“The world’s population is accelerating towards collapse, but few seem to notice of care,” Musk tweeted, referencing an article published in New Scientist Magazine titled, “The world in 2076: The population bomb has imploded.” The article, which was first published back in November, makes the case that we could be on the verge of a demographic catastrophe.
As proof of this, New Scientist Magazine points out that today’s population of 7.4 billion people may increase to nine billion in a relatively short amount of time due mainly to the high fertility rates in Africa. The article explains that the “UN predicts a continuing upward trend, with population reaching around 11.2 billion in 2100,” and that “many demographers expect a global crash to be under way by 2076.”
If indeed the global population reaches a point where it can no longer sustain human life, then life for all of us will be much, much different. Too many people in the world this means that resources such as oil and coal will start to become extremely limited, forcing scientists and researchers to find new and innovative ways to produce energy. Additionally, food shelves at the grocery store will start to become increasingly empty, as farmers struggle to grow enough crops to feed the growing population.
Needless to say, if the global population continues to skyrocket faster than we can adapt, our world is in a lot of trouble. That’s why it is so important that we continue to develop new technology and look for new ways to sustain human life as the global population continues to rise.
As Newsweek pointed out in an article from October 2015, in order to sustain the over seven billion people currently walking on the face of the earth, we have turned 40 percent of the planet’s total landmass into farmland just to produce enough food to feed humanity. If we don’t find new ways to grow food, then the growing population will be our downfall.
In the year 2005, Dickson Despommier, a professor of public health at Columbia University, built a website in order to promote the idea of “vertical farms,” a concept that involves stacking crops as a means of saving space. “A vertical farm is a multiple-story high-tech greenhouse,” Professor Despommier explained. But while this idea sounds like an ingenious way to grow more crops while taking up less space, Despommier acknowledges that there are still some challenges that must be solved. “There’s a lot of technical stuff and engineering that needs to be overcome, and that’s why it wasn’t done until it became necessary to do it.”
After the massive tidal wave that struck Fukushima in 2011, Japan decided to adopt this method of upwards farming. As Newsweek explained back in 2015, “Four years later, Japan boasts hundreds of vertical farms, greenhouses stacked high into multistory skyscrapers, where plants rotate daily to catch sunlight. Instead of porting dirt into the buildings, the plants grow with roots exposed, soaking in nutrients from enriched water or mist.”
The rapidly growing population is just one more reason why it is a good idea to prepare. It would be smart to always have a stockpile of food that you can break into in the event that the shelves at your local grocery store become empty. Educate yourself on how you can grow your own food so that you can properly provide for your family and loved ones following a global collapse. It’s not something that is necessarily fun or enjoyable to think about, but it’s better to be prepared than not.
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