• Question: how do we solve the population problem?

    Asked by Maya Cove to Aaron, Abbey, Keith, Natalie, Pete on 15 Nov 2015.
    • Photo: Keith Franklin

      Keith Franklin answered on 15 Nov 2015:

      I don’t know if there is a “Population Problem”. There is enough food, energy and water in the world for everyone who lives here if we organise ourselves properly.

      Humas are pretty good at organising ourselves, we’ve done it a lot better than any other animal – but we can always do better.

      I beleive as long as there is enough energy, then you can do everything else (grow enough food or have enough water). If everyone understood how energy is made and used, and didn’t use so much of it, we would be in a much better place.

    • Photo: Aaron Boardley

      Aaron Boardley answered on 17 Nov 2015:

      It depends on what you mean by ‘problem’!

      If the problem is that we are lacking energy – then we need to develop more renewable energy sources, and ways to store energy, that can be used all over the world.

      If the problem is that we lack food – then we need to stop wasting it. There is plenty of food in the world, but it is unevenly distributed. We need to think carefully about what the best use of this food, and land, is, and help people farm the right foods where they are, for them to consume.

      If the problem is space – then I don’t think it’s a real problem. There’s plenty of space in the world, at least for now! Perhaps not all of it is easy to live in , but there’s enough to keep us going for a while.

      I think another important thing is helping to educate people and give people options about starting a family – with things like contraception and family planning advice. That way, people can have children if they choose to, but they will have the option to choose for themselves.

    • Photo: Natalie Garrett

      Natalie Garrett answered on 18 Nov 2015:

      In order to feed the growing population in the next 10 years, we will have to produce more food than has been made in the last 10,000 years. Clearly this might be a problem if climate change leads to reduced harvests. One way of dealing with feeding the world’s population is to reduce waste – we often throw away food that is edible. Also, we need to coordinate more effectively between countries to help people who are starving.

      A continuously growing population is not sustainable, no matter how careful you are with our current resources. So I think this is an interesting question, because it requires personal thought as well as governmental planning. Personally, I intend to have one child through reproduction (assuming my husband and I are fertile), and adopt a second child. This way, my husband and I will have a net effect of -1 on the population when we die.

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