Our unsustainable population levels are depleting resources and denying a decent future to our descendants, write Mary Ellen Harte and Anne Ehrlich. Kenya's Dadaab refugee camp, above, is the largest complex of its kind in the world, but is now overpopulated. (Dai Kurokawa / EPA)
By Mary Ellen Harte and Anne Ehrlich
Los Angeles Times
July 21, 2011
Our unsustainable population levels are depleting resources and denying a decent future to our descendants. We must stop the denial.
Think back on what you talked about with friends and family at your last gathering. The latest game of your favorite team? “American Idol”? An addictive hobby? The new movie blockbuster? In a serious moment, maybe job prospects, Afghanistan, the economic mess? We live in an information-drenched environment, one in which sports and favorite programs are just a click away. And the ease with which we can do this allows us to focus on mostly comforting subjects that divert our attention from increasingly real, long-term problems.
Notice that we didn’t mention climate change above, or the exploding population/consumption levels that are triggering it — the two major factors threatening humanity’s future. Sure, if you’re not too far from the Western wildfires or Midwestern floodplains, the conversation might have turned to the crazy weather that is finally forcing some media to actually talk about climate change in the context of daily events.
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