How we Wrecked the Ocean
- Thread starter TiTAN
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It always comes back to the same issue: a fantastically increasing human population. Virtually everything stems directly from human overpopulation. Overfishing on a small scale, massive commercial overfishing using destructive technologies, vast quantities of farm fertilizers washing into the seas, construction which destroys natural shorelines, and countless numbers of other actions, are all designed to feed or house a population which grows by millions every week, and at a faster pace every day. Climate change, acidification of the seas, and ocean stratification are ultimately caused by the same kinds of population and consumption imperatives that caused the recent spectacular but in the long run less permanently destructive gulf oil spill.
Only if we as a species are prepared to dramatically decrease our numbers through serious restrictions on the numbers of children permitted, and accept the social and economic upheavals that will cause, can anything be done to save what is left. Perhaps, if we really deprive ourselves, in may be possible to reverse some of the damage. As was pointed out, we are a selfish and shortsighted species, so I'm not optimistic. Without drastic population control, anything and everything done in the name of conservation is futile, an illusion that can, at best, put off the inevitable by a few years. Big deal.
Only if we as a species are prepared to dramatically decrease our numbers through serious restrictions on the numbers of children permitted, and accept the social and economic upheavals that will cause, can anything be done to save what is left. Perhaps, if we really deprive ourselves, in may be possible to reverse some of the damage. As was pointed out, we are a selfish and shortsighted species, so I'm not optimistic. Without drastic population control, anything and everything done in the name of conservation is futile, an illusion that can, at best, put off the inevitable by a few years. Big deal.
I don't know that the ocean's destruction is due to overpopulation. I agree it is due to selfishness and short sitedness.
Seriously though, America consumes roughly 80% of the world's resources and houses 5% of the world's population. That's a lot of resources for just 300 million people. We could house a lot more than that in the us and still have room to grow crops to support us. So I don't think population control is the answer. It might help decrease the number of resources other countries use, but that would be marginal. Sacraficing all the gadgets and pointless things we must have would be a start.
It would have to be on a national scale and the risk is that we go backwards in technological development.
Seriously though, America consumes roughly 80% of the world's resources and houses 5% of the world's population. That's a lot of resources for just 300 million people. We could house a lot more than that in the us and still have room to grow crops to support us. So I don't think population control is the answer. It might help decrease the number of resources other countries use, but that would be marginal. Sacraficing all the gadgets and pointless things we must have would be a start.
It would have to be on a national scale and the risk is that we go backwards in technological development.
GhostCon1
Rebmem Deretsiger
To me, it has to do with oil and plastics. Most people see the waste/by-product of them as 'out of sight, out of mind' but all of that goes somewhere, and unforunately, it mostly goes to the oceans. Yes, we do overfish and destroy natural ecosystems, but over fishing can be reversed, as it has in the past throught goverenment intervention and fish conservation programs. And, truthfully, I hate the way our species treats its planet. The amount of people that do care and want to do something about are so vastly outnumbered by those who couldn't care less. As long as they have their comforts, they don't care what has to suffer.
Until that changes, sadly I don't see things getting any better.
Until that changes, sadly I don't see things getting any better.
I'm glad you mentioned consumption, because you can't talk about over population without talking about over consumption too.
Well said!
I think there are several interlocking problems. As a species, we're hardwired to want to reproduce. If we weren't, we'd be extinct. Until the last couple of hundred years, maintaining a stable or slowly expanding population absolutely required people to reproduce as often as possible. Now we want to stand in the way of all those millenia of evolution and say "Ok, we've been fruitful and multiplied enough. Replacement-level or shrinking populations are the goal now." Good luck to us on that score.
Another problem is our tendency to confuse "too many to count" with "infinite". We looked up at the night sky centuries ago and said "There are infinite stars up there." If the universe contains a huge but finite amount of mass, then the statement isn't strictly true, but the error doesn't affect us very much. It's when we say "There are infinite [animal], kill as many as you want," that we really get into trouble. Every century we get better and better at proving ourselves wrong on that score, but evidence suggests that humans have been wiping out species since we migrated out of Africa.
"Away" is a big problem, too. Our imagination lets us pretend that things we don't see, don't exist. Throwing something "away" sounds much more comforting than throwing it into a shallow pit under a plot of land where our kids may one day buy a house, or throwing it into the river we drink from, or throwing it into a bay where animals that we harvest for food will eat it, drink it, or siphon it out of the water.
Another problem is our tendency to confuse "too many to count" with "infinite". We looked up at the night sky centuries ago and said "There are infinite stars up there." If the universe contains a huge but finite amount of mass, then the statement isn't strictly true, but the error doesn't affect us very much. It's when we say "There are infinite [animal], kill as many as you want," that we really get into trouble. Every century we get better and better at proving ourselves wrong on that score, but evidence suggests that humans have been wiping out species since we migrated out of Africa.
"Away" is a big problem, too. Our imagination lets us pretend that things we don't see, don't exist. Throwing something "away" sounds much more comforting than throwing it into a shallow pit under a plot of land where our kids may one day buy a house, or throwing it into the river we drink from, or throwing it into a bay where animals that we harvest for food will eat it, drink it, or siphon it out of the water.
I'm a firm beleiver in the bigger problem is 'how we live' not how many of us there are.
Look at the disgusting example us the developed world has set to the developing nations. And after all this, all the warnings, all the science, all the evidence, we are sorting things out at a snails pace. The reason for this snails pace is that corporations are ruling our world, and they don't give a damn about the future, all they think about is short term profit. I feel untill we sort this out, we are p*ssing in the wind, and the planet will continue to be degraded, untill it's completley ruined for all of us.
Look at the disgusting example us the developed world has set to the developing nations. And after all this, all the warnings, all the science, all the evidence, we are sorting things out at a snails pace. The reason for this snails pace is that corporations are ruling our world, and they don't give a damn about the future, all they think about is short term profit. I feel untill we sort this out, we are p*ssing in the wind, and the planet will continue to be degraded, untill it's completley ruined for all of us.
GhostCon1
Rebmem Deretsiger
Have to please those stock holders :furious:
Seriously...the U.S. uses 80% of the worlds resources? This is absolutely not true.
There was a study done in the 90s that found that the top 20 percent of the world's nations by wealth use 80 percent of the worlds resources. This includes the U.S. but we are not the only ones. Most of the countries in Western Europe are included in this pool. I'm not discounting or defending U.S. practices but let's not let opinions color the 'facts'.
There was a study done in the 90s that found that the top 20 percent of the world's nations by wealth use 80 percent of the worlds resources. This includes the U.S. but we are not the only ones. Most of the countries in Western Europe are included in this pool. I'm not discounting or defending U.S. practices but let's not let opinions color the 'facts'.
No doubt this drives much of it. Combined with the idea of rational self-interest and that free-markets are magic.
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