Anthony Barnosky And Elizabeth Hadly's Tipping Point For Planet Earth

In Anthony Barnosky and Elizabeth Hadly’s Tipping Point for Planet Earth, one of the many dangerous trends they bring up is the issue of overpopulation. At our current rate, we are expected to reach an estimated population size of over twenty-seven billion by 2100. Along with this massive increase in population size is an expected rise in food shortages, an increase in over populated cities like Delhi or New York, increase in life expenses, and overall loss of quality of life. In order to combat these potential dangers due to overpopulation, Barnosky and Hadly suggested that there are three ways to go about doing so. The first and worst of the three is a global catastrophe which would wipe out a majority of the population, whether that be

Ideally, we would like to reach our goal of reducing the world’s population growth rate to replacement value; however, we only have so much sway over other countries due to cultural differences, politics, etc. Adoption combines the idea of the one child policy and the increase in education, job opportunity and contraception available to girls. First off, one of the side effects of the one child policy was that the only children grew up with social problems*. By adopting, you keep on track of reducing the population growth rate, as the adopted child is already born, but also having multiple children as an option. On top of that, since such large numbers of children are born in these poorer countries*, by adopting them from these places, you provide them not only with a better environment, but also better access to education, jobs, and contraception. As a result, it also helps to fight population growth, although, maybe not on the same scale as a strict policy, or massive changes in education. Each adopted child may result in reducing the potential of them having multiple children had they not been adopted, or at least providing them with the tools needed to be able to make better decisions. In a sense, adoption fits right in with Barnosky and Hadly’s idea of a solution, and while it may not be on a large scale, it is something that can be done from where I currently

Right now, I am, for the most part, surrounded by literally thousands of people, many of who will eventually have children in the future. By being an advocate and talking to them about the idea of adoption now, giving them time to think more about it, it may help to create a small, but possible difference in the number of children adopted in the coming years. Like the idea of providing better education on sex ed, or contraception early on, while a bit later, planting the idea of adopting in fellow students may contribute to their final decision in the future, whatever it may be. In order to combat population growth, I believe spreading the idea of adoption or even the idea of a combination of adoption to supplement the desire for more children is one of the more practical ways for me to advocate against