Overpopulation: The Truth In Numbers.

I will first address the issue of deforestation. My opponent states that we are taking out approximately 4.5 billion trees a year but at the same time replanting many of the trees we cut down. This does not account for the reported contribution to carbon dioxide emissions. According to (3), "it is estimated that more than 1.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide are released to the atmosphere due to deforestation, mainly the cutting and burning of forests, every year." In this same article, they also state that 30 million acres (121,406 square kilometers, 46,875 square miles) of forest are lost per year to deforestation. That would mean that not all of the forests we slash down are being replaced. The act of deforestation accounts for up to a third of the total anthropogenic carbon dioxide discharge according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC) (1). Another source that sites the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is (4). It states that approximately 1/4 of world greenhouse gas emissions come from tropical deforestation. This problem is worldwide. The effects of deforestation are due to not the replanting of the trees, but the removal of them, and in fact they do not contribute a large amount of oxygen to the atmosphere (2). The majority of O2 reserves produced by forests are used up by the creatures that inhabit them (2). I concede that due to the efforts we put towards reforestation, we help to mitigate the problems we are creating due to deforestation. These efforts only help in that they remove carbon from the atmosphere and mitigate the effects of the deforestation we are already committing. This does not stop us from committing the act of deforestation and it is still a problem that contributes to the effects of climate change (5). Global warming is the result of a rise in the average temperature of Earth's atmosphere since the late 19th century (6). The causes for global warming vary. My opponent states that global warming is a result of nature's contribution to Carbon Emissions and man has made insignificant contributions to the greenhouse effect. However, as (7) states, "the global atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide has increased from a pre-industrial value of about 280 ppm to 379 ppm in 2005. The atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide in 2005 exceeds by far the natural range over the last 650,000 years (180 to 300 ppm) as determined from ice cores." Even though we have taken measure to prevent the increase of greenhouse gases already present within the atmosphere, our contribution cannot be neglected. In (8) the graph shows the pre-1750 topospheric concentration of several gas compounds. It shows that in pre-industrial times many of the chemicals now in our atmosphere are due to man, not nature. These chemicals include many which were not around previous to the pre-1750s. In (9) a graph of the Glacial-Interglacial Ice Core Data is shown for the past 600,000 years. It shows that within the past 255 years the concentration of atmospheric CO2 has increased from 280 ppm to 379 ppm. While over the previous 8,000 years and before Industrialization in the 1750s, CO2 had only increased by 20 ppm. This can be shown in (9)(12) as well as the IPCCs fourth report. This almost certainly shows that man has had a significant impact on the increase of Carbon Dioxide emissions as well as other greenhouse gases(8)(10)(11, table 2.1). Now, my opponent has stated that the effects of mankind on the climate are negligible. The data above shows that this is not the case, and that Industrialization of nations is a direct cause to anthropocentric global warming. These are just the reasons for why man is one of the causes of global warming. There are also drastic consequences to the planet becoming warmer. These include various changes in weather such as an increasing amount of, "irreversible dry-season rainfall reductions in several regions comparable to those of the "dust bowl" era and inexorable sea level rise." (13). This is just one of the results of abrupt climate change, as there are others. One of the problems that we face is pollution, which global warming contributes to (14). Pollution can be defined in this instance as the act of contaminating an environment with harmful or poisonous substances(15)(16)(17). There are many kinds of pollution and some of them are as follows: Air pollution, light pollution, soil contamination, and water pollution. The health effects of air pollution are egregious. Due to the insidious nature of many of the gases we release into the air through fuel consumption, industrial production, non-industrial sources, and transportation (18), we breath these in and they can have lasting health deficits for the living organisms of our planet. The top method in which particles are released into the air is through combustion. What is released in the air after this is not only water and carbon dioxide, but a host of other small particles and gases, include carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide (18)(19). These when breathed in have a wide range of negative health effects on human beings. The effect of particular matter including, " (1) inhibiting and inactivating mucociliary streaming (2) killing or neutralizing alveolar macrophages (3) constricting airways (4) causing vasodilation and excess mucous secretion (5) causing changes in alveolar cell wall structure through abscesses and thickening which causes scar formation (6) traveling to other parts of the body, e.g., blood and heart." (18). The dangers of Carbon Monoxide include poisoning and problems with the cardiovascular system (chronically). It is a result of emissions from fossil fuels and the burning of biomass. The impact of pollution on death is very serious, and strong correlations have been established between air pollution and death. In the Guardian, Professor George Knox wrote, "Correlations with pneumonia deaths were exceptional. High mortality rates were observed in areas with elevated ambient pollution levels. The strongest side effect was an increase in pneumonia deaths." (20). This is just an example of the many problems that can be associated with air pollution. Light pollution is another form of pollution that is a result of human activity. There are actual documented effects from that of increased lighting concerning its negative effects on animals, including humans. First and foremost, it is a use of energy to keep lights on at night. This is not only a waste of energy, but a misuse of it. When the energy consumption for lighting in the US is about 461 billion kWh in 2011 (21), it is no wonder you can see the lights very easily from the ISS(International Space Station) at night. To mention only the amount of energy we give to lighting would not do this topic justice, as there are adverse effects to lighting up the night sky. Not only does it prevent Astronomers from looking up and seeing the Milky Way, it also can have adverse effects on human and animal health and psychology (22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27). There is evidence as late as December 2010 for light pollution increasing air pollution. Nitrate radical, which is destroyed by sunlight, is one of the chemicals in our atmosphere that breaks down smog and ozone. Due to the light energy emitted by Los Angeles, there are indications that there is a reduction in the amount of nitrate radical in the sky (28). Light pollution can also affect birds, sea turtles, and even salamanders (29). Light pollution is no joke and it is affecting our world. Soil contamination is when hazardous substances mix with the naturally occurring soil. It results when these hazardous materials are spilled or directly buried into the soil or move to the soil from a spill. Contaminants in the soil can hurt living organisms by coming into direct contact with the soil. For humans and animals they can also be exposed when they consume plants which have absorbed contaminants from their root (30). An index of all the various contaminants that can inhabit our soil is provided in (31). Many countries have their own criteria for soil contamination and often give values of the contaminants that are acceptable or that require immediate cleanup. For example, in China, soil contamination is a growing concern, and is only recently being addressed (32). Water Pollution is the result of natural bodies of water being contaminated by chemical, physical, radioactive or pathogenic microbial substances (33). Chemical water pollutants are atoms or molecules that have been distributed into naturally occurring bodies of water. Physical water pollutants are larger particles or physical factors such as temperature change, which can cause a variety of harmful effects (33). Common pathogens in natural water bodies are from untreated sewage and surface runoff from intensive livestock grazing (33). The problem with our food supply is not that of quantity, but of distribution. We have enough food to feed the world, yet they go unfed. This is a problem with the economic and political systems in place. This is a question of whether or not we can change our habits to fit the needs of the people worldwide. It is estimated that nearly 870 million people, or approximately 1/8 people, are chronically undernourished (34). Due to unequal income distribution and lack of resources, hunger prevails around the world. The World Bank estimated that 1.345 billion people live on $1.25 a day or less (34). In order to produce food, we need sound agricultural practices. These have gone out the window with modernization. There is a growing concern about the sustainability of the modern food production system 35). "Evidence has accumulated showing that whereas the present capital- and technology-intensive farming systems have been extremely productive and competitive, they also bring a variety of economic, environmental, and social problems." (35). I have more but there is a character limit I will comment with rest. =)