This is just too long to publish on here
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Peak Oil, Carrying Capacity and Overshoot:
Population, the Elephant in the Room
Topic: Environment/Sustainability
Tags: carrying capacity, overshoot, peak oil, population, sustainability
From The Oil Drum: Discussion about Energy and Our Future
the root of all the converging crises of the World Problematique is the
issue of human overpopulation. Each of the global problems we face
today is the result of too many people using too much of our planet's
finite, non-renewable resources and filling its waste repositories of
land, water and air to overflowing. The true danger posed by our
exploding population is not our absolute numbers but the inability of
our environment to cope with so many of us doing what we do.
is becoming clearer every day, as crises like global warming, water,
soil and food depletion, biodiversity loss and the degradation of our
oceans constantly worsen, that the human situation is not sustainable.
Bringing about a sustainable balance between ourselves and the planet
we depend on will require us, in very short order, to reduce our
population, our level of activity, or both. One of the questions that
comes up repeatedly in discussions of population is, "What level of
human population is sustainable?" In this article I will give my
analysis of that question, and offer a look at the human road map from
our current situation to that level.
the concepts of ecological science are the most effective tools for
understanding this situation. The crucial concepts are sustainability,
carrying capacity and overshoot. Considered together these can give us
some clue as to what the true sustainable population of the earth might
be, as well as the trajectory between our current numbers and the point
of sustainability.
Also covered:
Sustainability
Carrying Capacity
The Role of Oil
The Food Factor
Carrying Capacity
And Image of Overshoot
Peak Oil
Time Frame and Severity
Maintaining Our Carrying Capacity
Conclusion
A Simple Model of Population Decline
The Cost
Summation
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