The Science of Overpopulation

Hank talks about the issues of rising global population.

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References for this episode can be found in the Google document here: http://dft.ba/-25aG

Credits:
Produced by Hank Green
Chief Editor: Blake de Pastino
Cinematography: Nick Jenkins
Video Editor: Matt Ferguson
Graphics: Amber Bushnell
Written by Jesslyn Shields
SciShow theme composed by Tom Milsom

TAGS: scishow, science, earth, world, population, billion, malthus, exponential growth, famine, disease, war, industrial revolution, fresh water, food, wealth, wealthy, developed, developing, youth bulge, social science, revolution, species, extinction, global population

• Category

  People & Blogs

[pronatalist]

I wonder if infant mortality is really so much lower than in the past, once abortions are factored in? Some way to cheat on the numbers. What? Abortions don't matter? As if those babies never existed at all?

Oh, that's right. We must remember that African countries and others, are more pronatalist than Babylon America is now, and so not only are birthrates higher and more natural and unrestricted, but abortions are either illegal or much less prevalent than in The United Slaves of America.

[pronatalist]

Why would women have had to have more children in the past, due to supposedly higher infant mortality numbers? Who wants to have children, just to see them die? Family sizes were large, because society wasn't so antinatalist and going out of its way to make children seem to be expensive and a "burden." There wasn't all this contraceptive thinking. Pop growth then was "out of control" also, but human pops were smaller, and the planet was so huge, so who cared but a few irrelevant intellectuals?

[pronatalist]

No sooner than they lie promoting "choice" and abortions, in almost no time,as soon as it became "our choice," then they to trick and force us to have not many,if any, children at all. Maybe that was the whole idea?Take away God's determination to give us children,tell us it is "choice," so they can snatch the choice we always had, away, and destroy our bodies with shoddy contraceptive devices and drugs, and trick us into sacrificing babies via abortion on altar of convenience to Molech or Devil

[pronatalist]

And which the earth can't support? How do you know? See how the devil, or the liberals lie to us? Used to be, until "the pill" of 1960, family size was thought "uncontrollable." Sure, there was the "no more sex" option, but most people didn't think giving up sex was practical. An older woman, friends of my Dad, told we she was 1 of 8 children. There wasn't much for (contraceptive) options back then. RAMPANT CONTRACEPTIVE PUSHERS claimed we have "choice" (to not reproduce), then snatch it away!

[pronatalist]

Having so many children is unnecessary? By what standard? Necessary or not, there are many reasons to have so many children, and people do have the right to reproduce. Having so many children is either the result of people having so much sex, as they seem to think they are entitled to, or the result of having faith to accept "all the children God gives," or not worrying that much one way or the other, so babies just keep happening.

I like many, have both practical and religious objection to b.c.

[pronatalist]

So you admit that eviro-wackos are blocking oil drilling? Then why should I prove to you what you already seem to know? I have heard claims we have plenty of oil, and why should I believe that "Peak Oil" crap. It is obvious ploy to make excuses for jacking up prices and promoting phony scarcity

So why then have most bread loafs dropped from 24 ounces to 20? Is the planet also running out of wheat? Who decided to deny me the 24 ounces I am used to? Greedy corporations? Sign of the sinking dollar?

[pronatalist]

There is no inclination to do what? Cover entirety of earth with buildings? Or refuse to do much to accommodate the growing pop? But you have to wonder, what if the shoddy contraceptives wane in popularity, more women somehow decide they really do like having many babies, or the fastest reproducing groups grow to a larger proportion of the total pop? What if each successive generation grows a little larger than the previous? I am not saying it is likely, but rather I do not oppose pop explosion.

[Renee Ball]

tI is not selfish to want more for oneself than to have children. I was raised not to pop out a kid, but to follow my own dreams, which may have no room for a child. It would be more selfish for people to keep having children which they can't support, and which this earth can't support.

[Renee Ball]

Having so many children is unnecessary in today's time, and in developed countries population growth is leveling off. In previous times it was necessary that women had high fertility rates because of infant mortality, and the need for children to work at younger ages, among other reasons. I'm sorry I don't live in your ridiculous bigger pie theory world and I realize that we are burning through resources exponentially so.

[avmf8]

I already have done research on this stuff before I ever even seen any of your crap on youtube. It is you who has not done ressearch not me.

I have looked up info on oil and there is no info anywhere that says there is plenty of untapped oil. There is some but far from an infinite supply. Some of the untapped places are in areas where the environment would be ruined in the area if they drilled for the oil.