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by boomka
3400 days ago
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"Too many humans" is a lazy, negligent argument by those who don't want to make any changes in how we conduct business. Deforestation in Brazil is happening not because humanity really needs that lumber. It doesn't. Deforestation is happening because people in Brazil see those trees in their country's backyard as essentially free money lying around, and they do not give a second thought to chopping them down. Nothing to do with overpopulation of Earth. |
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I wouldn't say so. The forest is being cut down because there's profit in farming it. Why is there profit?
Because people are paying for higher priced food, and more people exist.
Resource demand per capita * number of people = Total resource demand
Overpopulation isn't the entire cause, but it's certainly a factor.
(Yes, yes, some people consume much more than others. But there's also a baseline minimum in food required, and also as we've eliminated the worst poverty over the past 20 years, that raises the baseline)
So since 2000, we've added 1.5 billion people and dramatically increased the size of the middle class and also cut the worst poverty. Which means more resource consumption at all levels, multiplied by a greater number.
I should note that more efficient global transport and supply chains is also a cause. It's now a lot easier to take resources from the amazon and sell them to north america, europe, asia, etc. When trade and transport were less efficient, there was less incentive to use all resources to their pure maximum.