Horizon: On Population Growth

David Attenborough! Tackling humans as well as the furry 'uns. Too many people on this planet! Yes, yes yes. Exterminate!
80 million people are born a year. Cross your legs, people. Think of the environment.
Apparently we need to DOUBLE the amount of food on the planet to sustain population growth. Eek. I work in child hunger; and I know that's not good news. The figures for malnourished children in the world are startling.
The amount of people on the planet has TRIPLED since David Attenborough was a child! That's quite shocking.
I agree, population control IS a contentious issue, because it is seen as meddling, and we have all heard that the draconian enforcing of that sort of rule leads to horror stories of babies in gutters. But god! There is a lot of us, taking up a lot of space.
Wow some of these figures are nuts. There's going to be an extra 2.4 BILLION people on the planet by 2050. In the next 40 years the earth needs to accommodate more people than live at the moment in the whole of Europe, Africa and North and South America! SHIT! Where are we going to put them? I only live in a bedsit.
I jest but those figures are SCARY. You think people would be panicking more about this. And of course, the families who will have most babies are poor people in the developing world.
Obviously part of the reason there are so many people alive is, of course, technological advances, and our brilliant sciences, so we survive illnesses that killed us so often in the past. Plus people are living longer, despite all the bad things we like doing.
So what are we going to run out of? Only 1% of water on the planet is suitable for human consumption and a billion people have a lack of access to water.
I normally avoid programmes about affects on climate because it just seems everyone is arguing about it and it's just over-saturation; but this programme was really interesting.
Wow, I've emailed that Olivier De Schutter guy at work who was talking about secret land deals in Africa. That's kind of cool. He chaired a big meeting we did.
So basically we're running out of food, water and oil (and animals, because we keep making them extinct).
So what's the solution? Looking after the planet better, technological advances, and the biggie, having less children.
I didn't know China's one child policy was still in place! Nuts! Apparently it's prevented 400 million people being born (and having siblings!)
The Indian vasectomy festivals sound like a riot where they gave them the snip for some cash. But then it went a step too far (I'll say!) In 1977 they introduced a thing where if you were guilty of commiting a crime as small as having no ticket for the train and they caught you, they sterilised you!!! What the FUCK!? They sterilised 8 MILLION people in 1977 in India on that basis. Jesus!
Obviously the more educated women are, the less children they have (only idiots have children). So teaching women to be independent and educated is obviously a better result that forcing them to get sterilised! This means contraception is important. Yes contraception. It's not difficult. It's pretty easy.
Personally, my contribution to Mother Nature will be not reproducing. Does it get me out of the recycling?