The Next Added 100 Million Americans, Part 18
By Frosty Wooldridge (01/26/07)
Environmental Refugees - With continued U.S. population growth rates, California tops an added 20 million by 2035. Texas grows by 12 million by 2025. Every state suffers its share of the next added 100 million people.
Some experts, Vanderbilt University, tells us that U.S. population stands at 327 million people, and the growth-rate is even faster, so we will reach 400 million sooner – by 2020-2030.
As you can see, California, already at 37.5 million, absorbs the lion's share of this population "Human Katrina." At each stage along the way, as those 20 million additional people hit that state, what do you think will happen?
Is it not possible that people will fight with one-another for the shrinking natural resources?
How about water? How about clean air— California smog? How about farmland? How about growing-fields sanitization? How about traffic? How about housing? How about schools? How about standard of living? How about quality of life? How about greenhouse gases? How about grid-lock?
Ever hear the sound of a toilet flushing? Ever see one backed up? Ever see and smell the results of both? How many times can you expand a sewage-treatment plant? Where do you put the trash? That's California population-density in twenty odd years.
"Environmental Refugees"
What can we expect from adding 100 million? Call them "environmental refugees," for lack of a better term. You can bet your bottom dollar they're coming to America. If you doubt me, just travel to the Mexico border, and watch the "pulgas" that come across illegally every night. Only 20 percent are interdicted.
Human beings become environmental refugees when they exceed the carrying capacity of that portion of the planet that supported them.
Religion and Population-Growth Impacts
For better or worse, the Catholic and Islam-Muslim churches encourage unlimited birth rates. With more numbers comes more power, and more money for the churches.
If you look at the results on the world stage, environmental refugees stream into Europe out of Africa and the Middle East. If you look at Central and South America along with Mexico, those same refugees stream into the U.S. at an accelerating rate of speed.
Can realities like starvation and deaths from overpopulation change religious doctrine based on books written 2,000 years ago? It's not likely. Even in the face of severe environmental consequences, do not look for the Pope to change his stand. Neither will any Muslim leader stand up against 1,600 years of doctrine. Ancient religions lock followers into the past.
The most frightening aspect of the next added 100 million Americans stems from the fact that they won't be Americans. Do they speak English? Which national flag hangs in their home in the U.S.? Where does their primary allegiance rest?
Mexico grew from 50 million to 104 million in the last century. At the minimum, Mexico's growth will exceed 300 million by 2095 if not sooner. If they can't feed, clothe and house countless millions today, what can we expect when they triple their population?
Why is the U.S. the Lifeboat to the World's Unfortunates?
No less than 30 to 90 million destitute Mexicans -- if they can't feed, water and clothe themselves -- will move out of their country in the 21st century into the United States. Over 12-19 million Mexicans have already moved into the U.S. As their conditions worsen in their home country, millions more will migrate. Major portions of Central America will migrate with the Mexicans, leaving similar situations.
"The vision of a world teeming with environmental refugees is daunting, even for wealthy countries such as the United States," said John Cairns, University Distinguished Professor of Environmental Biology at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia.
"When countries capable of absorbing refugees are at or beyond their carrying capacity, every individual on the planet becomes a potential refugee with no place to go. The world's human population is increasing at 77 million net gain per year, but natural support-systems are decreasing."
Ecological Footprint Growing Dangerously
For every human added to the USA, at the current standard of living, 12.5 acres of land must be destroyed in order to build houses, schools, grow food, add roads, malls, hospitals and other infrastructure. It's called the "ecological footprint." As you can see, it's stomping around at an ever increasing rate of speed as numbers are added to the USA and other successful nations.
"It's abundantly clear that many countries have exceeded their carrying capacity, and can only survive by exporting surplus populations," Cairns said.
Additionally, since the United States, with five percent of the world's population, creates 25 percent of greenhouse gases -- will we take responsibility for environmental refugees flooded out of their countries or islands by rising oceans from global warming? That number could reach into the hundreds of millions.
Global Warming – Ocean Levels Rising – Resource-Competition Wars
At the same time, what about our own refugees if global warming floods Florida?
"It is becoming increasingly probable there will be teaming millions of environmental refugees -- it will mean that we were terribly wrong about the carrying capacity of the world for our species," Cairns said. "Disease, starvation and resource-competition wars will doubtless occur -- but the root cause will be a social disequilibrium resulting from overpopulation and bad long-term management of natural capital."
With the world adding 77 million people annually, that equals 3.08 billion more by 2047.
We presently stand at 6.5 billion in 2007. In 40 years, the human race will be pushing ten billion people. As mentioned before, we've got 10.5 million children under 10 years of age dying annually of starvation or starvation related diseases. In addition, an average of eight million adults die of starvation annually. As mentioned previously, we suffer 3.5 million homeless in the United States today.
Have you traveled to the border of Mexico recently? From Brownsville, Texas to San Diego, California on our side of the border they build shanty towns of cardboard and wooden pallets. Have you seen the hundreds of tons of trash, garbage, bottles, cans, cars, human waste, clothes and filth? Have you seen the 'colonias' that add tens of thousands of Mexico's poor annually? Did you know the New York Times predicted colonias, which mean 'new colonies’, will grow to 20 million by 2021?
Do you understand that when a Third World person reaches America, their 'ecological footprint' changes from zero to 10 as soon as they take a job, buy a car, rent a house, buy goods and produce waste? This occurs into the millions with legal and illegal immigration annually in 2007.
Environmental refugees that survive will converge on America and other successful Western societies at all costs.
We Can Awaken –- STOP the Onslaught – BUT, WILL WE?
That number could be reduced:
1, When world leaders accept that infinite population growth on a finite planet is not possible.
2, Humans are dependent upon this planet's ecological support systems, which they cannot continue to damage without suffering severe consequences.
3, When leaders understand that achieving sustainable use of the planet will not be possible if human population and/or per capita consumption continues increasing.
4, If humans can't or won't come to balance, nature's means of famine, disease, wars and chaos will do the job brutally. (Cairn)
5, Birth control is the only human solution that assures we remain sustainable on a finite planet.
The most astounding aspect of this series -- that ties my mind in knots -- stems from the fact that the average citizen doesn't seem to have a clue about what's coming -- and not one national leader will address it.
Why? Money! Follow the money. Every time any environmental shock wave surfaces -- like global warming, fisheries collapsing, species extinctions and oil depletion -- our leaders think of a dozen ways to obfuscate, cloud, deny or ignore our accelerating calamity. Meanwhile, citizens go about their business completely clueless.
Are We Willing to Change?
Can we stem this impending environmental refugee flood? We better! We are NOT the world's lifeboat – two billion world citizens desire to come to the U.S.
First world countries must provide economic assistance to overloaded countries. Most important, they must provide advanced birth control to stop the cycle of poverty and overpopulation. Citizens of the world must be helped in their own countries.
As in the past, until another "Hurricane Katrina" knocks American society upside the head with a whopping sledge hammer-- cultural and social changes of the magnitude illustrated in this series— won't be heeded.
While Americans may ignore nature, nature won't ignore America.
The United States tiptoes along the edge of a dangerous cliff in 2007. Americans have been skipping along that cliff for 50 years. At least two billion of the earth's humans live on less than $3 each per day. Very few Americans comprehend that kind of existence. I've seen it and it's ugly, depressing and growing by 77 million annually.
We're seeing environmental refugees stream into America from Mexico, Central America, India, China, Africa and a hundred other countries. They've added 106 million people to our country in the past 42 years. Are you ready for the next 100 million in 33 years -- and then, the next 100 million added in 25 years. The rate of growth is increasing exponentially.
Whether you are ready or not, they're coming to America.
Copyright ©2007 Frosty Wooldridge All Rights Reserved.
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