Kathleen in VA
-
Posts
6,213 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Blogs
Classifieds
Store
Posts posted by Kathleen in VA
-
-
Having two children is essentially keeping the population at a replacement rate, not adding to it. I do not buy that if you are a parent you have no right to be concerned about overpopulation, and I think it's unfair to say so. I am not saying larger families are incorrect in their choices either, just that we should all be aware of the problem and not just look for 'reassuring' data.
Here is what I know of the current UN projection published 10/24/11:
Until quite recently, the U.N. was projecting that rates in other parts of the globe would follow a similar downward slope, so that sometime toward 2050 global population would level out at around nine billion. A few months ago, though, the U.N. announced that it was revising its long-term forecast. The agency now estimates that the number of people on earth in 2100 will be ten billion and still climbing.
Read more http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2011/10/24/111024taco_talk_kolbert#ixzz1dGWCPlgc
Well, according to their website today (the UN's, that is) they are not predicting an increase through the end of this century. The author of this article, like Malthus and Erlich before her, reminds me of Harold Camping. Just keep moving the date for the end of the world when it doesn't happen as you first predicted. Very convenient, but starts to sound a little like someone crying wolf. I'll guess we'll just have to wait and see, won't we?
-
Agreed...slowing down population growth is not a fix for poverty. However, limited resources are made more limited by increased demand for them. I live in a HUGE city where there is not sufficient water for the population. Most parts of the city get water on alternate days. Some parts don't get water for days and days at a time. We pay for private water tankers. Adding additional people into this mix only creates more demand for a resource that is not available.
I came on this thread to understand why people believe the way they do. What is the particular belief system/political system/ religious reason behind the belief? I would like to understand that and not be told that people who feel it is a problem should not have children.
Agreed.
-
What I can share with you is that the Government of India treats its population growth as a very serious and immediate problem. There are other issues besides overpopulation of the planet. In India there already are problems with scarcity of resources (water), overcrowding (in urban areas), lack of access to education and job opportunities. Furthermore, in India, it is often the largest families that are the poorest, have the least access to education and the least ability to improve their circumstances.
Of course, it is a very complicated issue, but this video attempts to explain why population growth does not contribute to poverty. There is no simple answer, but slowing down population growth is not a fix for poverty. Read the explanations of the facts presented below the video.
http://www.overpopulationisamyth.com/content/episode-4-poverty-where-we-all-started
-
Here's an excellent article from CNN explaining it a bit more:
http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2011/10/31/the-end-of-population-growth/
Total Fertility Rate, even in developing countries, is declining.
-
Here's a link to a chart compiled by the United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, showing the actual and projected demographics for India from 1950 through 2100. Notice that the population rate is declining and, if things continue as they have, it will continue to decline. The population will peak at about 1,400,000,000 in 2060 and then steadily come back down to about 880,000,000 (what it was in 1995) by 2100.
Of course, this is just a projection, but it based on a very sound mathematical model.
-
That's true right now. But according to the UN statistics cited in these videos the population will peak at about 9 billion in about 25 years and then begin to drop dramatically. In 75 years we'll be back to 7 billion and then it will keep dropping.
It's already happening in Europe and Asia. Russia is paying parents to have children.Quote]
The video is too simplistic. The premise assumes that the rate of population growth/decline will remain the same. What if population growth marginally declines,but, because of better medical care, the death rate drops dramatically in most of the countries in Africa,India and Latin America where the number of births is skyrocketing each year?
BTW, the decline in Europe is not due to some arbitrary population decline;it is mostly cultural. Western Europe,Canada, the U.S., Australia/N.Z. and the highly industrialized nations of East Asia no longer depend on agriculture to survive. Families in many countries in Latin America, Africa and Southern Asia do depend on having large families to support farming.
While the population is declining in East Asia,it is actually increasing in most of Asia.
Actually, the population rate has been steadily decreasing all over the world - even in India and Asia. Watch Demographic Winter at youtube - like I said, it goes in to much more detail. It's not just industrialized countries that are experiencing this decline - it's the whole world.
-
But any way you look at it, we are adding more and more people every year. We are asking for trouble by doing this. I don't know the answer, but I am fearful for the world's future.
(The link I watched said that the population will grow to a certain point and then begin to decline based on this rate (the old man walking by a sign that says 7 billion again decades in the future), and the population will soon begin to decrease. I haven't watched the others yet, but this does not seem like a sound mathematical prediction to me.)
Just saw your edit. Did you read the comments after the video that explain where they get their numbers? It is mathematically sound.
-
But any way you look at it, we are adding more and more people every year. We are asking for trouble by doing this. I don't know the answer, but I am fearful for the world's future.
That's true right now. But according to the UN statistics cited in these videos the population will peak at about 9 billion in about 25 years and then begin to drop dramatically. In 75 years we'll be back to 7 billion and then it will keep dropping.
It's already happening in Europe and Asia. Russia is paying parents to have children.
Check out the video Demographic Winter - you can watch the whole thing on youtube. It goes in to a lot more detail on the subject.
-
I'm sorry, but I respectfully disagree with the premise of this video. An increasing population does not mean that the population is actually decreasing.
Umm, that's not what it says. It says the RATE of population growth is decreasing. And it is.
ETA: I highly recommend watching all the videos - they are all short and help to explain it.
-
Follow Me, Boys!
(based on a true story of a man who became a Boy Scout leader in a small town - Disney at their best!)
-
What I want to know about is the 25% of people that took the poll that "don't believe in overpopulation." Does that mean they think it could never, ever become a problem? That even if we had 100 billion people, there would be enough food and resources for people to live better than just a subsistence level? We would never run out of fresh water (already becoming a problem is parts of the US)?
Not to sound like a broken record, but please watch the video at this link:
It explains it much better than I can and in only about 2 minutes. There are several others that are helpful too. They're short, sweet, to the point and mathematically correct.
-
That is an example of "descriptivism" as opposed to "prescriptivism." The fact that many abuse the classical meaning of the word (which we ought to defend as it is an exceedingly useful term) does not mean it is "correct", it only means it is "common place."
Many vulgarizations of language are "in the dictionary." But having lots of people being "wrong" doesn't make something "right."
Bill
Take it up with them.
-
Overpopulation is not a "myth." Myths are sacred stories that explain the origin of mankind, the universe, customs and celebrations and other questions of where we came from and where we are going and (often) describe our relationships with supernatural beings, gods, and creators.
Myth should not be used as a synonym for "falsehood."
End rant :D
Bill (who thought he was on a "Classical" forum :tongue_smilie:)
According to the OED it is a myth:
2 a widely held but false belief or idea :
-
Actually the EBS was replaced by the EAS 14 years ago. The purpose of the test of the current system is the first step in bringing our alert system into the 21st century. The original was put in place in the 1950's, updated in the 1960's, and updated again in the 1990's. None of those upgrades included the digital world we live in now. Here's a better explanation.
Thanks for that link!
But perhaps the overriding reason to test the existing system: It is a necessary first step toward the longer-term goal of building an advanced digital system that can send alerts over the Internet and directly to cellphones, emergency broadcast experts say.
"Today's test is a major step forward toward a better system," says Dennis Mileti from the Natural Hazards Research and Applications Information Center at the University of Colorado at Boulder. "What we've got today is not by any means a perfect warning system. Our alerting capacity is definitely going up at a national level with this test, but our warning capacity – that is, the ability to motivate the public to take protective action – needs a lot more work."
This makes sense.
-
Not yet. Dh did go to the websites you provided and he is very excited about the prospect of fixing the problem himself. Since he works two jobs, though, he has not had the time to do it. He is scheduled to be off next Wed-Sat and planned on tackling the job then. I'll let you know how it goes.
-
We have a local alert system where automatic phone calls are put out to each home. That's another layer. But it's not perfect because if you don't have a land line and the power goes out you won't be notified that way.
I think it's better than nothing. Should we not attempt to alert people just because it's possible some people won't be alerted?
I can't think of a better way.
Yes, anything is, of course, better than nothing. I don't remember suggesting not having any kind of alert at all.
Just putting this out there for any and all to contemplate the possibility of finding another or an additional way. I'm on my computer a lot. I see folks with smart phones everywhere. The only place I've seen tv in the past year or so is while sitting in a waiting room in a doctor's office.
Oh, and I appreciate their concern for not wanting to interrupt evening programming - that certainly makes sense.
I guess I'm really out of the ordinary then, not being a tv watcher or radio listener.
-
"I'm wondering if this is really the best way to alert the population to a problem since I never watch tv or listen to the radio."
Well, you are in a quite a minority.
What do you suggest, then, for alerting people who don't watch/listen?
Well, that's pretty much what I was asking. What would be a better way. Kind of want to hear what others think. I already said what I thought - the internet - although I don't know if that's even possible technically speaking.
And as for being in the minority - I don't know that that's true, especially at 2pm on a Wednesday. Are most children watching tv or listening to the radio at 2pm on a Wednesday. Are most folks at work watching tv or listening to a radio then?
-
I've read this several times today. There will be a test of the EAS at 2pm today. There will be a 30 second test on television and radio across the country. I'm wondering if this is really the best way to alert the population to a problem since I never watch tv or listen to the radio. Ever.
Am I the only one? Do you think they need to update the system to include internet? Is that even possible? Just wondering what other folks think.
-
My post seems to have gotten lost in the other thread so thought I'd repost here:
http://overpopulationisamyth.com/
The rate of population growth has actually been slowing down and by mid-century population in the world will begin to decrease. World population will peak at about 9 billion and in 75 years we'll be back at 7 million and will keep decreasing after that.
Be sure to watch all the videos (there are about 5 and they are all about 2 or 3 minutes each, irrc). Fascinating stuff.
-
We make pancakes on an electric griddle, teflon-coated, and do not put any oil, butter, or grease on at all. They cook just fine and do not stick.
-
Overpopulation is a myth. The rate of population growth has actually been slowing down.
http://overpopulationisamyth.com/
Scroll down to the bottom after you watch the video and you will find links to a few more that explain it further.
-
Dd19 did Notgrass American History in 10th grade. She told me in no uncertain terms to NOT use it for Ds15 because the questions are very difficult and often were not directly addressed in the text. For example, in the chapter about slavery, one of the questions is "What are some of the stereotypes about slavery?" If you read the chapter you will not find the word "stereotype" anywhere and the information that is there does not really address this question. It talks about different types of slavery and that slavery has not always been the same at all times throughout history, but it never discusses stereotypes of slavery. There are many other questions like this that require the student to go beyond what I consider the normal amount of thinking required to answer "end of the chapter" questions. I am familiar with Bloom's taxonomy and I realize that questions should not all be simple recall of facts, but Notgrass's questions are more obscure than the highest level of Bloom's - he seems to have not given them much thought. Also, there are too many of them. JMHO.
-
Praying for you and baby.:grouphug:
-
Thanks, everyone - I just knew there had to be a cheaper alternative.
NICU Downtown
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted
Praying for you, dear one.:grouphug: