An interesting little story from the Telegraph, reporting on a suggestion that farming Kangaroos, rather then sheep and cattle, could markedly reduce Australia's greenhouse gas emissions.
Kangaroos apparently have a unique stomach bacteria which means that they produce far less methane than cattle or sheep.
Jeez, just imagine trying to round up a herd of kangaroos!
Saturday, August 09, 2008
Is over-population the key problem?
I, like Peter, am somewhat of a wuss when it comes to mentioning the 'policy that dare not speak it's name', but this piece, by Paul Valelly of the Indy, definitely warrants a thorough read.
The article contains so many facts and figures that my head is still spinning. The key points to note, however, seem to be that when it comes to population:-
- nothing is simple,
- there are loads of paradoxes,
- religion, and cultural differences, are very important,
- social change does make a huge dent in birth-rates,
- the magic figure is 2.1 births per couple,
- large parts of Europe are well below 2.1
The UK is destined for a declining (and aging) population. Perhaps the article on the report by the BMJ in Science Daily that we mentioned a little while back was not considering all the facts?
My mind has always felt that over-population IS the key problem for our planet as an entity, but after reading this, I'm not too sure, as the implication is that as the world's population gets more educated, and more wealthy, the population, in the main, will naturally decline.
The article contains so many facts and figures that my head is still spinning. The key points to note, however, seem to be that when it comes to population:-
- nothing is simple,
- there are loads of paradoxes,
- religion, and cultural differences, are very important,
- social change does make a huge dent in birth-rates,
- the magic figure is 2.1 births per couple,
- large parts of Europe are well below 2.1
The UK is destined for a declining (and aging) population. Perhaps the article on the report by the BMJ in Science Daily that we mentioned a little while back was not considering all the facts?
My mind has always felt that over-population IS the key problem for our planet as an entity, but after reading this, I'm not too sure, as the implication is that as the world's population gets more educated, and more wealthy, the population, in the main, will naturally decline.
Write on!
Words of warming
Nifty, if a smidge irony-free.
I must rush to print, this online free stuff is killing me (if not as many trees - i know, I know, they are from FSC-certified managed forests and act as a carbon sink).
Nifty, if a smidge irony-free.
I must rush to print, this online free stuff is killing me (if not as many trees - i know, I know, they are from FSC-certified managed forests and act as a carbon sink).
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