Something that's not on the table at COP21 in Paris

The major components of the accelerating clusterf#ck of global civilization are CO2 emissions, material consumption and population growth. However, population growth is probably the most significant single factor - even though it doesn't appear on the world stage at COP21 in Paris.

Here's why I say that population is the biggest problem:

Since 1965:
The world's average per capita CO2 emissions have increased by ~40%.
The world's average per capita energy consumption has increased by ~60%.
But ... the world population has increased by ~120%.

Population has been growing twice as fast as personal energy consumption, and three times faster than per capita CO2 emissions.



Despite what the population minimizers would have you believe, world population growth is NOT under control. Despite the fact that the annual growth rate has fallen from 2.1% per year in 1969 to 1.1% today, the population increase has not begun to decline. In fact, we have been adding an average of 78 million people to the planet every year since 1980, and there is NO sign that this number will drop any time soon.



It's time to get population reduction plans on the table. Or at least start talking about it. Human population growth is killing the rest of the biosphere.