60 Minutes ushers in the New Year with Discredited Overpopulation Hysteria

CBS decided last night to begin the new year by launching a 60 Minutes segment Surplus population. That’s not really all that surprising. Recent months have seen many left-leaning media outlets spotlight depopulation supporters (here Is The New York Times And here Is The Atlantic(), which helped to normalize their anti-humanism message and anti-natalism message. Surprisingly, CBS chose to interview Paul Ehrlich, a Stanford University biologist. Ehrlich, ninety years old, looks as healthy as ever and sounds as confident as ever. The Population Bomb. The book’s beginning will be familiar to many readers:

“The battle to feed all of humanity is over. In the 1970s hundreds of millions of people will starve to death in spite of any crash programs embarked upon now. At this late date nothing can prevent a substantial increase in the world death rate…”

In fact, the world’s crude death rate The number of people affected by the disease fell to 8.1 per 1,000 in 2020-2025 from 12.9 in 1965-1970. That’s a reduction of 37 percent. Famines that were once widespread throughout the globe have been eradicated from areas other than war zones. The world produces (or was produced before the Russian invasion in Ukraine). record amounts of food. In the 1970s and beyond, hundreds of millions of people didn’t starve to death. Quite the opposite happened; the world’s population rose from 3.5 billion in 1968 to 8 billion in 2022. Despite this, around 400 million Chinese people were prevented from becoming parents by the misbegotten one child policy (1978-15), which Paul Ehrlich inspired.

CBS does not have the resources or time to support authors. Superabundance – a book showing that resources are getting more, rather than less, abundant. Interview Nobel Prize-winning economists, such as Angus Deaton, Paul Romer, and Michael Kremer who have never believed the overpopulation nonsense. And if that’s a stretch, why not interview smart Democrats, like Lawrence H. Summers (Bill Clinton’s Secretary of the Treasury) or Jason Furman (Barack Obama’s Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers)? They also argue that we don’t have an. “overpopulation problem.” Oder? 60 Minutes Only scholars who are willing to confirm the predetermined narrative of doom & gloom.

CBS claims that there are too many people in the world who consume too much stuff. This is threatening the biosphere, also known as the biosphere. human life-support systems). Once again, remember that prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, human life expectancy was rising, and the death rate was falling – even though the world’s population grew by 129 percent between the publication date of The Population Bomb And the future. The humans are doing fine, thank-you very much! But what about the biosphere? Let’s consider three trends that Ronald Bailey from Reason Our 2020 book features magazine and me Ten Global Trends Every Smart Person Should Know: And Many Others You Will Find Interesting.     

1. The World Database on Protected Areas reported that 15 percent of the planet’s land surface was covered by protected areas in 2017. That’s an area almost double the size of the United States. Marine protected areas covered nearly 7 percent of the world’s oceans. That’s an area more than twice the size of South America. There are plans to expand the area. increase The protected areas are significantly larger.
2. Urbanization is on the rise. In 2050, the world will have 80 percent urbanization. This means that we are reducing the amount of land available for plants and animals, which is a good thing.
3. Jesse H. Ausubel from Rockefeller University estimates that the world’s agricultural efficiency will continue to improve, with rising crop yields. “a net reduction in use of arable land (i.e., land used for farming) in about 50 years totaling 10 times the area of Iowa, and shrinking global cropland to the level of 1960.”

The world has never had a more prosperous and committed environment. Technology is available to us. reintroduce There are species at high risk of depletion or, possibly, even toextinction resurrect long-extinct ones. Thanks to investment from a wealthy nation and knowledge, humanity was able last year to save these species. deflected A small asteroid was discovered for the first-time. If we allow wealth to grow, the biosphere may be saved from being destroyed. true mass extinction. In other words, economic development is key to environmental protection. This is why all the environmental ranking table are. topped Economically advanced countries. It is important to stress that rich countries are better stewards than poor ones. Simply compare the environment’s quality in Denmark With Papua New Guinea.

None of these are a reason to be cruel to animals or reckless about the environment. Human flourishing is part of living on a beautiful planet full of wildlife. But let’s get real. It is important that we see it and experience it with our senses. (Animals don’t care about biodiversity Per se. Their concern is not finding an organism that they can mate with or kill. The planet is, however, not a fragile Damsel in distress (for an academic discussion, please see this article). article). It is, in fact, a brutal. killing zone They are in dire need of being tamed. The way forward, therefore, is to find a balance between environmental concerns and human flourishing – understanding that humans are not only destroyers, but also creators and protectors The planet and all that thrives on it.