Too many people on this planet - it's the elephant in the room for which no-one in a position of influence is willing to seek a solution.
LJ
There is more than enough food on the planet to feed everyone here and then some.
I wonder then why rain forests continue to be destroyed in order to plant food crops ...
I wonder then why other species are being pushed to the brink of extinction ...
I wonder then why marine protection zones are being set up to protect dwindling fish stocks ...
Depleting resources, massive levels of pollution - all caused by having far too many people on this planet.
The world human population reached the first billion mark somewhere around 1800, until 1926 to reach two billion, and another 33 years to reach its third. It is currently around 6 billion(*); the last three billions have taken 14, 13 and 11 years respectively. By 2050 the UN estimate a world population of around 12 billion.
It took somewhere around 200,000 years for the human population to reach 1 billion - and then only 200 years or so to reach today's figure - and you seriously think that a population problem doesn't exist ?
LJ
Some of what you say is true however
Rainforests are not being destroyed for food crops they are being destroyed mainly for planting Palm oil crops which is consumed in various forms by the west because it is cheap I would not describe oil as "food"
Species are facing extinction because of that destruction of their habitat because of rampant consumerism by the west.
Marine reserves are necessary because we are destroying the fisheries. The large fishing companies have fish quotas and the quota only applies to the target catch so they dump all the bycatch which is then dead. Undersize fish of the target catch is also dumped which destroys the species.
Oil companies now use seismic blasting to identify possible oil in the ocean, this blasting destroys phytoplankton the very basis of the food chain in the ocean so if we insist on using oil for energy then you can forget about fish on your plate.
It is the waste that is a problem from the sea to the paddock to the supermarket to our fridges. It is our attitude to food, right shape colour, size etc. Use by dates to encourage people to throw out perfectly good food and go buy some more which they then throw out.
Companies, corporations are only interested in one thing...profit they don't give a rats about preserving species or what the future holds, it is today's share price and the dividend paid to the shareholder, fail in that and buddy go find another job. They don't care if they stuff the environment, dispossess traditional land holders, the future is not their concern so long as they can satisfy their stakeholders.
The point is we need collectively to take a wholistic approach to our inhabiting this planet. Will we? I doubt it I think we may have passed the point that we can save it.
So let's just keep spraying, raping the oceans and rainforests and not worry about it cos LJ you and me will be long gone and it won't be our problem will it? sigh..
And we won't hear our descendants say "Why didn't you do something?"
