Believe those who are seeking the truth. Doubt those who find it.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
MWF 10am
22 comments:
Jorge (Anton) Laplume
said...
I think humans have reached a point in our evolution that we cannot exceed. Technology such as cars, computers, cell phones, not to mention life preserving medicine and procedures all play a very important role in our everyday lives. Over population is a detrimental result of our growing need for these things, and as a result of over population, we lack the resources we NEED and have an abundance of the ones we WANT. Floods, droughts, earthquakes, and other devastating natural disasters are also contributing to the lack of resources. I personally do not see any solution to this other than a mass population decrease, which will inevitablly happen at some point in time. The Earth goes through cycles (much like every other living organism) to maintain a balance. The mayans and many other ancient cultures knew this and based off that assumption, their calendars as well as astronomical events and what we percieve as global disasters. Humans pose a huge threat to the Earths well being with pollution from our cars and factories, as well as radiation pollution from our cell phones, computers, televisions, microwaves, and anything else you can think of that we use pretty much. So much like our bodies do when we are sick, the Earth is battling the sickness it has of human over population, the only difference is it doesn't send out white blood cells to fight us off, it has earth quakes, hurricanes, droughts, fires, ice ages, and floods, not to mention viruses and bacteria which can cause plagues. I do not believe this is a conscious effort on the Earths part (remember it is not a conscious effort on your part to fight off illnesses) it is just a cycle the Earth goes through to maintain its natural balance and as a result, there will be a huge population decrease. And I believe that is ultimately the only solution for this problem that is plagueing us.
Overpopulation is a problem. Our planet Earth is the smallest in the solarsystem and the only one with living organisms on it. As the years pass our population continues to increase and as our population increases so do problems such as poverty, food shortage and pollution.Although we as humans keep advancing technologically we also continue to destroy our home and the only solution seems to be to try to input overpopulation laws. Countries like China have already implimented laws limiting couples to have only one child and that is what it seems like is the only solution. Our population needs to decrease dramatically in order for our planets problem to decrease.
What causes food prices to rise? Deforestation, raising fuel cost, supply and demand and climate change. Sustainability is the capacity to endure. In ecology, the word describes how biological systems remain diverse and productive over time. Population increase exceeds the rate of food production and availability in many areas of the world. With such a growing population of course we wouldn’t be able to maintain sustainability. This brings us to the issue of world population vs. food production. We are currently eating ourselves out of existent. The more there is a need for food, the more the prices will continue to grow. The same can be said about oil. So how can we stop the overpopulation that’s leading to the increase in food prices? Maybe input laws they have in China to limit on child per family. The truth is speaking philosophy wise there is no one solution when it comes to tackling a sticky situation such as this, because one solution can be taken down by a counterexample. Personally I think we are our own enemies. It’s something we as a race will have to work on.
I don’t see a solution to stop the overpopulation coming about because other nations do not have the knowledge or sources of preventing reproduction that we have in the US. Therefore, I see this as an ongoing dilemma. The biggest threats to our future aren't coming from invading nations. It’s coming from the climate change, population growth, rising food prices, and rise oil prices. The world's climate is in a constant state of change. Now, the world faces real, long-term dangers from climate change and rising food prices. The wars in the Middle East are only making matters worse. Until a solution come about to decrease human reproduction and increases food production, food will be deficient.
Everyone whether you are a family or a single person with low income is affected somehow by the recent trend of food price rise. The rise of food prices worldwide is causing a crisis of food in the poorest region of the world as well as political and social instability. Among the reasons includes a combination of factors: poor harvests in various parts of the world due to weather, low food stocks, increased consumption, global population growth, increased consumption of biodiesel and changes in global economy. Also, the food price crisis reflects the simple law of supply and demand. Rising food prices have different effects on public health in low income countries. Low-income countries that depend heavily on food imports, like many in Africa are particularly vulnerable to food insecurity when an increase in food prices. Nearly half of the world population living on less than $2 a day and spend all their income on food. Any increase in prices, in the best of the case, leads to a poorer quality diet and, worst of the case, increased rates of malnutrition and micronutrient deficiency. As the rise in basic food costs further erode the purchasing power of the poor, the quality of their diets are likely to suffer, exacerbating inequalities in health. Each year, million of children die of malnutrition. Malnutrition is most common among children in their first year of life particularly children of poor families in developing nations. Around the world, political leader are looking for producing enough food in a sustainable way to drop the price and feed the world's population. Global food production can be increased in the short term; however, some government inefficiency and bureaucratic red tape add to food problem, sometimes making difficult to distributed the food to the hungriest people and to ensure those who need it get it instead of those who don't need it. The rise of food price may be a big problem, but there are many little things that can be do to make a difference. One long tern solution is to stabilization of the population. Therefore, helping people in developing countries get enough to eat, live in safe environment, and have access to education may be the most promising way to stabilize the population.
Dinah said, To me, the real problem is over population. The worlds overwhelming growing population and plummeting production rate is causing food prices to rise. High demand and low availability don’t correspond well. And to make matters worst, the world is going through a couple of climate changes. Some areas of the world that were flourished with crops are now, dried out or drowning in floods. Also natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and storms destroy nations and cause a great demand for food supplies and leave the rest of the world victim to higher prices. Where over population plays a role in all of this, is an over populated area can get a certain amount of food at a certain period but since the population is so high the amount of food isn’t enough for everyone.
Personally, i think that these problems arise naturally from the human's course of evolution in history. There are probably no valid solutions for most of these problems such as deforestation, CO2 emissions or overpopulation. However, the human can always fix what he has made, or break down what he has made. That is, I think, how we will benefit from technology the most. By inventing new ways to reduce gas emissions into the ozone or finding ways to cultivate foods more efficiently and on more levels of space. Technology will also solve problems in education, infrastructures and health. These problems will not be solved right away as we do not possess the necassary technological advances. however, when the time comes we will have to use technology to save us from our own, self-caused misery
What causes food prices to go up? There can be many reasons, overpopulation, production prices are at an all time high. Who knows exactly why food causes are going up? We would have to ask the people who are raising them, but in my opinion food prices are rising because of overpopulation. Overpopulation is when a certain are is being overly occupied, and when over occupation comes up the need for food comes up. So they increases the prices so they can buy more food to sell, or because its limited. Some people can’t afford the new price increase so that is when poverty starts to increase. As far as sustainability I find it very hard to achieve. There is too much poverty and too much price increases for everyone to be able to afford everything they need as far as food. In order to achieve such a thing either food prices must drop, or overpopulation and poverty must cease.
I agree that all of the above is tied to lack of education. We humans who make up 40% of the surface of the planet should equip ourselves with better knowledge about our planet, its potential to reap crops, and how we can cultivate this knowledge to fight the consequences of overpopulation. Possibly, the time, effort and energy that the great minds of Watson spent towards artificial intelligence and technology should shift towards the great goal of enhancing the planet’s food production rates and maintaining sustainability. We need to educate ourselves that the “85% of human water consumption is a growing concern as aquifers diminish and hydrology changes in the face of climate changes.” We need to inform the mass that the “171 million tons of nitrogen as fertilizer each year is polluting lakes, rivers, streams, and even oceans.” And it’s not as if this goal is too far-fetched, for we are a planet filled with highly intelligent beings that have simply lost focus. We are our planet and its future; with knowledge and discipline we can preserve and enrich our planet rather than continue to destroy such a precious gift.
The prices of food being raised are something that I could have foreshadowed as minimum wage remains the same. Their needs to be more money spent by the U.N to develop a solid foundation of knowledge to the kids mainly and adults, so that the future generations will be able to turn things around from where they are now. But I also think that nature has a big role to play in all of this, with recent earthquakes in Japan, Chili, and Haiti, show that man can only ask for so much from earth. I just hope the people of the world pay close attention to what’s going on, and try to help in any way possible. Oil plays another factor, with prices at a record high it’s hard to see them ever coming down. Demand is high, yet supply is low, these signs just show that the world has been rape of all it’s rich’s. So to conclude, there is a very long road to stop underdevelopment because some factors we can control and others are in the hand of mother nature.
Looking at the curves predicting future oil and coal consumption etc. from IEA and other sources, it is difficult to believe that humanity will stop the world. Today 80-90% of world’s energy/electricity is coming from fossil fuels with some 6-8% each from nuclear and hydro. Biofuel is a tiny share, wind power and similar are even tinier. Who could believe that the world’s carbon dioxide content will not proceed rising with 2 ppm a year? World population is also rising and will reach some 10 billion within my lifetime. This is not the end of the world, but I believe we have to get accustomed to the thought that we have to go back to the caves and make a living on bananas. We are not planning for the future; we believe we can concentrate our efforts on saving carbon emissions, where we have to concentrate on adapting to the new warmer world and find solutions for water supply and agriculture (etc.) in the new climate. I don’t believe anything opposite to this is realistic. Today we are concentrating on a ban on CO2, I think we have to reform our infrastructure before the train has left and left us behind.
Unfortunately, the truth of the matter is that we may never reach sustainability in our goal of equal international food distribution. Although a rise in food prices may make this goal more difficult, I don't believe it is the main reason. Many of the countries which have a high percentage of poverty in their population have always had a problem, even before the destructing natural disasters and increase in oil prices. The real problem is lack of infrastructure and education in these poor countries. Until a more prepared government steps in, they will continue in the out of control population increase. However, those of us who are financially stable, should lend a hand and donate money or food to those in need. The increase in food prices will make it more difficult for them to be fed. We must hope that things change in order to obtain sustainability, however it will require much work and time to reach that point.
As the population of the world explodes overall, we need to focus on the regions were its actually exploding the two regions would be Asia and Africa, in Europe the population is actually decreasing as the birth rate is very low and a generation is dying off. What’s happening all over Europe is a very good example to explain how the rising cost of living can curb the population. The cost of living in Europe is the highest compared to any other region in the world, this makes its citizens think twice before making a commitment to starting a family and having to feed another mouth. Social and personnel responsibility plays a very important role, but there is no way to measure that because all regions of the world have a different demographic and socio-economic status. It is my belief that climate change and natural disasters are only factors that can play into the equation for rising cost of living. Food production is at an all time high, it’s so high that even with fertilizers there is not enough nutrients in the soil to sustain production, with the looming water shortages the problem will only get from bad to worse. I do not agree with some of my classmates statements about reducing the population, some of them even went to the extent of welcoming more natural disasters in what is called the cycle of the earth where the population is curbed by natural disaster, it would take a major natural disaster to occur every day in order to effectively control the population. I would start with wasting less food, the amount of good food we waster in America will be more than able to feed people that barely get anything to eat. I can only hope for a more natural cycle where it’s inevitable that the cost of living will be go up but at the same time having the population under control with a birth rate of about 1.5 will sustain the world for years to come.
Over population, rising food prices, and sustainability are have always been a growing problem. Food prices increase due to Deforestation, raising fuel cost, supply and demand and climate change. This brings us to the issue of world population versus food production. The rate of human population has not been held constant, and Population increase exceeds the rate of food production and avilability in many areas of the world. All of these factors contribute to Poverty, lack of education, lack of infrastructure, and poor or non-existent public health. I don't think there can be a resolution to these problems as of yet, maybe in the coming future, the human race will not be it's own enemy.
I think that the world has dug itself a hole it can’t fill. We are over populated and because of that, we cannot produce the amount of produce necessary to feed everyone without raising the prices. I think this is from a lack of education, and also from selfishness. People are not using contraceptives, and people everywhere want things solely for themselves. They do not think about others, or how their lack of sharing affects everyone else. The only way we can fix this problem is by ceasing the population from growing. Sadly, this is not going to happen because, well, everyone is selfish. They don’t care about what’s happening to the world, they only care about what’s happening to them. It’s really sad to come to this conclusion, but there is no other solution. We are running out of land, and eventually, resources. I think with the more advanced we get, the worse the world gets. We become so consumed with the "latest technological device" that we forget about the small things that help keep us alive. Earth won't be around much longer if we continue to follow in this lifestyle of hyper-consumerism. This has been the world’s biggest downfall, and as a result, everyone will ultimately suffer the consequences.
The lack of food in other countries is devastating and is a lot more serious than we think. Those who have the resources to help should raise awareness letting people know their way of living (eating habits) are not only hurting the environment but there are people who do not even eat half the amount they do. Population is also part of the issue, which is something we cannot control. I think he issue of rising food prices is unavoidable; we need to unite for the sake of our existence and create ideas that benefit all. The reality is we are a growing world that consumes every bit of its resources and we have to understand that and change our destructive ways by practicing moderation. We will not change overnight, but bit by bit we can try to fix our mistakes.
It is really sad to discover that when people need the most of our help we retrieved our hands to help. In a way, it is funny to see how every single country offers their help to a nation that has gone through all these different kind of catastrophes while we are restricting their accessibility to the main source of energy as food is. It is true that population is growing every single day more and more as the food we eat decreases. This issue is also found in global warming. I read once that in order to minimize the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, we are required to decrease not only the amount of carbon dioxide originated by machines and industries, but also the amount of carbon dioxide by humans. Some people might think that reducing the population is the best solution; however, I believe that education is the best solution. If we educate every single individual or head of a family to learn that we are human beings and not rabbits to procreate in massive numbers, we could stop the unmeasured rate of population growing. I have noticed that governmental institution even though they promote education, they are scared of doing so because there will be no population fragile of mind. With education, population will stop “following the masses” and break the genetics of stupidity. This meaning that if I was born in a poor family, my destiny is to be poor for the rest of my life, or if my parents are obese, my destiny is to be one as well. We have to educate ourselves and learn that we live in a world that is only one.
When I think of this issue, I think of all the food thrown into the trash by the people of the highly developed countries. We in these countries are lucky to be able to have all this food available to us but we are the first to take it for granted. We over produce and what becomes of the food that we do not consume? They land in our landfills or rather we just gorge ourselves till the point of exhaustion and we have to undo that last notch on our belt. Instead, why don't minimize our consumption of food just by a 1/4 and share this food with other countries? that or we build a shrink ray and shrink the rest of the world.
The rise in food prices and poverty are a result of a lack of infrastructure among governments of many countries. It is obvious that food prices have and will continue increasing due to natural disasters and human wars. The governments of many countries are to blame. They know of what is happening and they still do nothing to aid those in need. Governments should develop some sort of infrastructure that aims to reduce poverty, lack of education, lack of food, and the lack of public health care. What will the world be in a few years if these issues are not addressed? Will there be enough supply of food or water for the increase in the population? People need to continue to take action like in Egypt and Libya and demand that their government find an efficient way to at least reduce poverty and malnutrition. Overpopulation is another important topic that everybody should address. I do not agree with what some of my classmates say regarding the control of population due to an increase in natural disasters. Natural disasters are unavoidable. Nevertheless, this should not be seen as a way to control the population. Furthermore, I have heard from teachers (probably skeptics) that the government willingly introduces certain diseases and viruses to control the population. According to skeptics (like my teachers in high school): many people report seeing airplanes spraying something in the night while people sleep; and in the next day, a lot of people wake up extremely ill. I do not agree to this ideas, it might be true, but this should also not be used to control population. What we should do is come to a consensus of what number is appropriate for families to have certain babies. People that cannot afford to have big families should not be allowed to have many babies whether is financial problems or mental problems. I would also propose to have a branch of government that concentrates in the rationalization of food. By rationalizing the amount of food people intake we would be able reduce obesity and the wasting of food that can be used to feed others.
Although very little can be done about the accelerated growth of the world population, we most definitely can do something about consumption and the way we fertilize our land. First of all, to think that we can limit the amount of kids that a family can have is just ridiculous, considering it violates their rights and in a very radical case that a pregnancy is terminated then it may even be considered murder. Second of all, we have been neglecting our mother Earth and looking away from the amount of possibilities that are there to help the environment. We should lower the prices of organic foods and raise those that are not managed naturally. Also, we should really consider composting bearing in mind that is good for the soil and we can even grow our own produce in our houses. After we start putting to use all the sustainable methods, we should make them available to those in need and where there is a huge lack of food and resources. It is in our hands to make a change and step up to end world hunger and make a sustainable living.
I believe that these problems are due to the over population and climate changes. Also, we have higher farm commodity prices for a wide variety of products and we also have higher prices for energy, which increase the cost of getting rural farm products processed and transported to the consumers. In some regions, the excessive grow of population has become a problem because the rise of food prices makes it less affordable, creating food crisis in many countries, specially the poorest ones. Also, the natural disasters have a big role in this situation because when earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes come, they lead to a big demand from the people affected creating hoard and also bringing social and politic problems.
Hunger is a serious problem around the world. Millions of people die every day due to the lack of food. Most of them are children who could have changed the world one day. It is totally a disaster by looking at these people. They don’t have any other resources to survive. This is a huge problem that they can’t solve on their own. These hungers desperately need your help to escape the barrier of poverty. It has to be stopped. There are many organizations who are hardly try to make a difference by providing food, clean water and supplies, so do you. The world food needs to expand their program, so everybody can get an amount of food to feed their families on a daily basic. The problem becomes worst every day. It is important that everyone raise their voice to end hunger around the word. These hungers are lack of hope until you decide to land them a hand to reinforce their faith and spirit. They are all waiting for your help to get their meals of the day. They are resilient people. Giving away is an option that we have to share our love to other human beings. In addition, offering others what we have to give with all our hearts is what really gives our lives meaning. Everyone needs to take responsibility of others, so this world could be so much a better place for everyone to live in. Every second is important for you to save a life. It doesn’t require much effort than devotion. Most of us have done an outstanding job in making a difference; therefore, we need to continue fighting against hunger. Everybody has experienced a similar situation in their life. It is a hint for us to make real changes because we know how painful it is. Be there for them!
22 comments:
I think humans have reached a point in our evolution that we cannot exceed. Technology such as cars, computers, cell phones, not to mention life preserving medicine and procedures all play a very important role in our everyday lives. Over population is a detrimental result of our growing need for these things, and as a result of over population, we lack the resources we NEED and have an abundance of the ones we WANT. Floods, droughts, earthquakes, and other devastating natural disasters are also contributing to the lack of resources. I personally do not see any solution to this other than a mass population decrease, which will inevitablly happen at some point in time. The Earth goes through cycles (much like every other living organism) to maintain a balance. The mayans and many other ancient cultures knew this and based off that assumption, their calendars as well as astronomical events and what we percieve as global disasters. Humans pose a huge threat to the Earths well being with pollution from our cars and factories, as well as radiation pollution from our cell phones, computers, televisions, microwaves, and anything else you can think of that we use pretty much. So much like our bodies do when we are sick, the Earth is battling the sickness it has of human over population, the only difference is it doesn't send out white blood cells to fight us off, it has earth quakes, hurricanes, droughts, fires, ice ages, and floods, not to mention viruses and bacteria which can cause plagues. I do not believe this is a conscious effort on the Earths part (remember it is not a conscious effort on your part to fight off illnesses) it is just a cycle the Earth goes through to maintain its natural balance and as a result, there will be a huge population decrease. And I believe that is ultimately the only solution for this problem that is plagueing us.
Overpopulation is a problem. Our planet Earth is the smallest in the solarsystem and the only one with living organisms on it. As the years pass our population continues to increase and as our population increases so do problems such as poverty, food shortage and pollution.Although we as humans keep advancing technologically we also continue to destroy our home and the only solution seems to be to try to input overpopulation laws. Countries like China have already implimented laws limiting couples to have only one child and that is what it seems like is the only solution. Our population needs to decrease dramatically in order for our planets problem to decrease.
What causes food prices to rise? Deforestation, raising fuel cost, supply and demand and climate change. Sustainability is the capacity to endure. In ecology, the word describes how biological systems remain diverse and productive over time. Population increase exceeds the rate of food production and availability in many areas of the world. With such a growing population of course we wouldn’t be able to maintain sustainability. This brings us to the issue of world population vs. food production. We are currently eating ourselves out of existent. The more there is a need for food, the more the prices will continue to grow. The same can be said about oil. So how can we stop the overpopulation that’s leading to the increase in food prices? Maybe input laws they have in China to limit on child per family. The truth is speaking philosophy wise there is no one solution when it comes to tackling a sticky situation such as this, because one solution can be taken down by a counterexample. Personally I think we are our own enemies. It’s something we as a race will have to work on.
-Jheanelle Gilmore
I don’t see a solution to stop the overpopulation coming about because other nations do not have the knowledge or sources of preventing reproduction that we have in the US. Therefore, I see this as an ongoing dilemma. The biggest threats to our future aren't coming from invading nations. It’s coming from the climate change, population growth, rising food prices, and rise oil prices. The world's climate is in a constant state of change. Now, the world faces real, long-term dangers from climate change and rising food prices. The wars in the Middle East are only making matters worse. Until a solution come about to decrease human reproduction and increases food production, food will be deficient.
Everyone whether you are a family or a single person with low income is affected somehow by the recent trend of food price rise. The rise of food prices worldwide is causing a crisis of food in the poorest region of the world as well as political and social instability. Among the reasons includes a combination of factors: poor harvests in various parts of the world due to weather, low food stocks, increased consumption, global population growth, increased consumption of biodiesel and changes in global economy. Also, the food price crisis reflects the simple law of supply and demand. Rising food prices have different effects on public health in low income countries. Low-income countries that depend heavily on food imports, like many in Africa are particularly vulnerable to food insecurity when an increase in food prices. Nearly half of the world population living on less than $2 a day and spend all their income on food. Any increase in prices, in the best of the case, leads to a poorer quality diet and, worst of the case, increased rates of malnutrition and micronutrient deficiency. As the rise in basic food costs further erode the purchasing power of the poor, the quality of their diets are likely to suffer, exacerbating inequalities in health. Each year, million of children die of malnutrition. Malnutrition is most common among children in their first year of life particularly children of poor families in developing nations. Around the world, political leader are looking for producing enough food in a sustainable way to drop the price and feed the world's population. Global food production can be increased in the short term; however, some government inefficiency and bureaucratic red tape add to food problem, sometimes making difficult to distributed the food to the hungriest people and to ensure those who need it get it instead of those who don't need it. The rise of food price may be a big problem, but there are many little things that can be do to make a difference. One long tern solution is to stabilization of the population. Therefore, helping people in developing countries get enough to eat, live in safe environment, and have access to education may be the most promising way to stabilize the population.
Dinah said,
To me, the real problem is over population. The worlds overwhelming growing population and plummeting production rate is causing food prices to rise. High demand and low availability don’t correspond well. And to make matters worst, the world is going through a couple of climate changes. Some areas of the world that were flourished with crops are now, dried out or drowning in floods. Also natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and storms destroy nations and cause a great demand for food supplies and leave the rest of the world victim to higher prices. Where over population plays a role in all of this, is an over populated area can get a certain amount of food at a certain period but since the population is so high the amount of food isn’t enough for everyone.
Personally, i think that these problems arise naturally from the human's course of evolution in history. There are probably no valid solutions for most of these problems such as deforestation, CO2 emissions or overpopulation. However, the human can always fix what he has made, or break down what he has made. That is, I think, how we will benefit from technology the most. By inventing new ways to reduce gas emissions into the ozone or finding ways to cultivate foods more efficiently and on more levels of space. Technology will also solve problems in education, infrastructures and health. These problems will not be solved right away as we do not possess the necassary technological advances. however, when the time comes we will have to use technology to save us from our own, self-caused misery
What causes food prices to go up? There can be many reasons, overpopulation, production prices are at an all time high. Who knows exactly why food causes are going up? We would have to ask the people who are raising them, but in my opinion food prices are rising because of overpopulation. Overpopulation is when a certain are is being overly occupied, and when over occupation comes up the need for food comes up. So they increases the prices so they can buy more food to sell, or because its limited. Some people can’t afford the new price increase so that is when poverty starts to increase. As far as sustainability I find it very hard to achieve. There is too much poverty and too much price increases for everyone to be able to afford everything they need as far as food. In order to achieve such a thing either food prices must drop, or overpopulation and poverty must cease.
I agree that all of the above is tied to lack of education. We humans who make up 40% of the surface of the planet should equip ourselves with better knowledge about our planet, its potential to reap crops, and how we can cultivate this knowledge to fight the consequences of overpopulation. Possibly, the time, effort and energy that the great minds of Watson spent towards artificial intelligence and technology should shift towards the great goal of enhancing the planet’s food production rates and maintaining sustainability. We need to educate ourselves that the “85% of human water consumption is a growing concern as aquifers diminish and hydrology changes in the face of climate changes.” We need to inform the mass that the “171 million tons of nitrogen as fertilizer each year is polluting lakes, rivers, streams, and even oceans.” And it’s not as if this goal is too far-fetched, for we are a planet filled with highly intelligent beings that have simply lost focus. We are our planet and its future; with knowledge and discipline we can preserve and enrich our planet rather than continue to destroy such a precious gift.
The prices of food being raised are something that I could have foreshadowed as minimum wage remains the same. Their needs to be more money spent by the U.N to develop a solid foundation of knowledge to the kids mainly and adults, so that the future generations will be able to turn things around from where they are now. But I also think that nature has a big role to play in all of this, with recent earthquakes in Japan, Chili, and Haiti, show that man can only ask for so much from earth. I just hope the people of the world pay close attention to what’s going on, and try to help in any way possible. Oil plays another factor, with prices at a record high it’s hard to see them ever coming down. Demand is high, yet supply is low, these signs just show that the world has been rape of all it’s rich’s. So to conclude, there is a very long road to stop underdevelopment because some factors we can control and others are in the hand of mother nature.
- Kenny Philistin
Looking at the curves predicting future oil and coal consumption etc. from IEA and other sources, it is difficult to believe that humanity will stop the world. Today 80-90% of world’s energy/electricity is coming from fossil fuels with some 6-8% each from nuclear and hydro. Biofuel is a tiny share, wind power and similar are even tinier. Who could believe that the world’s carbon dioxide content will not proceed rising with 2 ppm a year? World population is also rising and will reach some 10 billion within my lifetime. This is not the end of the world, but I believe we have to get accustomed to the thought that we have to go back to the caves and make a living on bananas. We are not planning for the future; we believe we can concentrate our efforts on saving carbon emissions, where we have to concentrate on adapting to the new warmer world and find solutions for water supply and agriculture (etc.) in the new climate. I don’t believe anything opposite to this is realistic. Today we are concentrating on a ban on CO2, I think we have to reform our infrastructure before the train has left and left us behind.
Unfortunately, the truth of the matter is that we may never reach sustainability in our goal of equal international food distribution. Although a rise in food prices may make this goal more difficult, I don't believe it is the main reason. Many of the countries which have a high percentage of poverty in their population have always had a problem, even before the destructing natural disasters and increase in oil prices. The real problem is lack of infrastructure and education in these poor countries. Until a more prepared government steps in, they will continue in the out of control population increase. However, those of us who are financially stable, should lend a hand and donate money or food to those in need. The increase in food prices will make it more difficult for them to be fed. We must hope that things change in order to obtain sustainability, however it will require much work and time to reach that point.
As the population of the world explodes overall, we need to focus on the regions were its actually exploding the two regions would be Asia and Africa, in Europe the population is actually decreasing as the birth rate is very low and a generation is dying off. What’s happening all over Europe is a very good example to explain how the rising cost of living can curb the population. The cost of living in Europe is the highest compared to any other region in the world, this makes its citizens think twice before making a commitment to starting a family and having to feed another mouth. Social and personnel responsibility plays a very important role, but there is no way to measure that because all regions of the world have a different demographic and socio-economic status. It is my belief that climate change and natural disasters are only factors that can play into the equation for rising cost of living. Food production is at an all time high, it’s so high that even with fertilizers there is not enough nutrients in the soil to sustain production, with the looming water shortages the problem will only get from bad to worse.
I do not agree with some of my classmates statements about reducing the population, some of them even went to the extent of welcoming more natural disasters in what is called the cycle of the earth where the population is curbed by natural disaster, it would take a major natural disaster to occur every day in order to effectively control the population. I would start with wasting less food, the amount of good food we waster in America will be more than able to feed people that barely get anything to eat. I can only hope for a more natural cycle where it’s inevitable that the cost of living will be go up but at the same time having the population under control with a birth rate of about 1.5 will sustain the world for years to come.
Over population, rising food prices, and sustainability are have always been a growing problem. Food prices increase due to Deforestation, raising fuel cost, supply and demand and climate change. This brings us to the issue of world population versus food production. The rate of human population has not been held constant, and Population increase exceeds the rate of food production and avilability in many areas of the world. All of these factors contribute to Poverty, lack of education, lack of infrastructure, and poor or non-existent public health. I don't think there can be a resolution to these problems as of yet, maybe in the coming future, the human race will not be it's own enemy.
I think that the world has dug itself a hole it can’t fill. We are over populated and because of that, we cannot produce the amount of produce necessary to feed everyone without raising the prices. I think this is from a lack of education, and also from selfishness. People are not using contraceptives, and people everywhere want things solely for themselves. They do not think about others, or how their lack of sharing affects everyone else. The only way we can fix this problem is by ceasing the population from growing. Sadly, this is not going to happen because, well, everyone is selfish. They don’t care about what’s happening to the world, they only care about what’s happening to them. It’s really sad to come to this conclusion, but there is no other solution. We are running out of land, and eventually, resources. I think with the more advanced we get, the worse the world gets. We become so consumed with the "latest technological device" that we forget about the small things that help keep us alive. Earth won't be around much longer if we continue to follow in this lifestyle of hyper-consumerism. This has been the world’s biggest downfall, and as a result, everyone will ultimately suffer the consequences.
The lack of food in other countries is devastating and is a lot more serious than we think. Those who have the resources to help should raise awareness letting people know their way of living (eating habits) are not only hurting the environment but there are people who do not even eat half the amount they do. Population is also part of the issue, which is something we cannot control. I think he issue of rising food prices is unavoidable; we need to unite for the sake of our existence and create ideas that benefit all. The reality is we are a growing world that consumes every bit of its resources and we have to understand that and change our destructive ways by practicing moderation. We will not change overnight, but bit by bit we can try to fix our mistakes.
-Louisiana Baltodano
It is really sad to discover that when people need the most of our help we retrieved our hands to help. In a way, it is funny to see how every single country offers their help to a nation that has gone through all these different kind of catastrophes while we are restricting their accessibility to the main source of energy as food is. It is true that population is growing every single day more and more as the food we eat decreases. This issue is also found in global warming. I read once that in order to minimize the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, we are required to decrease not only the amount of carbon dioxide originated by machines and industries, but also the amount of carbon dioxide by humans. Some people might think that reducing the population is the best solution; however, I believe that education is the best solution. If we educate every single individual or head of a family to learn that we are human beings and not rabbits to procreate in massive numbers, we could stop the unmeasured rate of population growing. I have noticed that governmental institution even though they promote education, they are scared of doing so because there will be no population fragile of mind. With education, population will stop “following the masses” and break the genetics of stupidity. This meaning that if I was born in a poor family, my destiny is to be poor for the rest of my life, or if my parents are obese, my destiny is to be one as well. We have to educate ourselves and learn that we live in a world that is only one.
When I think of this issue, I think of all the food thrown into the trash by the people of the highly developed countries. We in these countries are lucky to be able to have all this food available to us but we are the first to take it for granted. We over produce and what becomes of the food that we do not consume? They land in our landfills or rather we just gorge ourselves till the point of exhaustion and we have to undo that last notch on our belt. Instead, why don't minimize our consumption of food just by a 1/4 and share this food with other countries? that or we build a shrink ray and shrink the rest of the world.
The rise in food prices and poverty are a result of a lack of infrastructure among governments of many countries. It is obvious that food prices have and will continue increasing due to natural disasters and human wars. The governments of many countries are to blame. They know of what is happening and they still do nothing to aid those in need. Governments should develop some sort of infrastructure that aims to reduce poverty, lack of education, lack of food, and the lack of public health care. What will the world be in a few years if these issues are not addressed? Will there be enough supply of food or water for the increase in the population? People need to continue to take action like in Egypt and Libya and demand that their government find an efficient way to at least reduce poverty and malnutrition.
Overpopulation is another important topic that everybody should address. I do not agree with what some of my classmates say regarding the control of population due to an increase in natural disasters. Natural disasters are unavoidable. Nevertheless, this should not be seen as a way to control the population. Furthermore, I have heard from teachers (probably skeptics) that the government willingly introduces certain diseases and viruses to control the population. According to skeptics (like my teachers in high school): many people report seeing airplanes spraying something in the night while people sleep; and in the next day, a lot of people wake up extremely ill. I do not agree to this ideas, it might be true, but this should also not be used to control population. What we should do is come to a consensus of what number is appropriate for families to have certain babies. People that cannot afford to have big families should not be allowed to have many babies whether is financial problems or mental problems. I would also propose to have a branch of government that concentrates in the rationalization of food. By rationalizing the amount of food people intake we would be able reduce obesity and the wasting of food that can be used to feed others.
Although very little can be done about the accelerated growth of the world population, we most definitely can do something about consumption and the way we fertilize our land. First of all, to think that we can limit the amount of kids that a family can have is just ridiculous, considering it violates their rights and in a very radical case that a pregnancy is terminated then it may even be considered murder. Second of all, we have been neglecting our mother Earth and looking away from the amount of possibilities that are there to help the environment. We should lower the prices of organic foods and raise those that are not managed naturally. Also, we should really consider composting bearing in mind that is good for the soil and we can even grow our own produce in our houses. After we start putting to use all the sustainable methods, we should make them available to those in need and where there is a huge lack of food and resources. It is in our hands to make a change and step up to end world hunger and make a sustainable living.
I believe that these problems are due to the over population and climate changes. Also,
we have higher farm commodity prices for a wide variety of products and we also have higher prices for energy, which increase the cost of getting rural farm products processed and transported to the consumers.
In some regions, the excessive grow of population has become a problem because the rise of food prices makes it less affordable, creating food crisis in many countries, specially the poorest ones. Also, the natural disasters have a big role in this situation because when earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes come, they lead to a big demand from the people affected creating hoard and also bringing social and politic problems.
Amira Sarasola
Hunger is a serious problem around the world. Millions of people die every day due to the lack of food. Most of them are children who could have changed the world one day. It is totally a disaster by looking at these people. They don’t have any other resources to survive. This is a huge problem that they can’t solve on their own. These hungers desperately need your help to escape the barrier of poverty. It has to be stopped. There are many organizations who are hardly try to make a difference by providing food, clean water and supplies, so do you. The world food needs to expand their program, so everybody can get an amount of food to feed their families on a daily basic. The problem becomes worst every day. It is important that everyone raise their voice to end hunger around the word. These hungers are lack of hope until you decide to land them a hand to reinforce their faith and spirit. They are all waiting for your help to get their meals of the day. They are resilient people. Giving away is an option that we have to share our love to other human beings. In addition, offering others what we have to give with all our hearts is what really gives our lives meaning. Everyone needs to take responsibility of others, so this world could be so much a better place for everyone to live in. Every second is important for you to save a life. It doesn’t require much effort than devotion. Most of us have done an outstanding job in making a difference; therefore, we need to continue fighting against hunger. Everybody has experienced a similar situation in their life. It is a hint for us to make real changes because we know how painful it is. Be there for them!
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