To mark "World Population Day", Grist published this commentary by environmental writer Fred Pearce who asks environmentalists not to fall in the Malthusian trap of blaming population, not consumption.
July 11, World Population Day, is a function of the United Nations Population Fund that deals with many aspects of world population growth and sustainable development.
Pearce's commentary is directed toward the environmental movement - to avoid being seduced by the simplistic "population growth is the biggest problem" and instead focus on how affluent nations can reduce their emissions.
"The carbon emissions of one American today are equivalent to those of around four Chinese, 20 Indians, 40 Nigerians, or 250 Ethiopians. How dare rich-world greens blame the poor world for the planet's perils?"
From Grist: EARTH TO FRED; Of course population is still a problem:
To provide a counterpoint, Grist published this commentary by Robert Walker, executive vice president of the Population Institute.
"Earth to Fred: 2 billion more people is a lot of people to a world that is already struggling to feed 6.8 billion people. It's a lot of people to a biosphere that is threatened with what leading biologists refer to as the "Sixth Mass Extinction".
[Note: Pearce acknowledged, "We have 6.8 billion people today, and may end up with another 2 billion before the population bomb is finally defused"].
Thanks to Daily Grist
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