Over Population and Over Consumption

The continuing over population of our planet and the over consumption of our available resources has created a problematic paradox for our species. Each day as more babies are born, the increasing number of mouths to feed adds to the already stifling pressures on the resources of our planet. More agricultural land is needed to satisfy the nutritional needs of each additional bundle of joy. Our populations have grown to the extent that our planet cannot produce food fast enough to feed the nearly 7 billion hungry stomachs each day. To control consumption levels, we must first control global population levels.  However, educating developing countries on the dangers of over populating our planet might be as difficult as solving the over population/consumption problems in itself. 

Our consumption habits have created a situation where all fossil fuels will become extensively scarce and expensive within the next few decades. This is truly alarming considering we only first starting depleting these stocks just over a century ago. Some oil production experts believe that we have already surpassed peak oil production and from here on out less and less oil will be drawn from the earth, refined and pumped through our massive 6, 8, 10 or 12 cylinder engines. That means that oil will no longer be considered cheap energy in just a few years as the supply decreases and the demand increases. This leaves humanity in an awkward situation with a bad taste in our mouths. Yet, much of the world pays no attention to this and continues to make purchases of items they do not need and probably won’t use six months down the road.

Our greedy consumption practices are causing decreases in every aspect of humanity and our resources. Life expectancy rates are predicted to decline, food supplies will begin to dwindle, natural resources are quickly deteriorating, pollution levels continue to increase and industrial production is expected to peak in the near future (Meadows, 1992). That is a hard pill to swallow yet it comes as no surprise. Mankind has been aware of the overall depletion of resources for sometime and nothing has been done to control the rates in which we consume. Industry is well aware of the consequences of hacking down the Amazon yet no one is stopping them from destroying one of the oldest, most biodiverse areas on the planet. I wonder what it will actually take for the entire world to wake up and realize the impact that our over consumption of resources is taking on our environment.

As we continue to develop land, our dependence on energy increases, this dependence causes land use dedicated to energy generation to develop as well and both of these situations create a loss of land and a further depletion of resources. As Westerners we continue to build massive concrete shopping centers, partake in monoculture farming practices, pollute our oceans and build houses on wet lands. These development tactics and consumption of resources have significantly affected such things as the biodiversity of our planet as well as decreased the bioproductivity of both land and sea. Its not complex hypothetical stuff we’re dealing with here. A master’s degree is not needed to realize that you can only rape and pillage the land for so long before something bad happens. First Nation’s civilizations understood this ideology thousands of years ago and they never spent a day in a classroom in their lives. So why can’t we, the citizens of supposedly educated developed nations put enough brain cells together to realize that over consumption and over population is NOT sustainable. We cannot continue on this path without devastation to our planet and a potential downfall of humanity. Change is not an option. Here is a link to a fun to watch music video about our over consumption. Link