Been there, done that.
Posted on 03/09/2007 8:38:29 AM PST by westcoastwillieg
Cities at the tipping point - overpopulation destroying major U.S. cities.
Ref: https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/us.html
Ref: http://www.carryingcapacity.org/
A common fallacy is to equate existing and seemingly open or "unused" spaces with the kind of resources and ecologically productive land needed to support human life under modern conditions. In fact, the criterion for determining whether a region is overpopulated is not land area, but carrying capacity.
Carrying capacity refers to the number of individuals who can be supported in a given area within natural resource limits, and without degrading the natural social, cultural and economic environment for present and future generations. The carrying capacity for any given area is not fixed. It can be altered by improved technology, but mostly it is changed for the worse by pressures which accompany a population increase. As the environment is degraded, carrying capacity actually shrinks, leaving the environment no longer able to support even the number of people who could formerly have lived in the area on a sustainable basis. No population can live beyond the environment's carrying capacity for very long.
The average American's "ecological footprint" (the demands an individual endowed with average amounts of resources, i.e., land, water, food, fiber, waste assimilation and disposal, etc. puts on the environment) is about 12 acres, an area far greater than that taken up by one's residence and place of school or work.
The CIA World Factbook lists the total land area of the United States (includes the 50 states and District of Columbia) as 9,161,923 sq km---converted to acres, the total land area of the United States is 2,263,911,173 acres. Dividing total area by the 12 acre ecological footprint per person yields a sustainable population of 188,659,264. Even if we lower the ecological footprint to 10 acres per person the calculation will yield a population of 226,391,117 far lower than our current population of 300 million. By this measure, the United States is overpopulated by well over 70 million people.
While some may quibble with the method used, the math is irrefutable. This back of the envelope calculation is one that every American should be aware of. Immigration is largely responsible for our population growth. Immigrants don't travel by covered wagon anymore, the majority congregate in our cities. The demands on our cities are overwhelming. Anyone who lives in a large city can see the results of overpopulation on their roads, schools, hospitals, courts and jails. While many reasons are given for electrical outages and the high price of oil, the root cause (usually not stated) is simply overpopulation. The amount of energy we require is largely a function of population. Just as two people require more water than one person so it is with energy in a modern society.
By the year 2050, census estimates predict that our population will be almost 500,000,000 and by 2075 may reach ONE BILLION. Behind China and India, the U.S. is the third most populous nation in the world and we’re fast catching up. According to the U.S. Census Bureau our population was 297,821,175 on January 1, 2006 an increase of 2.71 million in only one year. Unless we elect politicians who have the courage to reduce population growth, the future is grim.
Irrefutable? We have 300,000,000 people and the highest living standards on earth...Yet the author states that the country is overpopulated by 70 million.
I am guessing he votes democrat."
We can reduce that 70 million overage by at least 40 million by removing the illegal intruders who arrived across our southern borders RIGHT NOW.
Then we can get another 60+ million by removing people who can get their green cards revoked and they can return to country of origin.
Let them go back to where they came from and work to improve conditions there on their own soil. They have been here long enough to know how nice they could make it in their own homeland. They just need to go back there and try.
That's what makes it a "city" -- lots of people.
There are areas that are populated, but this story makes it seem like we are running out of room. That is just not true. Every state has a lot of empty space to build on. Rhode Island which is the smallest states has a huge amount of land to build if they really wanted to. I don't think this should be a major issue to worry about with everything else to worry about these days.
While some may eat bananas, a two legged stool may work.
Always amusing to review an archaic 19th century world view. Thanks for posting.
I like to think 64 is young.
Otherwise you would remember the days when the projected population was going to be a half billion by 2000. Projected equals poppycock.
I have no idea what specific projection you are referring to. The projections I am providing are made by the Bureau of the Census and these are the more conservative ones based on various assumptions. The SS Administration projects that we will be paying out more in benefits than revenue from FICA taxes by the year 2017. Do you doubt that as well?
In terms of 2030, we are not talking about 50 or 100 years from now, just 23 years. We have some very good data to base such projections on. This isn't rocket science.
Solution: 70 million, to be chosen by lottery (or perhaps chosen from the ranks of lottery players) are hereby ordered to report to designated locations so that their Surplus status can be rectified.
From this point forward, for each child born, or for each person entering the country legally, someone else must report to a Surplus Status Rectification Center. Anybody entering the country illegally is automatically designated Surplus.
Someone oughta make a movie.
Seriously, though, someone is significantly underestimating the carrying capacity of the USA.
WHERE WILL THE WATER COME FROM TO SUPPORT THIS GROWING POPULATION?"
Add this to your question:
Where will all the water come from to process the bio-fuels and corn alcohol?
Dirty little secret not being explained: It takes lots of water to process.
Been there, done that.
That figures.
This isn't rocket science.
Good thing because you would crash it.
Being slightly more well read then you I suggest you go look up "The Population Bomb"
I repeat projected equals poppycock.
Sure, but I'm not too keen on a population control plan that uses age 30 as the cutoff! I might, however, go for a [my age plus 10] rule, continually adjusted for my age of course.
Glad to see your comment. I thought I was the only one thinking that. You do have to admit it's a creative use of whacko-enviromentalism to support border control.
You mean it wasn't the Bureau of the Census? Look, you can find any kook to come up with whatever you want. I am using the USG's Bureau of Census projections. What is its political agenda, to understate or overstate the figures?
Good thing because you would crash it. Being slightly more well read then you I suggest you go look up "The Population Bomb" I repeat projected equals poppycock.
I read it when it first came out and still have a beaten up paperback copy of it. What I want to hear from you is not baseless critiques, but why you believe the Bureau of the Census figures are inaccurate. In fact, they could be understated.
I don't see how Ehrlich's projections are germane here. You seem to be missing my point about how immigration, legal and illegal, are contributing to the population growth of the US, not the planet. The US has enough food, water, and shelter to support more than a billion people. In the past seven years we have added 20 million people; in the past 17 years, almost 53 million; and in the past 37 years, 100 million. Do you dispute those facts?
The US fertility rate is 2.09 children born/woman (2006 est.) The population growth rate is 0.91% (2006 est.) The net migration rate is 3.18 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.) --Source CIA factbook.
The US population growth rate would be about 0 were it not for the net migration rate [immigration].
Check out the US Bureau of the Census POPClock and you will see that we add one international migrant (net) every 27 seconds. With births and deaths factored in as well, we gain one person every 12 seconds.
The 3rd world.
Absolutely.
THE answer---abortion and euthanasia
You may be speaking truer than you know. The insanity of not even LOOKING at population as a problem ( by EITHER party) is somehow remedied by those old Leftwing standbys, abortion and euthanasia, which are NOW MADE INEVITABLE BY BOTH PARTIES, due to the policies BOTH of them embrace.
THis, I am truly sorry to say, is why Bush is a particularly perverse kind of presence: he does the Liberal's bidding, while pretending not to, and at the same time, allows himself to be flogged publicly for being incompetent, diabolical, and dishonest.
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