From time to time especially relating the the current size of the world population and climate change and its potential impacts, I am reminded of Thomas Robert Malthus FRS an English cleric, scholar and influential economist in the fields of political economy and demography.
Influential at the time maybe, but pretty much discredited now. What he didn't take into account is that (as we are seeing in western countries) as standards of living and education levels rise, the birth rate falls. Endless population increase until a crash is by no means inevitable. Current estimates are that it will top out around 10.9 billion by the end of this century.
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-ta...-stop-growing-by-the-end-of-the-century/Yes the birth rate does decline, but life expectancy increases, creating a much older population, which is usually less productive than the younger generation and usually consumes net more resources per capita. It been forecast by 2050 we will not be able to produce sufficient cereal and grain to feed to livestock to maintain the current levels of meat protein in our diet and will have to seek protein from elsewhere.
With the increases in desertification, land degradation and drought, rises in sea levels around key rice paddy areas of Asian river delta's its hard to see how the planet could even sustain the current population levels long term.
To put some personal prospective on it, I live by the sea a few hundred yards from the shore on reclaimed land from the sea, a few feet above sea level. Despite massive ongoing investment in sea defences the latest forecast for the first time ever shows by 2050 (favourite date) we will be a new Venice of the North............we see the effect of rising sea levels every time there is a really high tide or storm swell/surge, its advancing closer all the time.
regards
