Who will adopt THESE 50 million babies?
The biggest problem we as humans face is NOT climate change, it is NOT terrorism or islamofascism or whatever, it is NOT poverty. It is (same old same old) population growth.
Here is the figure caption from the article in Science (vol. 315, p. 1501, 16 March 2007) titled "Return of the Population Growth Factor":
The crisis in Niger. "Niger's population is set to increase from 14 million to 80 million in 2050 if current fertility remains the same--an unimaginable scenario in a country already unable to feed itself, facing widespread destruction of local ecosystems through over-grazing, continued mass poverty, underemployment and massive dependence on international aid.…so, without massive investment in family planning programmes, the outlook is bleak."
Oh I should say that Niger is only a tiny part of this problem, and it is a suitable example precisely because it is a small country population-wise, perhaps easier to comprehend.
Take Nigeria on the other hand. It's population is 140 million, TEN times as high as Niger, and the fertility is (less but) comparable. If current fertility remains the same in Nigeria the impact is literally incomprehensible.
March 21, 2007 1:32 PM | Reply | Permalink