Moral to my story -
I think the earth can take a whole lot more people; with the right planning, infrastructure and management.

How much of the world's population live in single storey dwellings?

That said however it doesn't necessary mean I'm advocating importing more people or that I want a more populated Australia.

I'm just saying we shouldn't be so scared of it, and we should bank on human creativity and endeavour, rather than fear mongering.

Humans will adapt to changes in climate, we've done so in the past, we can't be extinguished that easily and we're smarter and more technologically advanced than ever before.

But the planets resources most definitely are finite, some resources cannot easily be replaced when diminished.

Some advocate for a population of no more than 50 million.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_Guidestones

AC,

Fifty million in, say, Uganda ? Africa is very under-populated, after all.

Technology advances all the time. I'm surprised that desalination plants aren't used better to supplement irrigation schemes, further and further out from rivers here in Australia, providing a boost to the economy and eventually to the population. New breeds of plants get developed every year which can be grown with less water and with more nutrient value.

Sooner or later, means have to be devised to transform 'waste' plastic into either permanent and valuable products, or to re-cycle it back into similar forms to the originals. We might even get to the point of steady-state mineral production, use and re-use, whereby we don't need to dig up any more.

I like boogeyman stories like anybody else, but I agree that population explosion ain't it.

Cheers,

Joe

Hey Loudmouth,
Actually I got that wrong, it's 500 million. Here's what it says:

A message consisting of a set of ten guidelines or principles is engraved on the Georgia Guidestones in eight different languages, one language on each face of the four large upright stones. Moving clockwise around the structure from due north, these languages are: English, Spanish, Swahili, Sanskrit, Hebrew, Arabic, Chinese, and Russian.

1. Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature.
2. Guide reproduction wisely — improving fitness and diversity.
3. Unite humanity with a living new language.
4. Rule passion — faith — tradition — and all things with tempered reason.
5. Protect people and nations with fair laws and just courts.
6. Let all nations rule internally resolving external disputes in a world court.
7. Avoid petty laws and useless officials.
8. Balance personal rights with social duties.
9. Prize truth — beauty — love — seeking harmony with the infinite.
10. Be not a cancer on the earth — Leave room for nature — Leave room for nature.

Joe desalinated water is far too expensive to be used for irrigation in Oz. Even many of the irrigation schemes make the water too expensive where not only full cost must be paid, but the cost of hundred of totally useless bureaucrats, who somehow are employed to get in the way of a successful operation.

I have an irrigation licence, & a water harvesting licence on a free, [not dammed] river. I pay only $250 for my licences, but must provide my own infrastructure & pumping equipment.

To do this I would have to maintain a roadway down 75 Ft of extremely steep river bank from the plain to the river. This washes out every flood, 18 times in the last 26 years, costing about $5000 each time. This is essential to fetch a pump & engine at every fresh in the river. I should have bought my own excavator 25 years ago. Excavating for other people a much better idea than growing things.

All up with pumping & infrastructure maintenance costs, that almost free water would cost me a couple of thousand per acre. I can not find anything that can earn enough to be worth while on 23 productive acres. I could grow a huge amount of food, but I am not a masochist, or that stupid.

Hasbeen,
What's the logistic of placing a bore with a solar/wind pump close to the river ? You'd get clear, filtered water & would not have to cope with wash-outs during floods.

Going back to world population, one solution would be to offer sterilisation for free to the overpopulated countries & acceptance of that solution could be rewarded with goods to provide better living conditions instead of financial foreign aid.

Individual said - "Going back to world population, one solution would be to offer sterilisation for free to the overpopulated countries & acceptance of that solution could be rewarded with goods to provide better living conditions instead of financial foreign aid."

With respect ...Yes many of us agree foreign aid should be tied to good behavior (but this is a form of hard power - needs tact). I would prefer to see a China style one child system as I believe it would be more humane - but if the people mass sterilized voluntarily - it would probably be difficult to justify its integrity - they would see Australia as sterilizing their people and blame us. Some of us believe it's not our right to say what they do in their own countries - government of the people. We can influence by soft power. At some stage the population will become so dense in their countries that they will have to do something or suffocate. But we do have a right to say what happens in our country. We wouldn't want anyone telling us what to do in our country - Principle of Self Determination. Our culture is precious - we can't allow problems in another country to harm Australia - we can try to help them if we can. Many people want to help until they get asked for the money. Some cultures continue to make bad decisions despite the best advise. It happens with all types of organisations whether they are companies, countries, cultures, families, marriages, etc - sometimes you have to let them fail - and pick up the pieces and start again. Hopefully with iteration and restructuring it's possible to help them but at the end of the day it's their choice - the stakeholders have to want the organisation to succeed - they have to work as a team - that's the beauty and tragedy of humanity.