Population – April 17
Paying for the excesses of youth
Consumption dwarfs population as main environmental threat
Attenborough warns on population
Overpopulation is a cultural challenge
Population
Consumerism & its critics – Apr 16
Andy Rooney Comments On The Changing Environment And Admits He’s Part Of The Problem
WWF Scotland boss calls for energy wasters to be prosecuted
The Gospel of Consumption and the better future we left behind
Equality Needs to Be Our Organizing Principle
Consumption dwarfs population as main environmental threat
Malthus and vice
Malthus might have earned more respect for his Law of Population if he hadn’t proposed it just at the moment when human production first tapped into the coal seams and oil streams that fueled the industrial expansion. It is only today, when those resources have peaked, that we are revealed to be much more like the other animals than we thought…
Population – April 6
U.N. sees falling Middle East fertility rates
Chinese hunger for sons fuels boys’ abductions
US science advisor: Earth population ‘exceeds limits’
Review: Future Scenarios by David Holmgren
Future Scenarios serves as a good introduction to the concept of future energy descent/climate change scenarios.
United Kingdom – Mar 23
Britain set to become most populous country in EU
Food and energy shortages will create ‘perfect storm’, says Prof John Beddington
Government borrowing ‘to swell’
Happiness & dysfunction – March 22
Are we happier in the West?
U! S! A! We’re Number …. 15?
Experts agree giant, razor-clawed bioengineered crabs pose no threat
U.N. raises “low” population projection for 2050
Common myths of the population debate
In any debate there are particular key arguments that are used to undermine the opponent. A debate as heated as that over the importance, or not, of population growth is sure to feature these. It should be clear to readers of my essay published last week that I regard population growth as the core issue in any discussion on sustainability. Many of the arguments used by those who wish to dismiss or lessen the importance of population growth are false, misleading or simply mental tricks allowing their advocates the comfort of self-deception.
Population -March 14
New Statesman: Planet overload
Green agendas and grey dawns
World population to reach 9 billion by 2050: UN projections
The population problem
Population growth lies at the core of all questions of “sustainability”. It is growth of the human population and the increasing resources that it requires that drives the destruction of habitats, the increasing levels of pollution (especially CO2), and the accelerating depletion of finite resources. It is impossible to stop exacerbating these problems if we do not stop population growth.
United States & Canada – March 3
Obama May Have To Give Away 70% of Carbon Credits, Merrill Says
The Financial Crisis Fuels U.S. Diplomatic Talks
Number of households with kids hits new low
Book review: Culture Change by Alexis Zeigler
With superb insight, wisdom and erudition—one is almost tempted to say omniscience—Alexis Zeigler’s Culture Change charts an ambitious course for the future of our civilization. The book calls for a revolution to bring about what Zeigler terms a “conscious culture” capable of responding intelligently to our ecological crisis. (Full book title: Culture Change: Civil Liberty, Peak Oil, and the End of Empire)