CROWDED EARTH
CROWDED EARTH
Crowded Earth
* The human population stands at 6.5 billion and is projected to rise to more than 9 billion by 2050.
* In less than 50 years the human population has more than doubled from its 1960 level of 3 billion.
* China is the most populous country with more than 1.3 billion people. India is second with more than 1.1 billion.
* By about 2030 India is expected to exceed China with nearly 1.5 billion people.
* About one in every three people alive today is under the age of 20, which means that the population will continue to grow as more children reach sexual maturity.
* Britain's population of 60 million is forecast to grow by 7 million over the next 25 years and by at least 10 million over the next 60 years, mainly through immigration.
* This is equivalent to an extra 57 towns the size of Luton (pop 184,000)
* By the time you have finished reading this column, an estimated 100 babies have been born in the world. (WWW.PRISONPLANET.COM)
As population rises, carrying capacity drops. What is "carrying capacity?" For a quick rendition, it means, "the amount resources on a given piece of land to allow long term sustainable human, plant and animal life."
If animals or humans exceed �carrying capacity' of any given land mass, they crash in numbers by various means, i.e., famine, war and disease. (Dr. Albert Bartlett of the University of Colorado said, "Present population. (Copied from the BBM website.)
The number one problem of the 21st century, for when oil is gone as we know and use it today--and it WILL be gone--population will still be here."
The world uses 84 million barrels daily! That's 42 gallons to a drum! By mid century, use will top 120 million barrels per day. The fact is, it's going to run out because limited reserves in the ground.
"Beyond oil, the growth rate is putting our children at risk. They will experience holes in the ozone causing serious biological effects on plants and humans. World ocean fisheries are collapsing from endless plundering. Two thirds of the world's people will suffer from water shortages by 2025. It is not possible to sustain population growth or growth in rates of consumption of resources."
To see how fast we grow, visit www.populationmedia.org (copied from WWW.ODEMAGAZINE.COM)
INTERVIEW WITH FORREST MIMS
Mims cited that the 1918 flu virus that caused a mass epidemic has recently been re-created. There are also other MORE DEADLY viruses in existence in labs across the world. If someone wanted to release these in order to "save the world" they wouldn't have to spend years creating the means to do it.
Mims ended the interview by warning that if indeed the students of Pianka agree with his views, they could become scientists in the future and seriously research and hope to implement such policies.
Mims stated that he is "deeply disturbed" with the scientific community:
"I interviewed the student who became a convert to this for 45 minutes and sir, you are absolutely correct, there are people out there who are willing to do this"
Listen to the interview with Forrest Mims at prisonplanet.tv
A DEADLY VIRUS
A crucial aspect of human epidemics is their link to epidemics occurring in
animal populations. The viruses affecting the animals somehow make a
transition to become transmissible from human to human. (The first step
is to become transmissible from animal to human, but what causes
pandemics is when a virus mutates to become transmissible from human
to human. The current avian flu virus has so far not done this.) Two recent
examples of viruses that made the jump from animals to humans are HIV
(found in wild apes) and SARS (found in wild cats, bats, and ferrets). There
is great concern among public health experts about the potential for
another avian flu outbreak. Avian flu viruses live in the digestive tracts of
birds. Virus particles are shed from bird feces, which can enter the human
food chain via the water used to irrigate crops. Some avian flu viruses have
the ability to combine with seasonal human flu viruses. Once this
combination occurs, the viruses can spread easily from human to human.
Some avian flu viruses are thought to also infect pigs. Since pig immune
systems are remarkably similar to those of humans, pig viruses sometimes
become infectious to humans. The recent spread of West Nile virus across
North America is another example of a virus making a transition from
birds to humans. In this case, mosquitoes carry the virus to the human
host.
Dr. Nabarro, is human-to-human transmission of the avian influenza virus a certainty?
An influenza pandemic among humans through human-to-human transmission is a certainty sometime, and that's simply based on the fact that these things happen. It's a certainty that we get from studying history and recognizing that, over the last 200 years, there have been pandemics at intervals of every 30 to 40 years, on average. And we're about due for one now. So, unless something extraordinary has happened to human immune systems, influenza virus behavior or whatever, another pandemic is definitely going to happen. I just cannot tell you when.
Nabarro:
Well, the messages are very clear. We have an awful lot more to do with the current bird flu epidemic. It is really not under control at all, and that means we have to build up vet service quickly to get on top of it. The longer it's there, the longer we have a virus close to humans that is capable of mutating and causing a pandemic. And the situation is very, very serious indeed.
Number two, we've got to be ready to contain the pandemic when it starts. And that's done through rehearsals and other drills, clear command and control. It requires a level of planning and preparation that's much, much greater than the majority of countries are showing so far.
Number three, the pandemic will kill when it comes. But more seriously perhaps, it will do massive economic and social damage, because our systems of trade, finance and governance are interconnected and will not survive the impact of a pandemic on workforces. We need to be able to deal with both the human consequences and the economic, social and governance consequences if we're going to survive it.
And believe me, the pandemic could start tomorrow. By the time the pandemic starts, preparation will be too late. So, you should be doing this now, and that's my message. (WWW.GARTNER.COM)
