Does Family Size Relate to Fossil Fuel Output
Does Population Growth Affect Climate Change?
Does the rate at which people are reproducing demand to be controlled to salve the surround?
Beloved EarthTalk: To what extent does human population growth impact global warming, and what tin be done about it?
-- Larry LeDoux, Honolulu, Hello
No doubt human population growth is a major correspondent to global warming, given that humans use fossil fuels to power their increasingly mechanized lifestyles. More people means more than demand for oil, gas, coal and other fuels mined or drilled from below the Earth's surface that, when burned, spew enough carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere to trap warm air inside like a greenhouse.
According to the United Nations Population Fund, homo population grew from ane.6 billion to 6.1 billion people during the course of the 20th century. (Think virtually it: It took all of fourth dimension for population to reach one.6 billion; then it shot to six.i billion over just 100 years.) During that time emissions of CO2, the leading greenhouse gas, grew 12-fold. And with worldwide population expected to surpass 9 billion over the next l years, environmentalists and others are worried about the ability of the planet to withstand the added load of greenhouse gases inbound the atmosphere and wreaking havoc on ecosystems down below.
Adult countries consume the lion's share of fossil fuels. The U.s.a., for example, contains only five percentage of earth population, yet contributes a quarter of total CO2 output. But while population growth is stagnant or dropping in most developed countries (except for the U.S., due to immigration), it is rising chop-chop in speedily industrializing developing nations. According to the United Nations Population Fund, fast-growing developing countries (like China and Republic of india) will contribute more than one-half of global CO2 emissions by 2050, leading some to wonder if all of the efforts being fabricated to curb U.S. emissions will be erased past other countries' adoption of our long held over-consumptive ways.
"Population, global warming and consumption patterns are inextricably linked in their commonage global ecology impact," reports the Global Population and Environment Program at the non-profit Sierra Club. "Every bit developing countries' contribution to global emissions grows, population size and growth rates will become significant factors in magnifying the impacts of global warming."
According to the Worldwatch Institute, a nonprofit environmental think tank, the overriding challenges facing our global civilization are to curtail climate modify and slow population growth. "Success on these 2 fronts would make other challenges, such equally reversing the deforestation of Earth, stabilizing h2o tables, and protecting plant and animal diversity, much more than manageable," reports the group. "If we cannot stabilize climate and we cannot stabilize population, there is non an ecosystem on Earth that we can save."
Many population experts believe the answer lies in improving the health of women and children in developing nations. Past reducing poverty and infant mortality, increasing women's and girls' access to basic human rights (wellness intendance, education, economic opportunity), educating women about birth control options and ensuring access to voluntary family planning services, women will choose to limit family unit size.
CONTACTS: United nations Population Fund, world wide web.unfpa.org; Sierra Order'south Global Population and Environment Program, www.sierraclub.org/population; Worldwatch Establish, world wide web.worldwatch.org.
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Source: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/population-growth-climate-change/