Perspectives on overpopulation
CMAJ 1998;158:1690
Dr. le Riche is absolutely correct in suggesting that the carrying capacity of all countries must be considered as the world population continues to increase.
At the University of British Columbia, the School of Community and Regional Planning has been developing methods of planning for healthy and sustainable communities. On the basis of the average consumption demands of citizens as measured by carbon dioxide emission, purchasing power, vehicles per 100 persons, paper consumption, and use of fossil energy and fresh water, an ecological "footprint" was calculated for 1991.1 The global average was 1.8 hectares per person, but those in the developed world have much larger "footprints." The people of the Lower Fraser Valley in BC depend on land 19 times the area in which they live to satisfy demands for food, forest products and fossil fuel. Holland, among the 3 most densely populated countries in the world, uses over 15 times more land than lies within its political boundaries.
Certainly population increase is out of control, as measured by the carrying capacity of many countries. Rwanda and the rest of Africa are just representative of a global problem.
Joseph M. Dubé, MD
Nanaimo, BC
Reference
- Wachernagel M, Rees WE. Our ecological footprint: reducing human impact on the earth. Gabriola Island (BC): New Society Publishers; 1996.
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