ANALYSIS – It would be absurd to think that population has no impact on climate change. But for the future, will the effect of world population be the same?
The population of the planet has increased by 1 billion inhabitants in nine years, to reach 8 billion today. What impact is this rapid increase in population likely to have on global warming? To avoid the worst, will we have to resolve to limit births, as some scientists recommend?
The subject is eminently sensitive, especially when the recommendations aim to limit births in poor countries, particularly in Africa, where the birth rate is currently the highest. At first glance, it seems certain that an increase in the number of Earthlings will lead to greater consumption of resources, and hence to an increase in emissions of greenhouse gases, CO2 on your mind.
Read also“To say that having a child is the worst thing we do in terms of the climate is to have the wrong problem”
But the subject is obviously more complex, because it is today the richest nations, those where the birth rate is today the lowest, which emit the most. Unsurprisingly, an American who flies regularly consumes a lot…
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