Sunday, February 12, 2012

Sustainability and Human Population Growth

I read a post today from Henry Blodget from the Business Insider.  My Google+ post says it all.
Google+ Post:  Every time I see a chart like this with exponential growth patterns it is always followed by a big dip. +Henry Blodget and the +Business Insider


The article was about sustainability and that we can't keep growing like this and there was some good talking points from economist types about the outlook.  The best quote was this:
It's the mathematical reality of compound growth, in part, that makes Grantham so bearish about the future of humanity (if wildly bullish on commodity prices)
Wildly bullish on commodity prices is the key part of this if you are an investor.  Bearish about the future of humanity is the key part that everyone needs to take away.  Sustainability, Adaptation, and even mitigation strategies all need to be adopted soonest to avoid the dip.  We have at our hands unprecedented  technology to help us develop the strategies for better planning for expansion, growth, and resilience in a sustainable way and to mitigate the effects of the environmental or natural disaster on these strategies. The global community should put aside their partisan differences and should address this head on instead of fighting for ideological positions that poll well back in their national boundaries.

I guess this concludes my rant for today!

1 comment:

  1. This graph is positively "Malthusian..." When human kind last faced something like this, the plague, and "little ice age" brought solutions.

    Your point is well taken though... we have tools to avoid the problem this time around. Suspect it may take rise of generation who naturally collaborate across boundaries to solve the problem. Time, however, is precious... as anyone who understands economics knows. Starting the dialog, and investing now would make huge difference.

    Meanwhile famine, war, pestilence, remain the tools that nature will apply... 'there should be a better way...

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