How many people can the planet comfortably support?

Answer 1

That depends on your definition of comfort AND how the people on this planet choose to live.

If we continue to asphalt over all of Earth's rich farm land so we can shop at glitzy new malls, there will eventually come a time when there is no more farm land. If farmers can't grow crops, we will have no food (surprise! Food doesn't come from a supermarket; it comes from the land). Without food, we will DIE.

If we continue to drill for oil in the caribou's migration paths, or in our oceans, we will disrupt the delicate ecological balances between man, plants and animals. Nature (or an evolutionary coincidence, a "big bang", God, or an intelligent designer) put us all on this Earth for a purpose. Eliminating a few thousand Eskimos who rely on caribou for their food, shelter and clothing just so WE can have more fuel for our $60,000 gas-guzzling SUVs seems a little self-absorbed, doesn't it? Without natural mating habitats for many whales, tuna, shrimp and other sea-going creatures, future generations might not even be able to enjoy a simple tuna casserole or shrimp cocktail.

If we continue to chop down rain forests so that more grazing land becomes available for cattle, and McDonald's can sell us billions and billions more cheap hamburgers, eventually the rain forests will disappear...and with it, perhaps a rare species of frog whose venom might have contained the cure for cancer.

If we continue to pollute the air with our vehicle emissions, the polar ice caps will melt and cities on both coasts of both major oceans will experience catastrophic flooding, horrendous hurricanes and other "natural" disasters that we helped accelerate all because we wanted all those 'creature comforts' like luxury cars, huge homes, elegant dinners, and fancy clothes.

If we refuse to REturn, REuse, and REcycle our cardboard, tin cans, plastics, magazines, scrap paper, used cooking grease, newsprint, steel, wood, asphalt, phone books, and all other items that aren't quickly biodegradable, the Earth will eventually run out of natural resources, and we will DIE.

So maybe it won't happen in our lifetime. But somewhere down the line that cute little great-grandson (or her children's children) will live in a world of far less "comfort" all because we refused to stop plundering all of Earth's bounty.

So for all you punks out there who think ecological issues are a joke, I'll make this special deal: send me ALL of your money and I promise I'll squander it as quickly and as needlessly as I possibly can. In other words, I'll do the same thing with YOUR resources that you do with the Earth's.

The planet could support more people 'comfortably' without so many creature comforts that we've come to "need". -RKO-

Answer 2

Trillions. They weigh almost nothing. The people themselves might be uncomfortable, but the planet is fine.

OK -
(See above - it depends upon your definition of comfort)

As people have never been "comfortable" on the planet yet, I don't think the population is the sole factor here.

Answer 3

Sorry, the question can not be answered because there is no agreement on what constitutes 'comfort.'

Two people sitting on a log in the forest, during an afternoon rainstorm, having a snack of fresh fruit and collected rain water... one is happy and comfortable and one is miserable and disgusted.

;-D Survival is not comfort.

Answer 4

The earth system is symbiotic. It has its own generating and destructive mechanisms.
U are talking of comfort of planet or humans ?

Answer 5

UN estimates range from 12 billion to 60 billion.

Answer 6

i think we are about ok right now with 5 to 6 billion ..prob 10 billion max..by that time ill be dust..haha

Answer 7

Me and about 5 others. It becomes uncomfortable after that

Answer 8

That number is unknown but has already been passed.

Answer 9

billions more...