Tim wrote:
Well, not a very good standard. Considering right now I read that only 1/3 of the global population has access to clean drinking water and even less have access to three meals a day and proper shelter. If it's a matter of standard of living, than I don't think it's possible. It wasn't possible ten years ago or so, and the population has increased worldwide since then.
Well, I think it could be fixed with better management and less corruption. If the world can produce enough food to feed the world's population, yet people are still starving, then obviously, it's a problem with management. Pollution is only a symptom of mismanagement.
Also, depending on what's polluting the water, it should be possible to distill it.
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However look at Russia. They have had low birth rates for years now. The government even offered to pay husbands to stay home and procreate with their wives and increase the population of their nation. But then we have the third world nations in Africa for example, that have quite a bit of children. I read that the average woman in Yemen has six children, no wonder they have so many people. Westerners don't usually have that many children to begin with. Average I'd say is one or two per family out here.
That's because in developed places, children are an economic liability, so people want to have less of them, while in those developing areas, they are an economic asset, so people want to have more of them.
In terms of population, logically you'd think that:
0-1 child per couple = population decline,
2 children per couple = population maintenance,
while 3+ children per couple = population increase.
I don't think Russia's declining population is a good thing. A chronically declining population is never a good thing, as then it would become endangered.
Undeveloped countries have high birth rates and high death rates, so their population is stable.
Developing countries (upgrading from undeveloped to developed) have high birth rates and low death rates, so their population is unstable.
Developed countries have low birth rates and low death rates, so their population is stable.
Developing countries eventually stabilize, either by regressing back to being undeveloped or progressing to become developed.
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Land is a different story. There is a lot of land left, but the question is can we sustainably harvest crops on it? Russia and US are good examples because they have a lot of land but countries like China have over a billion people living in smaller quarters. Air pollution is terrible, the water is polluted in many areas, the overall standard of living is lower. I'd say land itself is not the question, but if we can raise animals/harvest crops on the soil without destroying acres of fertile land.
Pollution is one of the downsides to industrialization.
In terms of soil:
Yellow Is the New GreenHuman waste can make a good fertilizer.