Comments on: China second largest source of Great Lakes mercury pollution

By: Bob

Bob — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 16:56:08 +0000

The problem is not overpopulation but greed and wanton destruction.

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By: Harold

Harold — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 00:16:52 +0000

M: On the contrary, every environmental problem you mentioned has its root in overpopulation. Perhaps the worst environmental disaster we are facing is the tremendous loss of natural habitat and the corresponding loss of biological diversity.

Of course, overconsumption is a problem, too, but it just serves to amplify the problems of overpopulation.

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By: Paul

Paul — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 21:40:28 +0000

Harold, you are absolutely correct. The population bomb out ranks the atomic bomb as the single most threat to Mankind, mainly due to it’s insidious nature. It proceeds on slowly and silently, stealing the vitality of Man, and causing all the negative effects that we see around us; the poisoning of our environment; the demands on our non-renewable natural resources; the displacement and extinction of thousands of plant and animal species; the degradation of human values; the physical destruction of landscapes; and finally the man made climate changes that will ultimately make life untenable in vast areas of the planet.

We cannot adequately feed, clothe, educate and house 7 Billion people now, what will we do with 12 Billion in 2050? If Man makes it to 2050.

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By: M

Thu, 07 Jun 2012 14:28:25 +0000

Harold, if population is the problem, how do you account for the fact that the US, which is home to less than 5 percent of the world’s population, is the second largest source of manmade mercury pollution? Also, mercury is one environmental problem among far more dangerous ones, like climate change and the water crisis, which are definitely not caused by population. They are caused by the destructive economic system that is built on commodification of the natural world, control of the means of production by a small elite, and exponential, unending growth.

Populationism has been thoroughly debunked as the impetus of environmental disaster. Listen here: http://wearemany.org/v/2010/05/malthus-myth and http://climateandcapitalism.com/2012/01/29/ian-angus-on-population-and-the-environment/ .

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By: Harold

Harold — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 12:28:01 +0000

The global map of atmospheric mercury emissions is striking in that the most significant correlation with emissions is population. Overpopulation is clearly the world’s greatest environmental and social problem and our greatest failure is that we continue to ignore it.

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