Upload
kristian-mason
View
214
Download
0
Tags:
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
What Every Citizen Should KnowAbout Our Planet
Part OneNumeric and Demographic Literacy
Copyright 2009, Randolph Femmer.All rights reserved.
Each day there are approximately births
During the same 24 hours, there are approximately deaths
BIRTHS MINUS DEATHS
356 000
154 000
www.census.gov www.esa.un.org/unpp www.prb.org
Viewers can update these figures by visiting
Notice that there are approximately
NET DAILY INCREASE
200 000
births each day
extra
356 000 minus 154 000 equals 202 000
RATE OF INCREASE
8 000
persons inhabiting our planet each hour
extra
Notice that this amounts to
approximately
ONE BILLION
persons to our planet every twelve to fifteen years
extra
At these rates of growth,we add approximately
NUMERIC LITERACY
as simplyvery large numbers
Million
It is easy to think of a
and a Billion
different
enormously
But in reality, they are
A RIDDLE
homework questionsat a rate of
MillionHow long would it take to complete one
100 questions per night, five nights per week 52 weeks per year
to finish such an assignment
38 ½ years
Answer: It would take
A SECOND RIDDLE
homework questions
Billion
How long would it take to complete one
working at the same rate?
38, 461 years
To complete one billion such questions would require
Answer:
20,000
This means that if a student began working on this assignment
years ago
When ice was one mile thickover
Ohio
Michigan
Wisconsin and
When
Wooly mammoths
Saber - toothed tigers
and
still roamed theearth
And each and every homework question was conscientiously completed
20 000 years
from then until now
for all
The student would have to CONTINUE working on their homework
18 461 years into the future
for ANOTHER
in order to finish their assignment
That is how many
additional
people we are adding to our planet
everytwelve to fifteen
years
No wonder earth’s environmental andbiological machinery is breaking
Notice that a billion is an
enormousnumber
We should not be surprised if such enormous numbers
have potentially-disastrous
humanitarian,civilizational,
and
biospheric
implications
While our population would remain stable
if births and deaths were equal
At today’s rates, we add
additional people to our planetevery twelve to fifteen years
One billion
WE MUST PROVIDE
Food Health care Housing Roads Education Employment
EVERY 12 - 15 YEARS
Sanitation Drinking water and a host of Other necessities
And this is without yet raising the issues of all the environmental damage that we inflict
IF TODAY IS FRIDAY
by this same time on MondayEarth will be home to
For example,
additional people
600 000
Hopefully, someone, somewhere
is planning to growa LOT of extra food over the weekend
IF TODAY IS MONDAY
by this same time on FridayEarth will be home to
Similarly,
additional people
800 000
Necessitating completion of more than
additional classrooms bythis same time on Friday
Math footnote: Assuming that all “replacement” children can be accommodated by existing classrooms, then 800,000 additional children divided by 25 students per classroom necessitates completion of more than 32,000 additional classrooms by this same time on Friday.
32 000
CIVLIZATIONAL IMPLICATIONS
What if not enough jobs are available? What if not enough schools and
classrooms are built? What if no electricity and firewood are available?
What if young men ages 15 – 30 have little schooling, no skills, and no jobs?
CIVLIZATIONAL IMPLICATIONS
It took about one-hundred years (1850 to 1950)for the populations of the United States and
Europe to approximately double
Today, the populations of many ofthe world’s poorest countries have been
doubling every three decades or less
CIVLIZATIONAL IMPLICATIONS
Even a rich country would find it nearly impossibleto repeatedly double all of its schools, services, health care,and infrastructure in repeated spans of two or three decades
and some have QUADRUPLED
in less than fifty years
If the world’s poorest nations were working with stable populations,their chances of improving standards of living would be greatly enhanced
THIS IS HOW MUCH WEARE GROWING
Recall that a billion isa very, very large number
THIS IS HOW MUCH WEARE GROWING
Notice that it tookALL of human history
until 1930 forus to reach
Two billion
THIS IS HOW MUCH WEARE GROWING
And now, just since 1930 we have added
additional personsto our planet
Five billion
in less than one human lifetime
5
1930 – 1960:Two billion grew to three billion
1960 – 1975:Three billion grew to four billion
1975 – 1987:Four billion grew to five billion
1987 – 1999:Five billion grew to six billion
And our
7th 8th and 9th billions
are all on-track to arrivebetween now and mid-century
No human beings in history have ever livedthrough such a demographic onslaught
BIOSPHERIC CALAMITY
Throughout history, we have always been able to counton the functioning of earth’s natural systems as a given
Today, however, our population has already becomeso large, and continues to grow larger so rapidly
that such PRESUMPTIONSare no longer warranted
A continuation of today’s demographic tidal wave may constitute the greatest single risk that our species has ever undertaken
For further information, see our book Wecskaop and/or other PowerPoints and PDFs in this series
This PowerPoint features excerpts from
Anson, A. 2008. What Every Citizen Should Know About Our Planet.Used with permission.
This PowerPoint features excerpts from
Anson, A. 2008. What Every Citizen Should Know About Our Planet.
For information on thebook version of Wecskaopcall 386-673-5576
End of slide show.