Is 6.5 Billion people on the planet too much?

Answer 1

Yep. We're going to have to do some housekeeping.

Answer 2

Yes. There are still open spaces, but we need our open spaces, too, after all; what would life be if the planet were just covered in cities?

The problem is, of course, that we don't have an easy solution to getting rid of 90% of the population, or even to reducing the increase in population. People want to have babies, and so the species continues. We have better food, health care and etc., and so the population does not die out as fast as it once did. And let's not use war as a method; too nasty, and kills off the young and healthy.

So what's your proposal for reducing the population? Can we get the space program out of its doldrums, and make a significant difference by going off to live in space? Can we colonize other planets?

Or should we start asking for volunteers for suicide? Let me tell you, that's not the answer: my beloved took that route last December, even though he was no threat to the population boom.

Mass sterilization? It would have to be involuntary to go very far; people already have the option to do it voluntarily.

Should some evil genius release a deadly virus on the public, killing off substantial portions of the population? Again, a nasty solution for those that remain. There we are, having profited from an evil act, and at the mercy of the next evil genius.

No, I think we'd better let Mother Nature work this out. My own fantasy is space migration, but it won't happen soon enough to make any difference for me; I'm too old and fat to go along.

Answer 3

YES!!! way too much - look at how much farm land cities have consumed all ready and think how much more will be consumed when the current underage population needs housing...
farm soil nutirients are slowly being drained and eventually the soil will have no nutrients left so farm land will be unproductive and then we will really see the effects of having too many people on the planet

currently we are already experiencing some problems - like global warming, shortages of fish in the oceans, smog, deforestation (makes me wonder how long the poor trees can keep up with the demands for oxygen especially if we keep chopping them down to make toilet paper etc....) increased violence (due to overcrowding stress related mental problems) etc...

the fall of the Mayan civilization was because they grew so big and so fast that they destroyed the soil porductivity in their area of the world - we are currently doing the same on a global level

The United Nations has said 5 Billion is sustainable but many scientists feel its more like 500 Million... the problem is partially birth rates - but also longer life spans

Answer 4

Considering how much wildlands we have destroyed, and how many species we've wiped out, and how many live in abject conditions, and how many children aren't wanted, yes. I also wonder if that figure of 6.5 billion is accurate. I mean, I do a statistical chart of population counts every time the new World Almanac And Book Of Falsities. . .I mean, Facts comes out, and a lot of those numbers just don't make sense. How can the population of Iraq and Afghanistan be on the increase when they are either killing each other off at incredible rates, getting slaughtered by U.S./British troops, or having so many nonviable DU babies? Not to mention mass starvation, high cancer rates, not to mention all the other vile diseases from lack of sanitation.

Answer 5

Nope, it is more HOW we live than how many of us there are. Besides Mars and some of the moons out there becken us. We should already be starting colonies there.

A key factor is that so much of the worlds population are living in 18th century technologies. Locked in extreme poverty by corrupt societies and the lacks of education and birth control. Man can however unmake desert just as he made it. Resources can be used more wisely. We do not have to stomp on every leaf we encounter. Nor do we have to seperate ourselves from nature as we do. We can create cities that support a myriad of wildlife. We can create green technologies and use them which dramatically reduce our resource usage. We can turn uninhabited land into great metropolises. We have the ocean itself to live in and be a part of the ecosystem.

3 bill is too many if we continue to squander our resources. 10 bill not enough if we use our resources wisely. Remember every person alive is a chance for the next Einstien, Mozart, Ben Franklin to be born. Every person alive today is one of us, who would not be here right now if our parents thought 5 bill was too many. We just need to adjust WHERE people are living and HOW they do so. The third world contains the builk of our people and doest %75 of the damage to our ecology. Despite the flak we make about industrial wastes, simple 2,000 year old hunting gathering and agriculture on the scale that it's practiced in the third world is devestating the ecology. Worse it's not even supporting these people. There is plenty to go around. We just need attentitive pupils to teach them how to not just survive but thrive in the coming century.

Answer 6

Only a small fraction of arable land is being farmed. The billion people below the poverty line are poor not because there isn't enough to go around. It is because of war and corruption. I think this planet could handle a little more.

Answer 7

Yes, we should clean up the gene pool a little bit.
Haha, just kidding (not I'm not).
We have so many useless people just consuming resources.
We also have people promoting disease (gays), and people who should just flat out, not reproduce.
Those with I.Q.'s better suited for children under 1 should also be terminated.
For every starving woman in Africa, we'll have 6 more starving kids from the said woman.
It may sound harsh, but I feel there are some people we just don't need.

Quality over quantity.

Answer 8

6.5 billion people on the planet is not too much, but more than 1 billion in china is too much

Answer 9

Every man, woman, and child alive today can fit into Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia with 1/2 acre each and still have enough land left for parks, roads, hospitals and anything else they could possibly need. The world is not crowded. Many large cities are very crowded, but the country is empty.

Answer 10

Yes, it is most definitely too much. We need to find someplace else to live, and soon. I'm fairly certain we're going to start creating Population Laws (only having one kid per family, etc.) like China does, but that brings up the same issues as abortion, really (ex. What if you don't end up giving birth to the person who cures cancer?). So, looks like we'll be moving to another planet, if we figure out how.

Answer 11

Considering that around 1 billion are below the poverty line and another billion are unemployed the answer is a Huge YES