Yes

by Adam Freeman

Created on: February 12, 2012   Last Updated: February 13, 2012

Ever since we have began to revolutionise as a human race we've never considered the environmental impact of our actions. It's only been 30 years since we actually first took any precautions to ensure the safely of our planet for future generations and even that was not particularly influential. We as people have changed mentality, from a 'oh it's cold, I'll put on a jumper' sort of angle, to the less environmentally sound view of 'it's cold, put the heating up to 26°C (not sure what that is in °F)'.

Technology, despite the many positives it brings to our lives, has also brought some negative effects too. It has caused us to rely on various gadgets and tech to simply get us through the day. Could you seriously imagine a world without all that stuff? To fuel our hunger for development and technological advancement we've had to squeeze every last drop of oil, gas or any other fossil fuel we can get our hands on and it has caught up on us. Now that we've realised that we could be jeopardising the fate of our children's children, we expect a huge janitor to come to Earth and wipe the slate clean, a fresh start, while we still continue on our old, reckless path. I guarantee that it will not happen by itself. If we want to save our planet we'll need to do it by ourselves.

Who reading this can honestly say that they recycle most of their waste? And who turns off all their appliances when they're not in use? Who even thinks to turn down the heat or reduce the A/C when they're at home? A minority of the people reading this can answer a clear yes to all three questions and in turn should congratulate themselves for such an extraordinary feat, especially in today's environment. But for those who answer one no or more to those questions shouldn't feel ashamed of themselves. You shouldn't be disheartened by what I've just said. You are just a product of the society we currently thrive in. For those households in the middle to upper tax bracket, it is most strange for any one of them to not own a TV, a computer (often one for each member), central heating or air conditioning (depending on nationality), basic supplies (water, electricity etc.), lights or any surplus gadgets or necessities one might have that require electricity. In all honesty, we need electricity. And until we find a way of sustaining our current rate of development with renewable energy resources, we will only continue to drain Earth's abundance of fossil fuels further.

As our population continues to rise, there will obviously be a greater demand for energy and electricity than there has ever been before in the past. Countries such as China and India, that were previously determined as LDA's, have kick-started their economy and they are now growing at an exponential rate giving them the chance to become MDA's and have the potential to overtake the USA as the global superpower. As these countries develop they will require a larger and larger portion of the world's fossil fuels as that will be necessary for their country's growth. This will leave Europe and the US with smaller portions and therefore a bigger demand for other less reliable sources of energy like wind, tidal, wave and solar power. What I have argued before ties into the debate at hand because more and more people in countries such as China and India will demand their share of electricity. This will put enormous strain on our current non-renewable fossil fuels and in turn on our planet's environment (due to CO2, greenhouse gases and landfill sites). Even if we did say to everybody "stop using unnecessary energy and start recycling" and people over in the West did, what authority do we have over those in the East of the globe who's people probably also have part of that same wasteful mentality brought about by technology? We wouldn't be able to reduce the threat our 7bn population has on planet Earth just by telling people to quit messing up our world.

Now let's for a minute succumb to the illusion that the world's environment is no longer under threat by human activity and let's say that our energy crisis has vanished into thin air. In this better world however there is still a rising population and quite frankly we are running out of room. All the most habitable places to live have been taken and LDA's with a huge population are over-crowding. It's simple math. The more people there are, the more space you need. That would be easy if we hadn't already taken the best places to live. The problem with locating a town just anywhere is that you need other towns and other countries to survive unless the town you've proposed is self-sufficient. To successfully construct a new town you need 5 main things that without you cannot ensure a successful life for it's inhabitants. These things however, are not that easy to achieve. They are;

– Water: A supply of either transported water or natural water treated to make it safe, which leads on to the next point.

– Electricity: Needs to be connected to the national grid so it is able to supply power to homes, government service buildings, businesses and water treatment plants so people can have good, safe water.

– Transport links: There needs to be access to your town from other places which means there should be roads and if possible rail services to this town in order to receive goods, to stock local markets and stores.

– Housing (obviously): As well as requiring willing people to live there. Who would want to move to a random town out in the country, when they could stay in their current town with friends and family and stay firmly anchored.

– Services: Any town requires a fully functioning community willing to offer themselves for positions in certain jobs.

These 5 things are not all that you need to create a working town however they are the basics that are required. Many places that are barren and uninhabited are basically uninhabitable as one or more of these things can't be supplied to that area. So as more and more people are crammed into already populated areas, the need for new housing and new town is greater and greater. Most governments around the world will be struggling with this serious crisis as China has already clashed head on with this problem. So now on top of the lack of world resources and environmental damage issues, that our rising population has already caused, we have a crisis with over-crowding. There is definitely a threat to our planet Earth caused by our surplus population difficulties.

There isn't a quick fix to stop people from ruining the world for future generations but if we were somehow able to supply the world with renewable energy and sustainable growth the problem might decrease over time. But without doubt, our world is suffering the consequences of a large population and until we either stop the growth of this population or inhabit more of the planet, times are going to keep getting harder and the environment is going to keep suffering. 7 billion people now already share this Earth with you, just ignoring this problem by clicking 'no' is not going to make it go away overnight.

Learn more about this author, Adam Freeman.
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