For the past several years, I have expressed my opinion on the need to encourage population control to keep the earth’s human population to a number that is within the carrying capacity of the planet. A finite amount of resources and arable land cannot support infinite population growth.
Although there are vast areas of open land on earth, much of it is unsuitable for agriculture. To support a growing population, science has provided farmers with chemical fertilizers and high-yielding hybrid seeds to increase the amount of food an acre of land will produce.
We ignore the need for us to limit our population, in fact population growth is encouraged by many factions. Overpopulation reduces the distance between incompatible cultures. The result is friction that breeds conflict and terrorism.
The earth has the ability to heal itself, nature has defenses that allow it to overcome unbalanced growth. Due to the need to support our population, we have created industries responsible for global warming. We are literally fighting against Mother Earth.
Unfortunately, Earth’s solution to any overpopulation of species is disease. If you cram too many animals together, you’ll end up contracting a deadly disease that will spread to the general population. We are currently experiencing this phenomenon. The plague/pandemic of COVID-19 is nature’s way of controlling our population.
Although we humans have had the means to control our population growth for many years, we have behaved irresponsibly by going ahead and multiplying. Now it looks like our numbers will be checked the hard way. As we revert to the behaviors of the past and mix freely, this new virus may force the return to a population level the earth can support.
Doug Findley
Randle