Overpopulation slides under the radar

Ray Harbert, Las Vegas

Saturday, April 26, 2008 | 2:01 a.m.

Former Vice President Al Gore’s book, “An Inconvenient Truth,” along with other scientific books, focused the world’s attention on problems caused by the “greenhouse effect” and the consequential warming of the Earth.

A recent New York Sun article headlined “Food rationing confronts the bread basket of the world” points out the rapidly approaching problem of food shortages around the globe. Dozens of similar articles can be found in publications daily.

Each article attempts to pinpoint the root cause. Some say global warming. Others say biofuel and energy requirements are eating into the normal food chain. Others might attribute it to overfishing. They have all missed the real cause. All of the above are only elements of the critical problem caused by the real culprit: world overpopulation.

One only has to go back to the simple economic theory of supply and demand. The production ability of our agricultural system and the ability of the Earth to replenish itself have reached their limit while the demand continues to increase. Hence, demand has outstripped supply.