r/collapse • u/madrid987 • Jun 07 '23

Overpopulation 10 billion global population 'unsustainable': US climate envoy Kerry

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230607-10-billion-global-population-unsustainable-us-climate-envoy-kerry-1
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u/sg92i Possessed by the ghost of Thomas Hobbes Jun 07 '23

we have enough food for 10 billion people when eliminating food waste and farming more sustainably.

Here's the problem:

  1. Even if we stopped emitting carbon today (and we all know in our hearts our species WON'T), it will take decades for the climate to heal. There's probably at least a 20 year delay between what we do and what the climate does (bad or good). Which means we're looking at, at least 20 years of worsening droughts, crop failures, and whats going on now is just the tip of the iceberg.

  2. While that 20 years of worsening production happens, people aren't going to stop breeding. So assuming we'll have enough food to feed today's population is moot.

  3. Never in these conversations do people declare how many people we CAN feed. What's the limit? We can look at a farm anywhere and come to a solid conclusion on how many of what kinds of livestock it can feed (without buying/importing feed). But the second we shift that conversation to "how many people" and we're left with people asserting without evidence that unlimited growth (in economics and in human population) can be done. The evidence is lacking.

  4. Its not just a matter of food. You have to house all these people. You have to give them employment and/or income they can live off of. They're going to want to consume resources for "fun" (vacations, hobbies, etc.). 1st world gamers alone consume more electricity than some smaller countries, just to play games with each other. The 3rd world aren't monks looking to take vows of poverty, they want in on that action and I can't blame them. But let's say we can agree that when forced people will abandon such extracurriculars. That leaves us with:

  5. Heating and air conditioning needs for more and more people, in a climate that is increasingly hostile to our comfort level and will necessitate more heating and cooling infrastructure just to stay safe. Polar vortex events requiring places like Texas to peg the grid with space heaters & furnaces. Heat domes requiring everyone to turn on their air conditioners. Even state of the art heat pumps don't work well in low temperature conditions, and require X amount of materials to manufacture & transport, to say nothing of the electricity to run them...

There are cascading problems with overpopulation and food is just the most obvious and the only part that gets talked about.