Worst Environmental Problem? Overpopulation, Faculty
Says
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Overpopulation is the world’s top environmental issue, followed
closely by climate change and the need to develop renewable energy
resources to replace fossil fuels, according to a survey of the
faculty at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry
(ESF).
Just in time for Earth Day (April 22) the faculty at the college,
at which environmental issues are the sole focus, was asked to help
prioritize the planet’s most pressing environmental problems.
Overpopulation came out on top, with several professors pointing
out its ties to other problems that rank high on the list.
“Overpopulation is the only problem,” said Dr. Charles A. Hall, a
systems ecologist. “If we had 100 million people on Earth — or
better, 10 million — no others would be a problem.” (Current
estimates put the planet’s population at more than six
billion.)
Dr. Allan P. Drew, a forest ecologist, put it this way:
“Overpopulation means that we are putting more carbon dioxide into
the atmosphere than we should, just because more people are doing
it and this is related to overconsumption by people in general,
especially in the ‘developed’ world.”
“But, whether developed or developing,” said Dr. Susan Senecah, who
teaches the history of the American environmental movement,
“everyone is encouraged to ‘want’ and perceive that they ‘need’ to
consume beyond the planet’s ability to provide.”
The ESF faculty pointed to climate change as the second
most-pressing issue, with the need to develop renewable energy
resources to replace fossil fuels coming in third.
“Experimenting with the earth’s climate and chemistry has great
risks,” said Dr. Thomas E. Amidon, who invented a process for
removing energy-rich sugars from wood and fermenting those sugars
into ethanol. “This is a driver in climate change and loss of
biodiversity and is a fundamental problem underlying our need to
strive for sustainability.”
Rounding out the top 10 issues on the ESF list are overconsumption,
the need for more sustainable practices worldwide, the growing need
for energy conservation, the need for humans to see themselves as
part of the global ecosystem, overall carbon dioxide emissions, the
need to develop ways to produce consumer products from renewable
resources, and dwindling fresh water resources.
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Source: SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry
Thanks to NewsWise for this
article.
