COMMENTARY | On October 31, 2011 the United Nations reported that the world population had reached seven billion people. Though the number was a rough estimate it’s still a little alarming. According to a U.N. report published in May of this year the world population is expected to reach 10 billion by the year 2100. I’ve got to wonder how we’re planning on feeding all of those people.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s website there are more than 350,000 people born every day, with a little over 150,000 deaths per day to balance the equation. That’s roughly 200,000 hungry mouths added to our planet each day – 200,000 people who will need food, clothing, and homes. We will need more factories, more farms, and more transportation. We will have to mine more metal, catch more fish, and pump more water and oil. And we will, with more people to do these jobs. But sooner or later we are going to run out. This is not something that may happen, it’s something that will happen. I feel like it’s time we get on the ball and start some serious planning.
To me oil and coal are obvious issues, and there are already people working on alternative sources of energy. What I don’t think people realize is that oil and coal aren’t the only resources we need to worry about. According to a recent article on MSNBC the U.S. government projects that 36 states will face a water shortage in the next 5 years. Sure, we will always have the same amount of water on the planet, but the question is how much of it will be fresh water. Then there’s trees. The world’s forests are already shrinking, how are we going to keep up our supply of lumber and pulpwood with a few billion more consumers?
I believe the key is to only use what can truly be called “renewable”. With energy this means focusing on moving to 100 percent reliance on solar, wind, and hydro power. Anything else is a dead-end road. As far as water goes governments need to start implementing waste treatment systems in all cities and towns with collection systems that minimize evaporation and try to get as close as possible to 100 percent re-use of that water. Governments who are not already doing it also need to implement mandatory recycling programs for all trash.
Such extensive programs would clearly be very expensive and would take a long time to implement.This is why I feel we need to get the ball rolling now in order to avoid a crisis later. By the way, about 500 people were born while you read this article.