http://platosbeard.wordpress.com/2006/04/13/the-spectre-of-malthus/
What nobody wants to hear, but everyone needs to know
Eric R. Pianka
I have two grandchildren and I want them to inherit a stable Earth.
But I fear for them. Humans have overpopulated the Earth and in the
process have created an ideal nutritional substrate on which bacteria
and viruses (microbes) will grow and prosper. We are behaving like
bacteria growing on an agar plate, flourishing until natural limits are
reached or until another microbe colonizes and takes over, using them as
their resource. In addition to our extremely high population density, we
are social and mobile, exactly the conditions that favor growth and
spread of pathogenic (disease-causing) microbes. I believe it is only a
matter of time until microbes once again assert control over our
population, since we are unwilling to control it ourselves. This idea
has been espoused by ecologists for at least four decades and is nothing
new. People just don't want to hear it.
Population crashes caused by disease have happened many times in the
past. In the 1330s bubonic plague killed one third of the people in
Europe's crowded cities. Smallpox and measles decimated Native Americans
when Europeans transported them to the new world. HIV is a relatively
new disease wreaking havoc in Africa and Asia. Another population crash
is inevitable, but the next one will probably be world-wide.
People think unrealistically because they have lost touch with the
natural world. Many people today do not really know where and how our
food is produced, and on what our life support systems are based. As we
continue paving over natural habitats, many think that we can disrupt
and despoil the environment indefinitely. We have already taken half of
this planet's land surface. Per capita shares of all the things that
really matter (air, food, soil, and water) are continuously falling. Our
economic system is based on the principle of a chain letter: growth,
growth, and more growth. Such runaway growth only expands a bubble that
cannot be sustained in a finite world. We are running out of virtually
everything from oil, food and land to clean air and water.
Some politicians, economists, and corporations want us to believe
that technology will come to our rescue. But we have a false sense of
security if we think that science can respond quickly enough to minimize
threats from emerging diseases. Microbes have such short lifecycles that
they can evolve exceedingly fast, much faster than we can respond to
them. Many bacteria have evolved resistance to most antibiotics, and
viruses are resistant to just about anything. Defense always lags behind
offense. So far, modern humans have just been lucky. A reactive approach
to problems isn't enough, we also need to be proactive and anticipate
problems before they become too severe to keep them from getting out of
control.Many people believe that Earth and all its resources exist
solely for human benefit and consumption, this is anthropocentrism. We
should allow the millions of other denizens of this Earth some space to
live — they evolved here just as we did and have a right to this planet,
too.
I do not bear any ill will toward humanity. However, I am convinced
that the world WOULD clearly be much better off without so many of us.
Simply stopping the destruction of rainforests would help mediate some
current planetary ills, including the release of previously unknown
pathogens. The ancient Chinese curse "may you live in interesting times"
comes to mind — we are living in one of the most interesting times
humans have ever experienced. For example, consider the manifold effects
of global warming. We need to make a transition to a sustainable world.
If we don't, nature is going to do it for us in ways of her own
choosing. By definition, these ways will not be ours and they won't be
much fun. Think about that.
