Increasing populations – outstripping capacity
The use of selective breeding about 10,000 years ago was the precursor for changes in the way human populations developed and continued to spread across the globe. Although slow and occasionally subject to failure the incremental changes brought about in animal and plant genetics meant that populations could at least have some control over their food sources.
Now we have the reverse problem, a rapidly growing global population and huge disparities in the levels of nourishment amongst the world’s populations. All this despite having reliable agriculture in developed countries.
Increased population seeking increased personal comfort and gain ………..sounds like an ‘Ehrlichian Bomb’ ticking!
“An attitude to life which seeks fulfilment in the single-minded pursuit of wealth – in short, materialism – does not fit into this world, because it contains within itself no limiting principle, while the environment in which it is placed is strictly limited.”
E.F. Schumacher, ‘Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered’
The Guardian: The Small is Beautiful Economic Idea
In our next article we explore the area of genetic engineering, its benefits and also potential impacts.