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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| There are too many people on this overcrowded planet | There are too many people on this overcrowded planet |
| (about 1 month later) | |
| George Monbiot (The rich world's smugness will melt along with the ice, 28 August) is right to draw attention to the impending disaster of climate change heralded by the melting of the Arctic sea ice. He is also right to place the responsibility firmly on our shoulders. So when will someone in a position of authority and influence have the courage to point to the true reason for this – an unwillingness to limit the size of our families? | George Monbiot (The rich world's smugness will melt along with the ice, 28 August) is right to draw attention to the impending disaster of climate change heralded by the melting of the Arctic sea ice. He is also right to place the responsibility firmly on our shoulders. So when will someone in a position of authority and influence have the courage to point to the true reason for this – an unwillingness to limit the size of our families? |
| Every human being that is born in the developed world grows up wanting a car, a centrally heated (or air-conditioned) house full of electrical appliances, cheap flights to holidays abroad and a new mobile phone every couple of years. | Every human being that is born in the developed world grows up wanting a car, a centrally heated (or air-conditioned) house full of electrical appliances, cheap flights to holidays abroad and a new mobile phone every couple of years. |
| Most of the young women I know regard it as unsatisfactory to have one child – many are on their second or third pregnancy. Yet we smile and congratulate them as if they have done us all – and their own offspring – a favour, when the opposite is the case. | Most of the young women I know regard it as unsatisfactory to have one child – many are on their second or third pregnancy. Yet we smile and congratulate them as if they have done us all – and their own offspring – a favour, when the opposite is the case. |
| Why can we not acknowledge that bringing up an "only child" is a more responsible choice? Or even better, normalise the practice of having no children, rather than regard those of us who choose to remain childless as freaks? Reducing the number of plastic bags we use at the supermarket is mere tinkering. Reducing the number of children we have would mean a better world for them to inherit. Kathleen Roberts Harrogate, North Yorkshire | Why can we not acknowledge that bringing up an "only child" is a more responsible choice? Or even better, normalise the practice of having no children, rather than regard those of us who choose to remain childless as freaks? Reducing the number of plastic bags we use at the supermarket is mere tinkering. Reducing the number of children we have would mean a better world for them to inherit. Kathleen Roberts Harrogate, North Yorkshire |
| • The warning from leading water scientists (Scientists issue dire warnings of food crisis, 27 August) about the problems mankind faces due to a predicted increase in world population to over 9 billion by 2050 echoes Stephen Emmott's dire warnings in his recent production of Ten Billion at the Royal Court theatre. | • The warning from leading water scientists (Scientists issue dire warnings of food crisis, 27 August) about the problems mankind faces due to a predicted increase in world population to over 9 billion by 2050 echoes Stephen Emmott's dire warnings in his recent production of Ten Billion at the Royal Court theatre. |
| Emmott despairs that it is too late for anything to be done about this and we are doomed. It puzzles me that no state authorities (with the possible exception of the Chinese) have ever attempted to tackle the root cause of this problem. Everyone knows what causes children to be born. A concerted effort to severely limit births of human beings is clearly what is needed immediately if humanity and any other animal life on this planet is not to cease altogether. | Emmott despairs that it is too late for anything to be done about this and we are doomed. It puzzles me that no state authorities (with the possible exception of the Chinese) have ever attempted to tackle the root cause of this problem. Everyone knows what causes children to be born. A concerted effort to severely limit births of human beings is clearly what is needed immediately if humanity and any other animal life on this planet is not to cease altogether. |
| The burgeoning population of the human race is not sustainable. Not only will water, food, energy and living space run out, but the continued increase in greenhouse gas emissions will wreck the global environment until no life, animal or vegetable, can be sustained. | The burgeoning population of the human race is not sustainable. Not only will water, food, energy and living space run out, but the continued increase in greenhouse gas emissions will wreck the global environment until no life, animal or vegetable, can be sustained. |
| We should have realised by now that escape to some other Earth-like planet in some other solar system is well beyond us given the time we have left. A Higgins Strines, Cheshire | We should have realised by now that escape to some other Earth-like planet in some other solar system is well beyond us given the time we have left. A Higgins Strines, Cheshire |
| • William Sutcliffe (The upside to leaving it late, 27 August) rightly points out that increasing the generation time by delaying having children is a very important factor in reducing population growth. As he says: "On an overpopulated planet, late parenthood benefits everyone." | • William Sutcliffe (The upside to leaving it late, 27 August) rightly points out that increasing the generation time by delaying having children is a very important factor in reducing population growth. As he says: "On an overpopulated planet, late parenthood benefits everyone." |
| In view of the perilous state of the world's environment, it is important to point out that reducing family size is equally important. All human activities have an adverse impact upon the biosphere – all driven by overpopulation. David Hurry Hurstpierpoint, West Sussex | In view of the perilous state of the world's environment, it is important to point out that reducing family size is equally important. All human activities have an adverse impact upon the biosphere – all driven by overpopulation. David Hurry Hurstpierpoint, West Sussex |
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