Why are more and more people not realizing the impact they have on the world?

Question

It seems to me and others I have talked to that more and more of us are under the impression that this world is never ending. The population is rising, and I can't help but feel that people who have more than one or two children are clueless and selfish. This world can not continue to support a population explosion. The more space we consume, the less area we have to support ecosystems, the places required to grow food, support wildlife. This is directly impacted by population.
My second issue is renewable energy. Auto manufacturer's are just now realizing they need to be responsible. Technology in automobile engines have shown that 50 mpg is not impossible to acheive. It's been around since the 60's. Electric cars have been around since before then as well. Am I the only one disturbed by all of this? The stupidity of those who are driven by money instead of the desire to help.
And those who say Nuclear energy is clean....think again. The bi-product is toxic. Be aware

As far as my understanding of our impact on the world, lets just say part of what I do is to provide the world with energy efficient designs for everyday use. It's my day job. To further my point, nuclear energy has a bi-product that is toxic for hundreds of years. How much of this bi-product can we bury and forget about? It is not a realistic solution. Example: wind, water and solar are clean solutions to provide energy. Coal burning facilities are one of the worst contributors for greenhouse gases. Maybe not first on the list, but it is a problem. There are always new ways to save energy, flourescent light bulbs save energy, but how many people just throw them in the garbage and introduce mercury to the landfills? We use less energy but pollute in other ways. I have no solutions although I do help to make this world more energy effecient one building at a time. My need is to get everyone to reflect on these issues. Be aware, the time is now.

Answer 1

I think many people know of the impact but do not want to spend the extra time or money they think lessening their impact will take. Changing the way people are raised to think is hard,too.

Answer 2

Granted, the population increase COULD be a problem at some time in the future. It is not at present. TOdays famines and such are caused by civil wars, governmental stupidity, etc. I am curious, just exactly do you propose we DO about these potential problems? If you think some kind of horrific one-world government is the answer, you are nuts! A centralized mess like that would be so unwieldy and corrupt it would make things far worse than they are now. IT is not enough to identify the problems and then carry on about them. What do you propose as a solution?

Answer 3

You say over population is a problem, however here in the United States we must import people to do the work because we do not have enough American's to do the work.

American families are so small that we do not even have enough Americans to replace ourselves.

We have to import people from poor third world countries into the United States to sustain the population that we have.

Also, in many countries and cultures large families are considered a necessity. This is where you have the population explosion.

How do you expect to reduce the large family sizes in those countries?

Have you ever thought of the war that you would create if you tried to reduce family sizes in Muslim families?

If you do not know, Muslim families are huge.

For example, Osama bin Laden has over 50 brothers and sisters.

If you like the war in Iraq, you will love the war that you will start is you try to reduce the size of Muslim families.

The same is true of Hispanic families in Mexico, Central and South America.

You are completely unrealistic. You are dreaming.

Answer 4

You point out that nuclear energy is not clean.

What you are not aware of is that in the United States over 50% of our electricity is generated by coal.

Coal is contaminated with radioactive Uranium and Thorium.

When coal is burned the Uranium and Thorium attach themselves to the fly ash and go up the smoke stack and contaminate the surrounding area with radioactive waste.

The remaining Uranium and Thorium is concentrated in the coal ash which is removed from the furnace and left in huge piles out in tne open where the wind blows the ash around and further conatminates the surrounding area with radioactive Uranium and Thorium.

Coal as has even been proposed as an ore source for radioactive Uranium for nuclear weapons because the concentrations of Uranium are so high in coal ash.

Coal fired power plants produce far more radioactive waste than nuclear power plants, and there is little or no regulation over the disposal of coal ash that is heavily contaminated with radioactive Uranium.

To answer your question, you are the perfect example of someone who has no concept of what his impact is on the world.

With respect to your second issue with respect to remewable energy. Many renewable energy sources are very expensive.

For example the cost of production for electricity generated by solar photovoltaics is over 50 cents per kilowatt hour.

If utility companies were to increase their electric rates to 50 cents per kilowatt hour, there would be riots in the streets.

Some people say the answer is to subbidize electric rates.

Remember the money to pay for the subsidies comes from the taxes that we pay.

We still pay the very high electric rates. We either pay the utility company directly or we pay the taxing authority which uses that money to subsidize the electric rates.

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Answer 5

I think that each person is trying to do the best that they can for themselves and their family. In some parts of the world, the developing world, large families help bring in the crops and take care of the home and provide for retirement. As the world gets more developed, this need for large families will diminish.

Here in the US, we want safe, reliable, cost effective cars. There were no cars offered until about 2005 that were safe, economical, fun, stylish, etc and also environmentally friendly. Now the Prius has caught on as a fad, but its still much more expensive to go "green" than to go "normal."

I don't think its true that "more and more people are failing to realize".... I think more and more people do realize, and are trying to do their part.

Answer 6

It all about greed and selfishness as you said, and the pressure from companies who trie to influence us into purchasing what we don't need. this over consomtioon will destroyes us if we do not change or way of living. poeple raders dig ther e hesd in the sand then look at the problem caused by or over consomtion of or natural resourses, the government is not helping by saying that any drasttic change in the way corparation work will detroye vor economy , but if there3 is no environment ther4e is no economy.

Answer 7

I have lots of info that I think you will find quite helpful and enlightening:

http://ecowellness.multiply.com/ for excellent inspirational info within my blog to help not only our world and its creatures, but to also open peoples hearts and minds to many amazing wonders that life has to offer. I also have lots of info in my blog to help fuel peoples imaginations to many possibilities that can be found only in the minds eye.

Along with lots of environmental info, amazing environmental pictures and videos (These videos show the beauty of this world and what life can be like if people take the time to appreciate life’s true beauty).

Let us all strive for a greener/brighter future by helping to create a solid foundation for future generations to build upon, so we can hand them a beautiful world, filled with never ending awe and wonders!!

Where peoples differences and uniqueness are accepted, where we all live as one, helping one another so that we can all play our own mysteriously beautiful melodies in the never ending, awe inspiring, song of life :-)

I truly have faith in humanity and believe that someday our lives and the world in which we live will truly be transformed for the better.

Answer 8

When you think in terms of the 'world' you are overlooking reality. Reality is one individual having a relationship with another individual, etc. Every member of every family is doing what they think is necessary for their own survival, and hopefully comfort, etc. I believe the answer to your question lies closer to why the individual has become so isolated,so cut off, so fragmented so as not to be able to see anything beyond themselves. Why? Well, the foundation of most lives is 'me and mine' not 'you and the world.' If we're not willing to deal with the foundation we stand on, why shout about what others are doing or not doing on theirs?