Lots of neighbours
Somebody famous (who I am unable to name) made the claim that one should invest in land, “because they aren’t making any more of it”. And, efforts by certain rich monarchs in the area around the Persian Gulf, it’s true. Not too important, when you calculate that we all still have that square metre of land required as a place to stand (shoulder to shoulder).
However, and here I begin to worry, the latest population estimates suggest that by the end of October next, I’ll have 7 billion neighbours on this tiny blue orb. Again, not a big deal, except that my neighbours want to eat. Regularly. And the land devoted to agriculture isn’t growing, pun excused in advance.
Back in high school, the book Population Bomb, by Paul Erlich was released. A call to mankind to start facing reality. We’re quite a crowd. Mr Erlich forecast widespread famine (which didn’t come to pass, exactly). Some pundits declared that his prophecy was unfounded. That things would sort themselves out. No need to get all Malthusian… but…
(this graphic comes from SingularityHub.com)
This is not meant to paint a black picture of the future (visual pun intended). Just a call to the complacent. The rapid growth is not taking place in the countries that are the usual suspects (China, India, etc.). Rather, it is expected that Nigeria will become #4 with a bullet on the population hit parade, real soon now. Not much land, mucho muchachos…
Expect the spam count to rise (sorry, I couldn’t resist). To read the real numbers, go here.
