Sir David Attenborough says humans are a 'plague on the Earth'

Well, same here. I guess we care most about things that we think are damaged and/or endangered by us. I think it is great so many of us do care about that. Yes we can live without the polar bear but I would rather not. This is perhaps a bad example cause I am not convinced we are the main cause of his difficulties. There are many others I am sure you also are not totally indifferent to.

Other animals are not more important than us but their existence makes our lifes better in many cases. Some insects may annoy the hell out of us but it would cause a bigger annoyance if they were not around. If they would get extinct by a human caused problem new species might not be discovered for a long time.
I agree by the way that the people you took as an example can be annoying. But I hope you don't lump everyone who considers the earth to be overpopulated or cares to limit our actions in order to maintain certain things in the world that do not have to go at all in that particular "mother earth" group

 

The more people there are the more pressure there is on animals.

 

which animals?

 

dude sir, or whatever you like to be addressed as.. the matrix movie was done in 1999. get a new idea already..

 

Earths total land mass is 148 million sq klms. Population density of Singapore (worlds most densely pop country) was 7252 per sq klm in 2010.

Live like them and we can fit 1,073 billion on the planet.

So breeders, bust a nut

 

I think popular consensus is that the population will cap off in 2050. It'll work itself out. I hope I live to see it so.

 

I agree with Attenborough's assertion.

 

The thing about Attenborough is he puts everybody to sleep. If I'm awake I pop in a planet earth DVD and and I'm out in 15 minutes. He probably went on and gave a bunch of solutions, but the reporter fell asleep halfway through the interview.

 

I agree with Sir David on most points and am glad that a respected a key media figure is not mincing his words and has the cojones to step up and tell it like it is. The biggest problem facing the world today os overpopulation and its so frickin obvious. There are people that say that the planet could sustain twice as many people as it does now I am sure it could. Its not a pretty thought though is it? World pop has more than doubled since I was a kid and I can see the effects this has had clearly.
Lack of food and water, pollution, lack of housing etc etc all easily fixed by having less people. Its a sensitive issue though because people think its their right to breed as much as they want regardless of consequences and it is not helped by the fucking Catholics and others who prohibit birth control. Sort out those people and their insideous agendas. I sincerely hope that in a few years time people will wise up andfully realise the damage that is being done by them.

 

At some point we will reach our carrying capacity as a species and something will happen to level off our populations. It happens to every other organism so I don't know why we think we are so special and can somehow avoid it. It will happen, one way or another. It would be best if we tried to live more in our means and also stopped being quite so reproductive rather than have us die off in some awful way, but oh well.

 

I for one would rather be dead if my only other option was to live in a densely populated area. So if it ever comes to that and I am still alive, I would off myself.

 

I dont undertsnd the logic behind that type of thinking, that their is a ceiling to population growth. What magically is going to stop people breeding, stop people fucking?

 

Because the population of all organisms eventually levels off. It is fundamental biological principle. If people don't choose to stop reproducing things like disease and famine will take care of things. In our case, war will also take care of things.

 

Or you can create a huge disaster wiping out the majority and start anew.

 

Yes, but that ceiling would be when we are like locusts climbing over each other, we actually have absorbed all resources. when there is a trillion of us.

Not some arbitary year like 2050 where we all have a big meeting and everyone agrees - Ok there is enough people now, only one couple is aloud to do the deed at every funeral, that way we know it'll even out

 

overuse of the world's resources. I'm coincidently reading a book on this exact subject at the moment. The world population will near double in this time frame and the scrap for resources will level it out.

 

It means that people are no longer having 10 kids each. We have reached peak child, and the population will stabilize in a few decades.

You have to remember that people are dying, as well as being born, so it will take awhile for the current generation to get to be the old, dying one.

 

I was thinking something along the same line when i read that post :sunny: It may sound comforting that another 1000 billion people fit on the planet but if you picture it why in earth would we want that? I'd hate to loose my natural environment (or a lot of elements out of it that somehow benefit us or others) because we humans should be with many more.