© 2001 Wendy Dager

The late Buckminster Fuller was far ahead of his time, according to environmentalists who believe, as Fuller did, that current population growth will not be without severe consequences.

As early as World War I, philosopher, inventor, architect and engineer “Bucky” Fuller was contemplating the fate of the planet in terms of overpopulation and the continued misuse of natural resources. By 1982, Fuller believed that we were “well along our critical path” and that all it would take to provide humans with the highest standard of living would be to design things “rightly.”

“Making the world’s available resources serve one hundred percent of an exploding population,” he said, “can only be accomplished by a boldly accelerated design revolution.”

Nearly twenty years later, humans have failed to create a revolution and, consequently, the world has begun bursting at the seams.

Overpopulation is defined as the condition of having more people than can live on earth in comfort, happiness and health and still leave the world a fit place for future generations.

The world's population has increased exponentially because birth and death rates have changed a great deal since the Industrial Revolution, which began in 1750. The Industrial Revolution marked an era where numerous advances were made in science and technology.

There was improvement in both sanitation and medical science, as well as the ability to increase food production. With the Earth's population projected to jump by the year 2050 to nearly 130 million people—the equivalent of adding four more states the size of California—there will need to be yet another increase in efforts to meet the needs for food, water, health care, technology and education.

Paul and Anne Ehrlich, authors of The Population Explosion (1990, Simon and Schuster), say the problem lies in the fact that all of the rich nations are overpopulated because they are rapidly drawing down stocks of resources around the world.

Despite the common idea that the larger populations of poorer nations are responsible for the decimation of natural resources, it is the people of the less populous richer nations who are the superconsumers.

"The relatively small population of rich people," say the Ehrlichs, "account for two-thirds of global environmental destruction, as measured by energy use."

According to the Ehrlichs, "the United States poses the most serious threat to our life support system."

Americans, who constitute only 5% of the worlds population, also consume 24% of its energy, meaning each resident of the United States uses as much commercial energy as 10 people in the developing world.

For example, the average American, consumes 159 gallons of water per day while more than half of the world's population lives on 25 gallons.

The consequences of this overuse is staggering. Among them: 50% of wetlands, 90% of the northwestern old-growth forests, and 99% of the tall-grass prairie have been destroyed in the last 200 years.

"We're encroaching upon wildlife habitats —which translates into the life support system of the planet," said S&S Seeds' Paul Albright. "At some point —and we don't know when or where —something's got to give. But we don't have the political will or the power to control population."

The Ehrlichs predict this lack of control over the exploding population will exact a high price: a large-scale attack on the integrity of the Earth's ecosystems and the services they provide.

Among the hazards that will be faced by human beings will be more carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide in the atmosphere, and more sulpher dioxide emissions.

There will also be less fertile crop land per person, less agricultural soil, less wheat and rice grown, less firewood, and oceanic fisheries will show a decrease in harvests.

The United States poses the most serious threat to our human life support system.

There will be fewer plant and animal species, more people will die of AIDS, the sperm count of human males will decline, and other reproductive disorders will increase.

All of these things, say the Ehrlichs, will happen in 2004—less than three years from now.

The grim future the Ehrlichs have predicted may not have been advancing upon us as quickly, had humans taken action on Buckminster Fuller's theory of Comprehensive Anticipatory Design Science. Fuller's theory, in which he attempted to anticipate and solve humanity's major problems, explained how to provide more life support using fewer resources.

"For the first time in history, it is now possible to take care of everybody at a higher standard of living than any have ever known," Fuller said in 1980. "Only ten years ago, the more with less technology reached the point where this could be done. All humanity now has the option of becoming enduringly successful."

More than 20 years after Fuller said these words, the fate of the world remains in question.

"The truth is," said Paul Albright, "there are consequences to the life support system that are important to consider before we tear up the planet beyond repair."

What can be done to avoid these consequences?

According to the Ehrlichs, if population growth is stopped at the 10 billion mark a century from now, and rich nations reduce energy consumption, there is hope that we can solve the population-resource-environment predicament—at least temporarily.

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