Itsallaguess wrote:djbenedict wrote:There was quite a good
More or Less on this subject that I happened to hear at the weekend.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3cswk2hOne point that is made in the programme is that, on a global level, large families do not have as much of an impact on CO2 production as you might think. This is because most large families are in Africa (specifically) and the average CO2 production per capita in Africa is low, and forecast to remain low.
Most of the climate-change hypocrites that I've come into contact with, that have what I'd consider to be large families for people with such strong and vocal views on this topic - and strong enough views to tell me to turn my heating down, let's not forget - have been
developed-nation climate-change hypocrites, so my point stands...
Well, yes, of course in terms of what people have said to you, your personal experience stands. But also no, in that you have only come into contact with a tiny sample of the world population, and the fact is that the majority of women giving birth to large numbers of children do not live in 'developed nations'.
Itsallaguess wrote:Regarding Africa and their 'much lower forecasts of CO2 production', then surely it would be better to demographically prepare these countries now, before they develop their CO2-guzzling habits?
It seems to be a strange approach to what we're being told is a planet-killing issue, to simply ignore what is quite clearly the largest contributing factor with this problem, which is simply the huge numbers of people on the planet.....
Perhaps you should listen to the linked programme. The point being made is that if a section of the population does not,
per capita, produce very much CO2, then it doesn't really matter,
for total CO2 production, how numerous that section of the population is. That is a simple matter of multiplication (the numerical kind, not the reproductive kind). Secondly, it is not at all a given that these countries
will develop CO2 producing habits on the same scale as developed nations.
Taken together, these points do mean that, in actual fact it is important to change the behaviour of the societies that do produce a lot of CO2. Probably haranguing people about their thermostat's settings is counter-productive, though.