World population

[Meyer]

What do you think about world's population and it's growth? Should it be controlled somehow or is it good right now.

[vadereclipse]

there is not really a correct way to control it
i mean the only option is building up in deserts but that will have little impact
also, killing would solve it, but you cant justify that
colonisation would be a thought but that wont happen for over 100 years in my opinion.
there isnt a justified way for population control unless you put in place rules like china's one child ruyle (which i believe was recently overturned)

[Noret]

send them too the moon, I'm fairly certain that the moon will be colonisable in less than 10 years that is if we last until then

[Meyer]

well sneding them to moon couldsolve the problem of housing but what about food? It propably costs very much to transport massive amounts of food to moon.

[Slornie]

Earth has more than enough production capacity for the population it holds.  Food is not a problem:  While the population of the world has increased hugely, the number of people who are malnourished has fallen.  There is plenty of space for the population, we just need to sort out the distribution issues (lets have some innovation, floating cities, underwater cities, etc).  The only real concern is supplies of clean fresh water.

And if we did colonise the Moon, it would be in self-sufficient modules, which would presumably include water treatment facilities, and intensive agriculture.

[Noret]

I watched a show that the said that the earth had the ablitiy to sustain 8 billion people, that probaly was with current farming technology

[Slornie]

And current farming technology/techniques arent necessarily the most efficient.  For example, a new farming technique proposed is "Vertical Farming", which would take place in urban high-rises, using greenhouse growing methods to grow fruit, veg, fish, livestock, etc.

[Scarecrow63]

I think i agree with Slornie, theres alot of space around, its just too much of the population is currently poor

[GrndAdmrlPellaeon]

I agree with him too. It is distribution issues.

[Meyer]

but how do you resolve that issue? you can force the rich to share their wealth to the poor.

[Slornie]

That shouldnt really be a problem, since generally speaking, as the LEDCs and NICs develop, their wealth increases.  Add to this the vast natural resources they hold, including the most important resource - labour.

[Scarecrow63]

The biggest problem is just getting them to stop fighting each other

[Meyer]

and educate them all sufficiently. after that they can be used to work and uphold their society.