Overpopulation takes toll on world's ecosystem
U.S. contributes more pollution than India or China
Alex Lawson
Issue date: 10/9/07 Section: News
With the world's population at nearly 6.6 billion people, the toll is being taken on the world's ecosystem, and the search for solutions is becoming more complicated.
Dr. George Byrns, associate professor of health sciences, explained that the issue is multi-layered and Americans carry a sizeable portion of the blame.
"While India and China are over-populated and pollute the air, on a per capita basis, the U.S. pollutes far more than any other country," Byrns said. "Americans are just beginning to realize that we need to move from a disposable society to a sustainable society"
Dave Ryan, spokesperson for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ventured a guess as to why Americans are more prominent polluters of the environment.
"It's the kind of lifestyle our culture leads. We're more materialistic in nature with a lot more energy wasting commodities, and it's important we start to weed those out," Ryan said.
With an abundance of people, how do we stop producing so much waste outside of a governmental mandate on how many children a family can have?
Byrns offered several potential solutions to implement what he called "effective global population".
"They include education so people can get jobs, and knowledge of how to protect the environment and stay healthy," Byrns said.
Byrns went on to say that it is also important to improve health through vaccinations and provide safe water and waste disposal.
"This is important because sick people can not learn or work and when infant mortality rates are high, people tend to have more babies," Byrns said.
Ryan agreed that education and health are key elements to improving global climate.
"It's become a more prominent issue in light of 'An Inconvenient Truth' and other public endeavors, but people are still kind of under the impression that other people will just take care of it, but they need to be more active," Ryan said.
Dr. George Byrns, associate professor of health sciences, explained that the issue is multi-layered and Americans carry a sizeable portion of the blame.
"While India and China are over-populated and pollute the air, on a per capita basis, the U.S. pollutes far more than any other country," Byrns said. "Americans are just beginning to realize that we need to move from a disposable society to a sustainable society"
Dave Ryan, spokesperson for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ventured a guess as to why Americans are more prominent polluters of the environment.
"It's the kind of lifestyle our culture leads. We're more materialistic in nature with a lot more energy wasting commodities, and it's important we start to weed those out," Ryan said.
With an abundance of people, how do we stop producing so much waste outside of a governmental mandate on how many children a family can have?
Byrns offered several potential solutions to implement what he called "effective global population".
"They include education so people can get jobs, and knowledge of how to protect the environment and stay healthy," Byrns said.
Byrns went on to say that it is also important to improve health through vaccinations and provide safe water and waste disposal.
"This is important because sick people can not learn or work and when infant mortality rates are high, people tend to have more babies," Byrns said.
Ryan agreed that education and health are key elements to improving global climate.
"It's become a more prominent issue in light of 'An Inconvenient Truth' and other public endeavors, but people are still kind of under the impression that other people will just take care of it, but they need to be more active," Ryan said.
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