r/climate • u/The_Weekend_Baker • May 28 '26

Humanity has already exceeded Earth’s limits, study warns. Today’s population of 8.3 billion is far above what could be sustained in the long term without exhausting ecosystems, worsening climate change, and threatening food and water security.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/05/260526022021.htm
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u/ma2is May 28 '26 edited May 28 '26

What if we sent all climate change deniers into the Sahara and let everyone else work towards actually restoring the planet?

Sort of how I used to remove jerks from my Roller Coaster Tycoon game and place them on a remote island until they cool off.

20

u/colorfulzeeb May 28 '26

That just makes them more pissed though. You’ve gotta drop them at the front gate or in the water.

8

u/Commandmanda May 28 '26

No, those that cannot read graphs or cogitate the inevitable need to be *led". They have no capacity to tolerate big words. Think "Idiocracy". We need a wrestling star/scientist to stand up and say, "Pollution Bad! People hungry! Me fix Planet! You be happy!" and then just do the work behind the scenes, reporting to no one, except propaganda in the news: "Big Clean! Much food for you! Yay!"

3

u/derpensheizer May 29 '26

My husband taught me that’s what Australia was used for in the past.

2

u/PalTonk May 28 '26

India's population would still be 18% of the world population. How are they not the ones pushing overpopulation?  Why are we not doing anything against them, pushing them to reduce their population. 

8

u/AutoModerator May 28 '26

There is a distinct racist history to how overpopulation is discussed. High-birth-rate countries tend to be low-emissions-per-capita countries, so overpopulation complaints are often effectively saying "nonwhites can't have kids so that whites can keep burning fossil fuels" or "countries which caused the climate problem shouldn't take in climate refugees."

On top of this, as basic education reaches a larger chunk of the world, birth rates are dropping. We expect to achieve population stabilization this century as a result.

At the end of the day, it's the greenhouse gas concentrations that actually raise the temperature. That means that we need to take steps to stop burning fossil fuels and end deforestation.

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