To the editor:
We have not listened to population scientists for 60 years while they have repeatedly said that the Earth cannot sustain the population as it continues to grow.
The earth has finite resources and we have lived as if it does not. As developing countries continue to develop, demand on the earth's resources will increase. It is not sustainable. We know that any over-populated ecosystem responds by ensuring that a large portion of the population dies off. That is nature as it is. We can say, "We are screwed," or we can say, "Nature is doing what it has always done."
Northern India has already become uninhabitable. Over one billion people will either die or be displaced. The heat is so unbearable no one can work. The climate crisis will result in billions of deaths worldwide over the next decade or so.
Demand on the Earth's resources will diminish and the Earth will slowly, over hundreds of years, regenerate. We still have work to do. Continued burning of fossil fuels will delay or completely derail the Earth's recovery.
So, we continue our work to confront the climate crisis and the burning of fossil fuels. However, do not be deluded: We cannot reverse the trajectory we are on. Too much inaction for too long. It is too late.
Bill McGuire, in his new book: "Hothouse Earth: An Inhabitant’s Guide," documents this reality with hard science. The climate crisis was not "in our face" hard enough to get the attention of most people. Inflation and gas prices, yes. But not the climate crisis. Sadly, it will be poor counties, who contributed the least to the climate crisis, who will pay the heaviest price in loss-of-life.
Jon Koll
Alexandria, MN
The Trust Project
