Its a combination of both factors as we not only have a lot more people but as 'developed' country status spreads more and more people expect and eat more beef and other foodstuffs with a higher environment impact. [Both in terms of methane production, which I think the original discussion was about and in terms of the environmental demands for beef and other meats especially].
We could do with a smaller population but that does seem unlikely in the short term, bar some serious disaster. The one child per family would work in the medium term but has some serious potential social and economic problems, see China. However the big problem would be getting such a programme accepted world-wide, especially with the many religious communities that would bitterly oppose it.
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@Daru
Its a combination of both factors as we not only have a lot more people but as 'developed' country status spreads more and more people expect and eat more beef and other foodstuffs with a higher environment impact. [Both in terms of methane production, which I think the original discussion was about and in terms of the environmental demands for beef and other meats especially].
We could do with a smaller population but that does seem unlikely in the short term, bar some serious disaster. The one child per family would work in the medium term but has some serious potential social and economic problems, see China. However the big problem would be getting such a programme accepted world-wide, especially with the many religious communities that would bitterly oppose it.