Ryan Chartrand
World population is currently at 6,609,813,987 people. It’s difficult to wrap our heads around millions and billions, but what you need to know is not so much the actual numbers, but rather the idea that population is something that grows exponentially, which means the larger the quantity gets, the faster it grows. Kind of like that party you had in high school when your parents were out of town: you told five people and then they each told five people and those 25 people each told five people and all of a sudden you’re passed out with marker on your face, beer stains on the carpet and cops at the door. Except instead of having to deal with not enough beer in the keg, we are going to be fighting over access to clean water, oxygen, and food to simply survive, all while dealing with the spread of extreme poverty.
At current growth rates, world population is expected to double by 2050. We can’t keep expanding our population on a planet that remains the same size without having to make some serious sacrifices. Using the world’s current population and the United States’ rate of resource consumption, we would require 5.4 planets. Even if everyone made efforts to live an environmentally-conscious lifestyle, incorporating bike riding instead of driving, carpooling, and eating organically and locally-grown foods, we would require another 2.8 planet Earths. Since there are no extra Earths to use as backup support just in case of catastrophe, something has to give. And if it’s biodiversity and farmland, then, well, we’ll be following shortly behind.
As most know, China and India are the world leaders in population growth, with China being the most populated at 1.3 billion and with India in a close second at 1.1 billion but projected to overtake China for the lead by 2050. We need to direct our eyes a little further south, though, into sub-Saharan Africa. Although population size is currently not as large as India’s or China’s, it is the geographic region that is growing at the fastest rate, expecting to double in size by 2030.
Thus far, China and India have population control programs-some utilizing the power of education and some using legislation, such as the one-child policy in China and forced sterilization in India. These are both very controversial policies, and at the heart of the debate is the criteria for gauging success. Are we simply looking at lower birth rates? Isn’t happiness and quality of life an element of a sustainable society?
In a parallel vein, how does one decide on a sustainable population size? Do we simply calculate the amount of arable land and available freshwater and from that compute the number of people that this world can feed, clothe and shelter? So, wait, is my favorite warm chocolate souffle included in that food category? Or will we be nine billion and counting subsisting on rations of grains and greens telling once upon a time stories to our grandchildren about things like neighborhood parks and grocery stores that had a whole aisle dedicated to breakfast cereals? It is a constant conversation on lifestyle, balancing our current joys and freedoms with those we want to remain in the future.
We either have to sacrifice our allotment of oxygen, fresh water, personal space, 2,000 calories a day, or our right to have as many children as we want. We can either continue to grow and all live in misery, without the essentials to sustain a happy, healthy life, or we can choose to not reproduce as prolifically as in the past.
The more people currently hooked up to the life support machine called planet Earth, the fewer resources allotted to each of us. So, just as you are realizing your influence on the world and are recycling, using compact fluorescents, trading in your Chevy for a Schwinn, and eating local and organic foods, remember that at the root of the sustainability talk is population growth and family size.
Lucia Castello is third year architecture major and a member of the Empower Poly Coalition.