Countdown: Our last, best hope for a future on Earth, by Alan Weisman focuses on the detrimental impact that the growing population is having on the environment. Weisman discusses examples of different countries around the world to show why overpopulation is happening and what must be done to prevent it. This book is very eye opening and helps readers understand the obstacles to controlling birth rates and why doing so is necessary. Reading this book helps readers realize why it is so difficult to lower the amount of children that people are having around the world. The book discusses many factors such as how in many religions, contraception is a major sin and people believe that it is their religious duty to have as many children as possible. To force these people to start having fewer children would be infringing on their beliefs. However, with the world population headed towards 10 billion, something must be done before there is a population crash. Already, there is not enough food to support the seven billion people on our planet, and this will only worsen as the population increases. Therefore, for the well being of the human race, we must start controlling conception and consumption.
The book analyzes many different impacts that overpopulation is having on the planet and the reasons why it is difficult to control. Each chapter focuses on a different country's population issues. On of the chapters explains how medical advancements are phenomenal for saving lives but are in turn causing overpopulation. Weisman discusses that population growth is happening at a faster pace now than it was decades ago. This is largely due to the technological and medical advancements that have been recently developed. For example, vaccines for diseases such as tetanus, diphtheria, and polio have decreased mortality rates. Antibiotics have also had this effect. These advancements have increased the life expectancy and decreased mortality rates, which means that more people are likely to reach reproductive age and have children of their own. Medical advancements like these will continue to be researched and continue to increase longevity. It is unethical to hinder such developments for the purpose of preventing population growth for the environment. Also, more technology is allowing for the rapid production of food to support the growing population. However, the problem is that now as the population is still growing, it is becoming more and difficult to produce enough food to feed everyone. It is highly possible that within a few decades, the world will face widespread famine.
Weisman also discusses how a declining population will affect the economy due to a decline in middle-age workers to provide for the increasing aging population. He uses the example of Japan to show how the country's economy has been affected recently. In Japan, the population is actually decreasing unlike the other countries that are discussed in this book. Some economists think that this will ruin the economy in Japan since population growth is essential for economic growth. However, the country is trying to achieve a stable state economy that is enough to support its small population. There is a large aging population but a small working class to take care of them. Therefore, Japan is developing robots to take medical care of the elderly since there are not enough young people to help. Japanese economists believe that their economy will be stable because with the smaller population, they will have to spend less money on education and infrastructure, which means that they can redirect that money towards taking care of the elderly.
Although most developed countries do not have rapid population growth, overconsumption is much higher than in developing countries. In most developed countries, the birth rate is at or slightly above replacement level, which is 2.2. However, the carbon footprints of these people are the largest. Therefore, they need to focus more on lowering their consumption and using more energy efficient sources instead of fossil fuels, which harm the environment. Developing countries, on the other hand, have very high birth rates (usually around 7-10).The people and governments of these countries should focus more on promoting contraceptives and abortions so they do not have such a large population. They do not have to focus as much on consumption, because they already have low consumption rates. There is something that every country can do in order to extend the life expectancy of our planet.
