Sustainability can be defined as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the needs of the future. That seems relatively simple. Unfortunately, this is far from reality. In the real world, our world, living within our means seems out of the question. But what is contributing to our inability to live in a manner that fosters a healthy future? Well some people believe that there are two large contributors to this problem, over consumption and over population. While both of these factors are unsustainable, which one is has the greater impact? Well the fact is that they are both major contributors. It would be impossible to really decide which is worse; however each factor contributes greatly to the problem of not living within the carrying capacity of the earth.
http://stor.pt.cx/anabela/2010/12/07/overpopulation/
There clearly is a divide between the western world and the third world. In the west we have more money, more freedom, social welfare and consumption habits that are unimaginably high. In the third world (or developing world) they unfortunately have few of the luxuries we have yet they have the largest and denser populations. We in the west consume per capita far more than our share, and per capita in the developing world they consume far less. The fact that in the developing world they have so many people results in a massive level of consumption. So again we hit the wall; both overpopulation and over consumption are horribly unsustainable.
It took until the 1800’s to see the human population hit a billion people. Since then we are now facing a human population of around 6.9 billion people. By 2050 the UN estimates our population will be at about 9 billion people. The UN also states that 95% of population growth is happening in the developing world. This scale of growth is alarming since the statistics about the quality of life in these developing countries do not favour the folks living there. At the current population more than a billion people lack basic needs. Nearly three-fifths have no basic sanitation. Almost a third lack access to clean water. A quarter has no adequate housing, and a fifth go without modern health services. Not to mention the fact that due to lack of central services, most of the people in these areas use wood as fuel to heat their homes and to cook. This means rapid deforestation for no other reason than pure survival. Who can blame these people? They are struggling to survive and provide for their families; the last thing on their mind is biodiversity or the health of the forest.
http://www.portlandphoenix.com/archive/features/01/04/13/feat_population.html
So why is it that people in the third world continue to procreate at such high levels? Well it comes down to a couple simple social factors. In areas with low child survival rates, families generally try to have many children in the hopes that at least some will survive. Another factor is that as women in developing countries gain more rights and higher education, they tend to have smaller families. In order for the high birth rates to decrease this means the developing world will need to have their standard of living generally increased. Check out this link for some detailed info!!
http://mindprod.com/environment/population.html
But wait...if the standard of living is raised then consumption will increase...well let’s look at over consumption then. Over consumption is a western disease. Consumption is the driver of the economy and our society. We are all consumers. Consumption is inevitable, however the rate at which the western world consumes is astounding (details of our consumption and stuff will be touched on in another post). We devour resources as if it were our God given right without concern or knowledge of the impact it has. We are just so complacent and comfortable with the current system that any change is not going to come easy. Some extra info on western consumption available in the link below!!
It is not entirely the fault of the general population. We live in a society where success is measured by growth. Growth can only be achieved by consumption. This is a vicious cycle in which the planet will eventually lose.
http://evolvingprimate.wordpress.com/2008/11/04/a-case-against-overconsumption-and-overpopulation/
We cannot look at these issues separately. By solving only one problem we in effect will still be left with a massive issue of un-sustainability. If we curb population growth by increasing the quality of life and education, people will have more money to spend and thus the consumption patter will continue. If we only change over consumption habits, the massive population growth would still result in massive consumption. In my opinion in order really solve these issues, over consumption must first be curbed in the developed world since we have the resources and frankly no goddamn excuse not to. Then through a system of shared technology and knowledge we can increase the standard of living in third world sustainably in hopes that this will reduce birth rates and thus curb over population. That would be an ideal world; the reality is that these issues are not just a discussion topic. These are realities that will likely be faced in our generation; taking this lightly would be a foolish mistake by all governments and their people.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/benheine/2230059724/
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