Naked Science Forum
General Discussion & Feedback => Radio Show & Podcast Feedback => Topic started by: SeptimusPrime on 12/03/2010 10:18:18
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After listening to the latest podcast on water security I am struck with an ethical dilemma. On one hand I truly believe that science allows us to improve the quality of life for everyone on the planet. On the other hand I can't help but have the feeling that in doing so we are making the situation worse. In relation to the subject matter of this podcast, water is one of the limiting factors for the quality of life. During the podcast the fact that an already overpopulated planet is looking to increase dramatically in population was casually mentioned. My question is that if we did manage to increase the supply of clean, safe water, would current problems with poor crops and ill-health etc go away? If the population had more water available then they'd prosper more and breed until the population was again stretching the resources available. Now I'm not saying its science's remit to control the population but it does seem to be fuelling the fire so to speak.
Gordon
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Dear Gordon
Human population, at the end of the day, is the biggest threat facing the planet. If we weren't here then there'd not be a problem.
The sooner politicians accept this, and attempt to limit population growth on a global scale, the better!
In the meantime, we know that resources are stretched to the limit with little safety factor for disasters, natural variations or Rumsfeld's famous "unknown unknowns".
For this reason we need to increase capacity as a safety margin just for the people who are here right now.
Chris