The world is running out of world

[Uncontrolable]

Within the past few weeks a report aired on the internet stated that humans finally used more resources than the world can produce. This is quite amazing.

There is a math problem which lends itself to demonstrating the nature of this problem:

If pond scum was growing over a pond and was doubling in size every day. When the scum reached half way across the pond how many more days until the pond was completely covered with scum. The answer is one more day.

 

[Happyflowerlady]

We are not actually running out of world, per se; because there are still places in the world where a human being has never even set foot. However, some of these places are not inhabitable, at least not without serious modification; so most of the people live closer to the warm areas of the world.
Overloading the resources could be a very real problem, and this has probably been happening for some time now, with no really good solution.
Say you have a small country, and the people that live there are self-sufficient, and can easily take care of everyone who lives there. Then they have Large families, and now over twice as many people are trying to live on the same small area of land.
Eventually, it is impossible for these people to grow enough food because they have overrun the land just trying to live there.
At this point, there are two possibilities for the rest of the world, we either supplement them with food, or we let them all starve to death.
Obviously, we have been sending food and other needed items to these countries; but every year, they have more babies and they need more from other countries. We are now sacrificing our resources that we need, to take care of the country that can't take care of itself.
There is no good solution to this problem at this point in time.

 

[Uncontrolable]

We are not actually running out of world, per se; because there are still places in the world where a human being has never even set foot. However, some of these places are not inhabitable, at least not without serious modification; so most of the people live closer to the warm areas of the world.
Overloading the resources could be a very real problem, and this has probably been happening for some time now, with no really good solution.
Say you have a small country, and the people that live there are self-sufficient, and can easily take care of everyone who lives there. Then they have Large families, and now over twice as many people are trying to live on the same small area of land.
Eventually, it is impossible for these people to grow enough food because they have overrun the land just trying to live there.
At this point, there are two possibilities for the rest of the world, we either supplement them with food, or we let them all starve to death.
Obviously, we have been sending food and other needed items to these countries; but every year, they have more babies and they need more from other countries. We are now sacrificing our resources that we need, to take care of the country that can't take care of itself.
There is no good solution to this problem at this point in time.

This does relate to the population but that is not the reason I posted it. This relates to the total resources that the world can produce in a years time.

This is about food, but is more about everything.

We have been moving toward this for a couple of centuries. Yet, the report from a couple of weeks ago is the first time this has been reported.

I am hoping that others around the world will read and understand this. It is one way to "spread the word" at a grass roots level. In other words, tell your friends. As of a few days ago we have used more resources than the world is capable of producing. This is the first word that we are killing our word. Compare it to someone draining the blood out of your body. You will actually die when too much is drained. This is the earth right now. Too much blood has been drained.

We can think of this in terms of the world's population. The entire world must stop having babies right now. The world may not be able to stand reproduction until the world is approaching the point where the worlds use of resources has dropped below the level of using more resources than the world can produce. We will also need to stop using nonrenewable resources right away. We need to use all the renewable resources we can invent and more.

There is so much more that I cannot list everything without making you run out into the street screaming, "I hate Uncontrolable".

 

[Knight]

Sounds like looking for a planet suitable for humans to live on might be a good reason for space exploration. I mean who knew that a resource like oil would run out? The billions of gallons of fuel used daily with no one putting oil back into the ground surely will be replaced by something. I don't think airplanes can fly using coal, but ground transportation could go back to being powered by steam generated from coal. That is only one resource but one that has a major impact on our daily lives.


It's times like this when looking to the future and what won't be that makes being as old as I am a blessing. I doubt the reality of a reduction in fossil fuels will impact me anytime soon.

 

[Uncontrolable]

Sounds like looking for a planet suitable for humans to live on might be a good reason for space exploration. I mean who knew that a resource like oil would run out? The billions of gallons of fuel used daily with no one putting oil back into the ground surely will be replaced by something. I don't think airplanes can fly using coal, but ground transportation could go back to being powered by steam generated from coal. That is only one resource but one that has a major impact on our daily lives.


It's times like this when looking to the future and what won't be that makes being as old as I am a blessing. I doubt the reality of a reduction in fossil fuels will impact me anytime soon.

I wish we could do that. Do you have grandchildren, perhaps great grandchildren. If we do not start now using clean renewable resources our children even, might have to live with the effects. I agree that you may die before there is a most serious problem. Just add your voice to the people of the world who are doing something. I will likely die myself. But I add my voice and do what I can. This is not just fuel we are talking about. It is the entire resources of the world. Fuel is a polluter. It takes away other things through pollution.

Also, running to another planet is not possible. One thing I do know is that we do not have enough time. We have to care for this planet. The world population as to stop growing and reduce to at least cover the resource loss. But we are going to have to do more than that. Population will have to be reduced by as much as 50%. We are talking about billions of people.

This is why I gave that math problem at the beginning of this post. It is a matter of scale of course. Yet, there may come a time when we have just taken too much. Can you predict that? I know I can't.

 

[Knight]

This is why I gave that math problem at the beginning of this post. It is a matter of scale of course. Yet, there may come a time when we have just taken too much. Can you predict that? I know I can't.

Yes I do have kids and grand kids and yes I do think the reduction in resources that is bound to happen will affect them.

With over 7 billion people on our planet now & the prediction of over 8 billion all wanting to enjoy whatever they can is there really any doubt about resources meeting the "wants" let alone the needs running out? I can envision mankind going back to the stone ages where survival meant finding what was available and small tribes or family groups being the norm.

I don't think mankind will die out just shift from what there is now to doing whatever is needed to survive. That survival of the fittest thing coming full circle.

 

[Uncontrolable]

Yes I do have kids and grand kids and yes I do think the reduction in resources that is bound to happen will affect them.

With over 7 billion people on our planet now & the prediction of over 8 billion all wanting to enjoy whatever they can is there really any doubt about resources meeting the "wants" let alone the needs running out? I can envision mankind going back to the stone ages where survival meant finding what was available and small tribes or family groups being the norm.

I don't think mankind will die out just shift from what there is now to doing whatever is needed to survive. That survival of the fittest thing coming full circle.

Maybe that doesn't have to happen. I am afraid if it gets that bad no humans will survive at all.

 

[Linda W.]

I hate to say it, but we are our own worst enemy. I no longer believe we, as a species, will survive long. Somehow, I'm accepting that.

 

[Uncontrolable]

I hate to say it, but we are our own worst enemy. I no longer believe we, as a species, will survive long. Somehow, I'm accepting that.

It is possible that we may survive, but drastic changes need to be made, assuming the world continues to produce children. We cannot continue to raise consumers. We must begin to control our population until we pass below the threshold we just crossed. We may have to stop having babies period, perhaps for a few generations. There will have to be massive education projects in third world countries.

You are right. It might already be too late.

 

[Shalimar]

A state of crisis is all but normal for human kind, a student of history sees an endless cycle of war, famine, pestilence, civil unrest, catastrophe. Remember the plague? Yes, we are faced with unprecedented levels of population, global warming, shrinking resources, extinction of species, et al. Ominous stuff. Even if the worst case scenario unfolds, I doubt we will become extinct. We are a tough and adaptable species, we are

evolutionary toddlers playing with unimaginably destructive and lethal toys. I choose to be optimistic, in many ways modern life is still vastly preferable to past times, for example, women and children have greater rights, at least in some countries. Attempts are being made to address global inequalities on all sorts of levels,

education, health, gender issues, human rights. Yes, we fail more often than not, but progress however slow, is being made. I believe we will apply our knowledge and creativity to finding ways to deal with our

environmental/ destruction of resources issues also. Small things like growing trees, gardens on apt balconies. I have three trees growing in my living room. Small steps can lead to giant change. For example, Canadians love bees. It is becoming increasingly

popular for even urban Canucks to support colonies of bees, some on rooftops, managed by experts, others fostered in rural areas. In the prairies, we have acres of canola which bees adore. I have a large pot of white flowering bamboo. When it is in bloom, bees come from miles around, the terrace floor is covered with overladen bees. This only lasts a short time.

 

[Uncontrolable]

A state of crisis is all but normal for human kind, a student of history sees an endless cycle of war, famine, pestilence, civil unrest, catastrophe. Remember the plague? Yes, we are faced with unprecedented levels of population, global warming, shrinking resources, extinction of species, et al. Ominous stuff. Even if the worst case scenario unfolds, I doubt we will become extinct. We are a tough and adaptable species, we are

evolutionary toddlers playing with unimaginably destructive and lethal toys. I choose to be optimistic, in many ways modern life is still vastly preferable to past times, for example, women and children have greater rights, at least in some countries. Attempts are being made to address global inequalities on all sorts of levels,

education, health, gender issues, human rights. Yes, we fail more often than not, but progress however slow, is being made. I believe we will apply our knowledge and creativity to finding ways to deal with our

environmental/ destruction of resources issues also. Small things like growing trees, gardens on apt balconies. I have three trees growing in my living room. Small steps can lead to giant change.

I am not in disagreement with you. This is the first I have heard that what we are facing is a lack of resources, world resources. I knew this was coming. Did not know I would see it in my lifetime. This is why I put up the pond scum reference. We do not know how far the scum is across the pond. I think the world must stop having babies now and more than one generation. Until the threat drops back below the resource threshold. The west will have to stop its unbridled consumption. The rich will finally have to understand that without resources capitalism is dead.

At this point Trump is the worst possible leader we could imagine.

It is possible to stop this, but we need to hurry.

 

[Alligatorob]

Within the past few weeks a report aired on the internet stated that humans finally used more resources than the world can produce. This is quite amazing.

We are using more and more resources, this has been going on for thousands of years. So far we have proven pretty good at adapting, finding more, doing more with less, or finding alternatives. It has always been an up and down thing, and will continue to be. Oil is a good example, in the 70s we were pretty sure we were running out of oil. Then we found a few more fields, but mostly got better at squeezing more oil out of known fields. Fracking is a good example of that. You can find lots of other examples, its just how things work.

Not saying that one day we won't face a really bad crisis, in fact I am sure we will. But I don't think that day is today, and when it comes I have faith in human ingenuity to somehow keep on keeping on.

 

[Irwin]

Scientists are developing meat cultured in labs. We're moving towards electric vehicles and more renewable energy. So progress is being made, albeit we're behind the curve, but that's typical. Man is typically reactionary as apposed to proactivetionary (I just made that word up).

 

[Gaer]

I am not in disagreement with you. This is the first I have heard that what we are facing is a lack of resources, world resources. I knew this was coming. Did not know I would see it in my lifetime. This is why I put up the pond scum reference. We do not know how far the scum is across the pond. I think the world must stop having babies now and more than one generation. Until the threat drops back below the resource threshold. The west will have to stop its unbridled consumption. The rich will finally have to understand that without resources capitalism is dead.

At this point Trump is the worst possible leader we could imagine.

It is possible to stop this, but we need to hurry.

You don't think your President Trump statement was POLITICAL?

 

[Aneeda72]

This does relate to the population but that is not the reason I posted it. This relates to the total resources that the world can produce in a years time.

This is about food, but is more about everything.

We have been moving toward this for a couple of centuries. Yet, the report from a couple of weeks ago is the first time this has been reported.

I am hoping that others around the world will read and understand this. It is one way to "spread the word" at a grass roots level. In other words, tell your friends. As of a few days ago we have used more resources than the world is capable of producing. This is the first word that we are killing our word. Compare it to someone draining the blood out of your body. You will actually die when too much is drained. This is the earth right now. Too much blood has been drained.

We can think of this in terms of the world's population. The entire world must stop having babies right now. The world may not be able to stand reproduction until the world is approaching the point where the worlds use of resources has dropped below the level of using more resources than the world can produce. We will also need to stop using nonrenewable resources right away. We need to use all the renewable resources we can invent and more.

There is so much more that I cannot list everything without making you run out into the street screaming, "I hate Uncontrolable".

We don’t need to stop having babies. (Then again, I am not having any babies.). COVID-19 is doing a good job of reducing the population of the earth. Just give it time.

 

[Aneeda72]

I am not in disagreement with you. This is the first I have heard that what we are facing is a lack of resources, world resources. I knew this was coming. Did not know I would see it in my lifetime. This is why I put up the pond scum reference. We do not know how far the scum is across the pond. I think the world must stop having babies now and more than one generation. Until the threat drops back below the resource threshold. The west will have to stop its unbridled consumption. The rich will finally have to understand that without resources capitalism is dead.

At this point Trump is the worst possible leader we could imagine.

It is possible to stop this, but we need to hurry.

Sadly political statements are not allowed.

 

[Shalimar]

Gaer, his post was made in 2017. Not certain if political ban was in place then?

 

[AnnieA]

We don’t need to stop having babies. (Then again, I am not having any babies.). COVID-19 is doing a good job of reducing the population of the earth. Just give it time.

It isn't, though. Covid's mortality rate is only 0.08%. Deaths are higher due to Covid than in non pandemic years, but nowhere near what we need to heal the earth from humans. We as humans don't like to see death tolls, but the earth needs a lot more of us to die and global birth control. Not gonna happen until Mother Earth says 'Enough" and takes care of it herself.

Screenshot from worldmeter.com showing births, deaths and net population growth as of a few moments ago.

 

[Don M.]

The biggest threat to Humanity, IMO, is Overpopulation. It took centuries for the global population to reach 1 billion...somewhere around 1850. In the past 150 years, that number has exploded to 7.8 billion....with projection of 9 billion by mid century, and 12 billion by 2100. People are contaminating everything on the planet....air, water, etc. Human activity is responsible for most of the Climate Changes. As the climate continues to warm and fresh water becomes more scarce, and agriculture begins to decline, there will quite likely be a period of extreme hunger, etc. Most of this "growth" is taking place in undeveloped nations, and among poorer people who think that their future security depends on having a half dozen kids.

I remember reading a UN projection on global population, 20+ years ago, In that report, they predicted current populations pretty accurately, and what the future might hold. They said that the maximum sustainable population would be 6 billion....we are already well beyond that. They also said that sometime in the latter half of this century, the world would be divided between the "Haves" and the Have Nots". This will ultimately lead to a massive global conflict that will "reduce" the population.

If the "Haves" win, the world will begin to unite under a common government, and language, and begin to reach for the stars. If the "have nots" win, modern society will disintegrate, and the survivors will revert back to living in an environment similar to the Dark Ages.

 

[Irwin]

If the "Haves" win, the world will begin to unite under a common government, and language, and begin to reach for the stars. If the "have nots" win, modern society will disintegrate, and the survivors will revert back to living in an environment similar to the Dark Ages.

A win by the "have nots," IMO, will result in rule by authoritarians who promise more equality and prosperity but are really only in it for their own self-interests of self-enrichment and power. But unless the economies become completely socialized where the government controls all means of production and private business ventures cease, we'll still have innovation. Even with government run businesses, it's possible that innovation will continue, but not likely on the same scale. People are motivated by money to a great extent.

A win by the "haves," on the other hand, will also result in authoritarian rule, but in this case, by the wealthy and corporate leaders, which is pretty much what we already have; it will just be taken to the extreme under a dictator. Poverty will increase by the already impoverished and the rich will get richer. There will be more social unrest. Perhaps giant walls will be constructed to keep out the peasants as in medieval days.

 

[Aneeda72]

It isn't, though. Covid's mortality rate is only 0.08%. Deaths are higher due to Covid than in non pandemic years, but nowhere near what we need to heal the earth from humans. We as humans don't like to see death tolls, but the earth needs a lot more of us to die and global birth control. Not gonna happen until Mother Earth says 'Enough" and takes care of it herself.

Screenshot from worldmeter.com showing births, deaths and net population growth as of a few moments ago.

View attachment 178358

Give it time, it’s only had a year and half. It’s not done yet and we don’t know the population losses in Africa, the Amazon, other remote places that don’t track but can’t hide.

 

[Don M.]

In the past year, the average "life span" in the US has been reduced by almost 1.5 years...due to the high number of deaths in Seniors....which will slightly delay the financial crisis for Social Security. However, now the virus is more centered in the younger people who haven't been vaccinated. This will continue to result in economic issues affecting things like the supply chain in consumer products and food items.

 

[MarciKS]

We can't get people to wear masks and get vaccinated against Covid but we expect them to care about our world?

 

[fuzzybuddy]

Yes, the earth's resources are finite, but presently the earth provides for us. The problem is recycling our "waste",. Once we use whatever, it is discarded. Instead of ripping up the planet getting usable product, we have to develop a recycling procedure to transform "waste" into a usable product, again.

 

[HoneyNut]

Scientists are developing meat cultured in labs.

Oh golly, all the cattle people are going to get hysterical if lab cultured meat becomes common. I bet they will try to make it illegal or something.