Live data from Hacker News

World Population Clock: 7.96B People (2022)

worldometers.info

41–50 of 191 posts

Re: World Population Clock: 7.96B People (2022)

#41
post #10
post #2

Happy to see the world population growing. Unlike many here I don't believe the world is overpopulated and that we need more people to grow and expand beyond the planet. Located in the U.S. where we could double the population without starting to feel cramped. We can and we should.

Space isn't the bottle neck. Clean water might be the limiting factor.

Clean water is an issue of energy and resources to build cleanup or desalination plants.

Re: World Population Clock: 7.96B People (2022)

#43
post #2

Happy to see the world population growing. Unlike many here I don't believe the world is overpopulated and that we need more people to grow and expand beyond the planet. Located in the U.S. where we could double the population without starting to feel cramped. We can and we should.

You’re being downvoted, but for rather silly reasons. There are people who wrongly assume less people means higher quality of life for everyone else. There’s simply no empirical data to back such a claim up. The most concerning growth is unsustainable growth, exponential growth that cannot be sustained which causes immediate stress on the local economy. Likewise, there’s also economic stress when the opposite happens as economies are built under the guise of population growth, not just capitalism.

What we see continually rather is a narrative of overpopulation pushed and advanced by seemingly related points about lack of food and water. In reality these are completely orthogonal points which have some correlation to, but are not directly proportional to population growth all.

Re: World Population Clock: 7.96B People (2022)

#44
post #2

Happy to see the world population growing. Unlike many here I don't believe the world is overpopulated and that we need more people to grow and expand beyond the planet. Located in the U.S. where we could double the population without starting to feel cramped. We can and we should.

I'm sure the US could feed all those people but can the planet survive doubling US greenhouse gas emissions?

The planet and nature would survive just fine - it’s just that people wouldn’t.

Re: World Population Clock: 7.96B People (2022)

#45
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because you live in the wealthiest country in the world (over 100 continuous years of highest GDP) with high salaries and lots of habitable space (from exterminating the native populace). But that's not sustainable - the US has the highest CO2 emissions per capita when you factor in imports, etc. nevermind other environmental damage. And is also dependent on terrible conditions in Asia, etc. to produce all the cheap…

Americans are saints when it comes to environmental destruction. Many African countries have very high birth rates and they do whatever it takes to survive, environment be damned, such as pouring used motor oil on the ground without batting and eye or thinking twice about the effects to their own health. Don't even get me started about the mining and deforestation.

Saints, for real ? The rate of consumption of Americans would require more than 5 planets to be sufficient,

Most African countries need less than one

You mention mining and deforestation but where do you think the material extracted are going ?

Re: World Population Clock: 7.96B People (2022)

#46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Americans are saints when it comes to environmental destruction. Many African countries have very high birth rates and they do whatever it takes to survive, environment be damned, such as pouring used motor oil on the ground without batting and eye or thinking twice about the effects to their own health. Don't even get me started about the mining and deforestation.

Saints, for real ? The rate of consumption of Americans would require more than 5 planets to be sufficient, Most African countries need less than one You mention mining and deforestation but where do you think the material extracted are going ?

China then to the rest of the world in the form of manufactured goods. America isn't the only major consumer of finished goods.

Re: World Population Clock: 7.96B People (2022)

#47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We consume many resources and we won't consume less of them just because cars become electric. Emissions are just one of many pressures we out on the environment. I think it's better to ask why should population keep growing? We don't need it and it physically has to stop growing at some point. It seems much better to focus on growing quality of life and quality of environment rather than growing number of people.

I think it's better to ask why should population keep growing? We don't need it and it physically has to stop growing at some point. Because you can’t stop people from breeding apart from killing them, at which point you’ve become Hitler. That or tax and social disincentivization at which point you’ve become the Illuminati. That or a procreation suppression field at which point you’re the Combine.

That's obviously no true since (1) many countries today have birth rates below replacement levels, and (2) contraception exists.

(Godwin point reached very quickly...)

Re: World Population Clock: 7.96B People (2022)

#48
post #17

This is fine, it's a small blip. Millenials and Zoomers and some Gen Xers will do the environment a huge favor and keep the birth rate trending down.

It doesn't matter when Africa is exploding. All the low birthrate in the West does is weaken the countries trying to protect the environment. As this continues corporations will bring in the people from these undeveloped countries who will bring their unsustainable cultures with them.

This whole "stop having children to save the environment" bullshit is dumber than the anti-nuclear crap and even more obviously wrong.

Re: World Population Clock: 7.96B People (2022)

#50
post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But that's not sustainable - 100 years ago people were saying we would all die from starvation after a few billion more people. Doom sayers have zero credibility.

Yes, that was before we manufactured fertilizer. If that invention didn't exist, this number absolutely wouldn't be sustainable. Soil is now becoming depleted and fertilizer isn't enough.[1] Globally, much also depends on rapidly depleting ground water that isn't being replenished. Agriculture is exceeding its limits. [1] https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/environment-and-conserv...

We will come up with a way to “fix” that (if it’s even a problem), as we have done in the past.

Why ignore human ingenuity ?

Post reply on HN