Re:Puffins are in trouble
by NeedMoreTea on Wednesday August 29, 2018 @12:38PM
(#17869602)
It's both. Numbers and our model of what "developed" is.
If only 10,000 people were living an American lifestyle the planet would cope just fine. When it's 1bn it seems like it's clearly becoming problematic. What of when it's 3bn?
If, as seems to be the case, there are 7bn who want, or are advertised at to want, a throwaway Western lifestyle, we're screwed. All 7bn. We can't pretend the numbers are not there or that most are going to happily remain with subsistence lives for all future generations.
It's probably more feasible to make larger families unfashionable or nudge them via the tax system than simply "fixing" climate change globally, habit and species loss.
If only 10,000 people were living an American lifestyle the planet would cope just fine. When it's 1bn it seems like it's clearly becoming problematic. What of when it's 3bn?
If, as seems to be the case, there are 7bn who want, or are advertised at to want, a throwaway Western lifestyle, we're screwed. All 7bn. We can't pretend the numbers are not there or that most are going to happily remain with subsistence lives for all future generations.
It's probably more feasible to make larger families unfashionable or nudge them via the tax system than simply "fixing" climate change globally, habit and species loss.