The world population reached seven billion on Monday. Though the number of Earth’s inhabitants keeps growing, reaching such an astronomical number is not just symbolic. It brings into some serious questions about whether the Earth holds the resources to sustain such a large population.
Our ability to fight disease and prolong life grew exponentially over the past few decades, and it will continue to do so. The question is whether technology can help us conserve or replace diminishing resources.
Dan Shepard, Information Officer for the United Nations Department of Public Information, believes it will.
“We can sustain the population, but it will take everyone’s cooperation,” he told The State Press.
Fossil fuels, water and food are just a few of the resources humans must ration. This will include developing alternative energies and learning how to conserve water.
These are human needs, not wants. There is no survival without them. While it may be hard to imagine deaths on this scale, we still need to invest in technology and research that helps us combat the depletion of natural resources.
This also includes concern for the environment, something the U.S. does not have an excellent track record on.
“We need to focus on ways to promote prosperity while improving the quality of life and protecting the environment,” Shepard said. “You cannot promote prosperity at the expense of the environment, nor can you go the other way.”
Panic surrounding population growth is nothing new, but this time experts are a little more optimistic.
In 1968, biologist Paul Ehrlich wrote a book entitled “The Population Bomb.” He predicted mass starvation in the decades to come. The argument seemed simplistic enough — the world was past capacity.
Enter Norman Bourlag, a man who genetically engineered wheat in an attempt to help solve Mexico’s wheat rust problem. His success was monumental — in a span of 15 years, 1943 to 1958, Mexico went from importing wheat to exporting it.
Bourlag repeated his success in India, Pakistan and across Asia and Africa. He is often credited with saving a billion people from starvation.
The world is much more populated than it was in Bourlag’s time. He saved countless lives with a little ingenuity. It’s time we took a page out of his book.
To invest in the development of alternative resources is an investment that will pay dividends down the road.
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