As the world becomes hotter and more crowded, experts say the two problems are related, but not as much as people think.
The world’s 8 billionth human baby will be born somewhere on Tuesday, according to projections by the United Nations and other experts. The Earth has warmed about 0.9 degrees Celsius (1.6 degrees Fahrenheit) since the world population surpassed her four billion in 1974.
Climate and population are sensitive issues for scientists and officials.
With more people consuming energy mainly by burning fossil fuels and a warming planet, the main problem is not the number of people, but a small fraction of those people, carbon pollution, some climate, A demographic expert tells the Associated Press.
“We do have a population problem and we do have a population issue.But I think most importantly, we have an overconsumption issue,” said Vanessa Perez-Cicera, director of the Global Economics Center at the World Resources Institute.
She said, “And because of that the 8 billionth child born will “not have what we had … because there’s not enough resources.””
Kenya, which has been hit by a devastating drought, has a population of 55 million, about 95 times the population of Wyoming. But Wyoming emits 3.7 times more carbon dioxide than Kenya’s. Africa as a whole accounts for her 16.7% of the world’s population, but has historically emitted only her 3% of global carbon pollution. The United States, on the other hand, makes up 4.5% of her population on Earth, but since 1959 she has emitted 21.5% of the heat-trapping carbon dioxide.
The average Canadian, Saudi and Australian emit more than 10 times more carbon dioxide into the air through their daily lives than the average Pakistani whose country is being worsened by a third of climate change. increase. And her per capita emissions in Qatar are 20 times higher than her in Pakistan, according to the World Bank.
“The question is not about population but rather about consumption patterns. So it’s best to look at the major northern emitters to begin with,” said climate scientist Bill Hare of Climate Analytics.
Climate Interactive, a group of scientists who can run complex computer simulations and fine-tune to see which factors are most important in combating climate change, studied population differences. The contribution was found to be small compared to other factors such as the economy.
Drew Jones of Climate Interactive compared two UN population projections of 8.8 billion and 10.4 billion and found a difference of only 0.2 degrees Celsius (0.4 degrees Fahrenheit). But the difference between no price or tax on carbon and his $100 per tonne was 0.7 degrees Celsius (1.3 degrees Fahrenheit).
Hare said there’s more than a touch of racism to the myth that overpopulation is the main problem behind climate change.
“One of the biggest arguments that I hear almost exclusively from men in high-income countries is that, ‘Oh, it’s just a population problem,'” “Nothing could be further from the truth,” The Nature Conservancy Chief Scientist Katharine Hayhoe said.
Hayhoe said, “The 50% poorest people in the world are historically responsible for 7% of heat trapping gas emissions. Yet when you look at which countries are bearing the brunt of the impacts from climate change, countries like Malawi, Mozambique, Senegal, Afghanistan topped the list.”
And even within countries, it’s the wealthiest who cause more of the carbon pollution, Hare said. Overall, he said, “80% of the population, the global population, emits a small fraction of emissions.”
Eight countries, five in Africa and three in Asia, will see at least half of their population growth by 2050, Rose said. These are Egypt, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Pakistan, India and the Philippines.
According to Rose, global population growth has slowed significantly and is likely to peak sometime this century, currently growing at less than 1% per year. However, carbon emissions are growing more rapidly, and this year he is 1% higher than he is in 2021.
For environmental groups and stakeholders, population and climate issues pose a problem.
Most environmental groups try to avoid this problem, but 11 years ago, when the world had 7 billion people, the Center for Biodiversity created a special edition condom with messages about population and the environment.
Previous Post
Tour Alert! Foreigner announces Farewell Tour starting in 2023
Leave a Comment