Actually the US population has probably been over 300 million for sometime but all those people who mow lawns, cook meal, clean houses and mind children in California, Arizona, Texas and Florida are so darn hard to count.
But seriously folks, as the American population crosses the 300 million barrier (whenever that was or will be) perhaps it is time for some reflection on whether, with the population swiftly, the American lifestyle can be sustained. The Western world as a whole, and America in particular, is consuming the Earth's resources at a pace that is mind boggling. Western leaders after suggest to the emerging and undeveloped nations that they and their populations should aspire to the Western dream of unfettered consumption and consumerism.
We all need to take a hard look at how we live and what it means to the planet we live on. We will all need to make adjustments to that lifestyle; the sooner we make these adjustments the greater the probability we may be able to stem and reverse the changes that are clearly already occurring.
This past Monday was the day when the world as a whole went into ecological debt for the year. That means by Monday we had consumed all of the resources that planet can safely replenish. For the balance of this year we are borrowing from the future.
A few key statistics to consider:
But seriously folks, as the American population crosses the 300 million barrier (whenever that was or will be) perhaps it is time for some reflection on whether, with the population swiftly, the American lifestyle can be sustained. The Western world as a whole, and America in particular, is consuming the Earth's resources at a pace that is mind boggling. Western leaders after suggest to the emerging and undeveloped nations that they and their populations should aspire to the Western dream of unfettered consumption and consumerism.
We all need to take a hard look at how we live and what it means to the planet we live on. We will all need to make adjustments to that lifestyle; the sooner we make these adjustments the greater the probability we may be able to stem and reverse the changes that are clearly already occurring.
This past Monday was the day when the world as a whole went into ecological debt for the year. That means by Monday we had consumed all of the resources that planet can safely replenish. For the balance of this year we are borrowing from the future.
A few key statistics to consider:
- US per capita annual water consumption - 1,632 cubic metres
- World per capita annual water consumption - 633 cubic metres
- Developing world per capita annual water consumption - 545 cubic metres
- US per capita carbon dioxide emissions - 19.8 metric tonnes
- World per capita carbon dioxide emissions - 3.9 metric tonnes
- Developing world per capita carbon dioxide emissions - 1.8 metric tonnes
- US per capita energy consumption - 7,921 (equivalent) kilograms of oil
- World per capita energy consumption - 1,631 kg oil
- Developing world per capita energy consumption - 828 kg of oil
A few other enticing figures:
- US annual burger consumption - 58 billion (193 per person!)
- Number of obese Americans - 54 million (18% of the population or 1 obese American per 1075 burgers per annum
- American deaths related to obesity - 300,000 (0.6% of obese Americans or 1 per every 193,000 burgers per annum
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