103,263,388 Oct. 17, 2005 1.57%
12 Philippines 88,461,700 July 1, 2007 1.34%
13 Vietnam 85,850,000 1.3%
14 Germany 82,310,000 Dec. 31, 2006 1.25%
15 Egypt 80,880,000 1.23%
16 Ethiopia 77,431,000 1.18%
17 Turkey 71,170,000 May 13, 2007 1.08%
18 Iran 65,990,000 May 13, 2007 1%
For more areas see this link:

List of countries by population - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I think proper education on the growing population is required worldwide. Unfortunately it will be the poor people who die first if we get to the point of using all our resources up. Now why is this never mentioned? The rich are in charge, thats why.

wow Amazing facts! Thanks tyreay!

The problem has never been too many people. It's been too many people in the wrong places (huge masses of refugees out in the African desert, for example) and poor use of resources. Some people hogging way more than they need, while others go without.

Lastly, you have destructive practices, like many people burning fossil fuels, instead of really pushing for alternative energy sources -- or plowing farmland under to build subdivisions and shopping malls.

True, but at the current rate of pop growth too many people will become an issue compared to the planet's resources, sooner or later.