EARTH SUSTAINABILITY

Earth Sustainability

Earth Sustainability

Introduction

World population would not be a problem if there were unlimited land, unlimited water, unlimited resources. Unfortunately, with overpopulation, there is the problem of sharing the same sized pie with smaller and smaller portions. People in developed countries who have been accustomed to a better quality of life are reluctant to give it up. In many cases, more efficient use of resources has come along hand-in-hand with improved quality of life. But there are still problems of overconsumption, (Norton 2005:39)exploitation, the short-sighted search for an ever-higher quality of life, and the greed of companies and individuals in cutting corners resulting in pollution and reckless use of raw materials. Less-developed countries that, in the past, had smaller populations such that slash-and-burn agriculture had less impact, cities had fewer vehicles to send pollution into the air, and industries were not as attracted by cheap labor and thus polluted rivers and the air less.

Discussion

This is a difficult subject. Should people have less children or should people use less resources, pollute less? Or both? Should one problem have priority over the other? The world population has doubled in the last forty years. Who has contributed the most to overconsumption and pollution? The more developed nations with a relatively stable population growth, but who use 5-50 times the resources of the poor, or the less developed nations whose populations will double again in 30 years, who will run out of food and water first, and whose pollution due to agricultural burning, coal burning, lack of emission controls, mis-use of pesticides, and toxic waste from under-regulated industries(Costanza 2007:21), will only worsen with the increase of population? And then there is the question of ownership and distribution of resources, do the rich exploit the poor, and to what extent? As I said, this is a difficult subject.

Environment getting worse

About 3 million die from pollution each year. In the past decade in every environmental sector, conditions have either failed to improve, or they are worsening: (Blackburn 2007:75)

Public health:

Unclean water, along with poor sanitation, kills over 12 million people each year, most in developing countries. Air pollution kills nearly 3 million more. Heavy metals and other contaminants also cause widespread health problems. Amount of land lost to farming by degradation equals 2/3 of North America. (Benyus 2003:75)

Food supply:

Will there be enough food to go around? In 64 of 105 developing countries studied by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the population has been growing faster than food supplies. Population pressures have degraded some 2 billion hectares of arable land (Bartlett 2004: 5)an area the size of Canada and the U.S.

Freshwater:

The supply of freshwater is finite, but demand is soaring as population grows and use per capita rises. By 2025, when world population is projected to be 8 billion, 48 countries containing 3 billion people will face shortages. (Atkinson & Neumayer 2007:45)

Coastlines and oceans:

Half of all coastal ecosystems are pressured by high population densities and urban ...