Читать книгу How Can I Stop Climate Change: What is it and how to help - Литагент HarperCollins USD, F. M. L. Thompson - Страница 92

Some people argue that tackling climate change means doing something about the world’s growing population: the Earth’s resources are limited and there simply is no longer enough to go around if we go on consuming at this rate; our survival, some say, depends on keeping our numbers down.

The global population has grown more than six-fold just over 200 years to around 6.6 billion in 2007. It is expected to stabilise at around 9.2 billion by mid-century. But the countries with the fastest growing populations are among those who have done the least to affect climate change

Carbon dioxide emissions per person are far higher in the richest countries of the world such as the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia and the UK. By contrast, many countries in Africa have per capita emissions that are negligible in comparison – less than one-hundredth the level. Many countries in Latin America have per capita emissions that are only around one-tenth those of the richest countries.

Global population is not the root of the problem: it is the rapid use of energy and natural resources by the richer and fossil-fuel dependent economies that is putting pressure on the planet.