Enviro Horror Stories: Before Global Warming, There Was The Population Bomb

DBKP ^ | April 25, 2008 | Mondoreb

[mondoreb]

“The Population Bomb” was the “Global Warming” of 1968.

“The battle to feed all of humanity is over. In the 1970s and 1980s 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…” --Paul Ehrlich, The Population Bomb (1968)

Try this one on for an environmental doomsday scenario: a disaster of epic proportions is threatening Earth. It is man made in nature. In ten years–-ten years!-–life as we know it will be radically changed for the worst. And if mankind doesn’t do something right now, it will soon be too late.

Oh, and how do we know that the disaster is big, bad and scary?

A scientific consensus has developed which supports it. Scientists are scared, so everyone else better be prepared to hunker down for doom, too.

Global warming?

Nope.

Try “the population explosion”. The year was 1968 and the World Wide Web was still over 20 years away in the future. That’s when Paul Ehrlich released his best-seller, “The Population Bomb”, and seemingly overnight, population control was all the rage.

Americans were peppered with stories of global doom, in a world stripped of food and resources by an exploding, out-of-control population.

And of course, more government control and regulation was the answer.

[mondoreb]

A lot of similarities between the two most successful enviro-scares of the last forty years. Oh, and the person behind The Population Bomb?

That it was a leading environmentalist should surprise no one.

[PetroniusMaximus]

Don’t forget “RED TIDE!!!!”

[HangnJudge]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Club_of_Rome

The Club of Rome raised considerable public attention with its report Limits to Growth, which has sold 30 million copies in more than 30 translations, making it the best selling environmental book in world history

Ahhh, yes, those were the days
We're all going to DIE

I read this book when I was in College
Exponential projections play havoc on logical thinking

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

The (self-proclaimed) environmentalists are bringing about the food shortages predicted in The Population Bomb; through measures to “fight global warming”. Turning food into fuel is only the most glaringly obvious measures. What we think of as unintended consequences (i.e. soaring food prices, food riots, famines) might be the most important real objective of these twits. Their “Final Solution”.

[Free ThinkerNY]

Paul Ehrlich was the Al Gore of the 1960’s. Two arrogant, self-righteous BS artists.

[MAexile]

In the 1970s and 1980s hundreds of millions of people will starve to death in spite of any crash programs embarked upon now.

The irony of this is that millions are starving, because some of these same enviros decided it would be a good idea to turn our food into fuel.

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

I also recall the awe in which the computer models, used to generate the “predictions” in Limits to Growth, were held. Most impressed were people who had no idea whatsoever of the Limits of Models. Same thing is happening again with the absolute faith Gorebots have in climate models.

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

GMTA. I was still typing when you posted.

[steelyourfaith]

 

Beam me to Planet Gore !

[VegasCowboy]

Haven’t you heard? A real estate agent in NoCal couldn’t buy more than two 50 pound bags of rice at Costco. Ehrlich was too early. In 2009 WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE!

Funny how this alarmist rhetoric continues to scare the population. You’d think we’d begin to learn.

[the Original Dan Vik]

You can expect a visit from a Malthusian jack#ss named liberallarry to this thread very soon...he loves the politics of Overpopulationism.

[HangnJudge]

The current discussion on Global Warming has all the look and feel of the prior “Limits to Growth” hysteria. That is why it is a fitting model for our new fledgling minds to study, as they are inundated by GoreBot Mania

[neodad]

I’m almost ashamed to admit that in high school debate in the ‘80s, everyone quoted Erlich and his doomsday scenarios.

[mondoreb]

Wow, all good replies. This was the post that wouldn’t end...the more I added to it, the more additions that were needed. I compromised with an overview and a commitment to do a 3-parter on Enviro-Scares for the Memorial Day weekend...you know, to get everyone in the mood for summer!

[uncbob]

Well there is a Population Bomb like it or not

[steelyourfaith]

Great job!

[VegasCowboy]

You know, if their is a silver lining to this economic slowdown, its that perhaps the public will begin to realize that unbridled environmentalism is something we just can’t afford to allow to fester. Oil and food prices rising should wake America up to the fact that the environmental alarmists should be ignored and scorned as the gangerous kooks they are.

“Being Green” is something that people only care about if they aren’t worried about how to put food on the table. In other words, it is a luxury of a fat and happy society.

[razorback-bert]

“The End of Affluence”, Ehrlich stated, “One general prediction can be made with confidence: the cost of feeding yourself and your family will continue to increase. There may be minor fluctuations in food prices, but the overall trend will be up”. According to Ehrlich, the United States would see its life expectancy drop to 42 years by 1980 because of pesticide usage, and the nation’s population would drop to 22.6 million by 1999.

And there was the AIDS scare in the 1980's .

[VegasCowboy]

There is? Should I mark doomsday on my calendar? If so, when?

[HangnJudge]

And a lovely link to the 30th anniversary version of Limits to Growth

http://www.sustainer.org/pubs/limitstogrowth.pdf

With all the Attendant Graphs and Projections