In your opinion, is our current planet overpopulated?

[Kingofkings1992]

Good grief, yes

Nah, that’s a myth

Updates

5 mo

Interesting. Majority of girls said yes. Majority of men said no

[WindAtMyBack]

It's vastly over populated.

About 45+ years ago I wrote a white paper on this. It wasn't really about whether the planet was overpopulated since that's pretty subjective. It was about the role and need of science and technology to keep the population alive.

The estimates varied a lot, but an approximate median was that only about one in six people could live without modern science and technology. At that time the world population was around 4 billion people. So one out of six is less than 700 million people.

Just for the heck of it I checked about five years ago. I didn't do as much research as the first time, but with similar results. Again, the estimates vary a lot, but the end result is much the same - we can't keep the current population alive without advanced science and technology, and may not even be able to keep everyone alive with it.

So the planet can only "naturally" support less than a billion people. On top of that, overpopulation is directly or indirectly responsible for a heck of a lot of problems - famine, war, pollution, etc.

[Curmudgeon]

What people are missing is where we are heading, rather than where we are now.

Birth rates are now below "replacement levels" in most countries (2.1 per woman, and even *that* assumes 50/50 sex ratios, the 0.1 due to people tragically dying earlier than normal in accidents or wars or other disasters).

Sure, life extension technology and better standards of living has led to a population "explosion", but people need to see that the population is *graying* much faster than it is actually growing.

At some point in the next few decades, we will see "the great die-off" in nation after nation.

Some, like Japan, might be there already, with deaths exceeding births.

And even with massively increased population, will a world of geriatrics have the dynamic of a world full of youths? No.

[Curmudgeon]

Or, as one demographer put it, "In most countries now, humanity is NOT breeding like bunnies. Humanity is just no longer dying like flies..."

[purplepoppy]

Yes. I don't follow the logic that if you have spare space you need to fill it with people. People are not these wonderful things you can never have enough of. The undeniable fact is the more people in a space the shittier that place becomes. Nowhere has ever been improved with more people, they always turn into crime ridden shit holes.

[Kingofkings1992]

Please vote poppy. You never vote lol

[purplepoppy]

Happy now

[Kingofkings1992]

Yes 😌, but I’m also a grammar nazi. You forgot a question mark lol

[Screenwriter]

Some parts of the world are overpopulated, but we haven't reached maximum carrying capacity yet.

Also, many of the places that are overpopulated don't have infrastructure that supports the population that exists there, so living in places like India well, unless you're affluent, is difficult

[AviatorTom]

"Current planet"? Is there another planet humans live on that we don't know about? 😏

Yes, Earth is over-populated with humans. I've seen studies that theorize that Earth can reasonably support 5 to 6 billion people, yet there are 8 billion humans on the way to 9 billion in the next few years.

[Kingofkings1992]

“Current” doesn’t imply that there’s another planet, it is simply an indication that the discussion is over present times, as opposed to the past

[AviatorTom]

@Kingofkings1992 Your update IS interesting. Girls say Yes over No 13-5, a significant difference. I wouldn't call the Guys' No over Yes 19-16 a huge majority though.

[FunkyMonkee]

(A quote that I heard on a science show a few years ago) If you took everyone on the planet and gave them each an acre of land and put them all in the same spot, you'd have trouble filling half of Queensland, Australia. Then, you'd still have the rest of the world to fill up.

[exitseven]

Yes, people are everywhere. Developers are building on every square inch and they are still screaming about a housing shortage. I know that more consumers are good for the economy but more people also mean more electricity being used, more cars on the road and more food being consumed.

[genericname85]

No it's absolutely not. The you could live sustainable with way more people or you could be unsustainable with way less. It's not the fact that there are many people that causes an issue. It's the things these people decide to do that cause issues.

[JohnathanK]

It depends what part of the world.

Most continents are either under birth replacement level or about even.

Africa is the only continent with a massive replacement level of 4.6 kids per couple.

So with the exception of potentially Africa, every other continent will not face such issues in the future.

[jshm2]

The current population of the world could fit onto the USA, with at least a hectare of land each.

So no, "overpopulation" is bullshit.

[Anonymous]

yes this is why humans should not reproduce anymore

[Kingofkings1992]

I think we should all stop having babies for at least two decades

[Opinion Owner]

I agree with you

[andreasderjuengere]

Too many for my own taste.

But the important populations still can be fed.

Where - I make a distinction between useless and useful people.

So in the brainful section we actually are underpopulated.

[Kelley1]

Earth is overpopulated with humans who are replacing other species. A 90% reduction of humans acquired by a one-child policy for the next 100 years would be good.

[Curmudgeon]

Think again, Red China tried that, and has since given it up.

[Kelley1]

@Curmudgeon That is not relevant because the Chinese aborted the girl babies.

[Curmudgeon]

@Kelley1 Right! And what a disaster it has turned out to be for them!

[NaultD]

We don't even have replacement level of births. So our whole economy is going top heavy and flip over.

[Curmudgeon]

Bingo!

[Babygirl_S]

I don't know, many places have more population density and others only have animals and plants. I hope we colonise Mars soon

[chrissykerdock]

that's why oral sex is crucial for our planet

[DeeDeeDeVour]

Yes.

It's time to purge.

[Kingofkings1992]

Who is dying and where are we meeting at?

[Flower7]

No, people just choose to live close to each other in certain areas, leaving a lot of places empty.

[Anonymous]

No. I would say certain countries are overpopulated like India and China but not the world itself

[loveslongnails]

Well there are certainly too many stupid people on the planet, if that's what you mean. LOL

[Snakeyes7]

I think people are confusing overpopulation with an overabundance of population density.

[Pohjolan]

Some countries are overpopulated but the planet as a whole isn't.

[beefcakebradybatson]

In some places, but Canada is sparsely populated.

[Anonymous]

Hell yes, about half of the World's population needs to die off.

[WonderingManII]

Nah, that’s a myth

[Kingofkings1992]

I disagree

[WonderingManII]

@Kingofkings1992
would you like to be the first one to leave the planet. You know give the rest of us more room?

[Kingofkings1992]

Sure. I’ll leave as soon as you do. Promise

[anon1903]

By 2030, cannibalism will be normalised

[Kingofkings1992]

Eh, doubtful

[anon1903]

Agree to disagree

[DrPepper12]

Yes.

[Kingofkings1992]

All the words that were needed

[CupcakeTheDestroyer]

Yes, but not everywhere.

[Dongie]

No. It's just run by greedy idiots!

[BCRanger10]

It's a myth.

[Apple1996]

Huge myth

[seeyounexttuesday]

Complete myth

[Anonymous]

I believe so.

[Justagirl29]

Yeppp

[Vivaldi]

It sure is