We all know what an atomic bomb is and does, i.e. it instantly vaporizes all life in the vicinity of the blast, and later kills people contaminated by radiation.

We have spent the last half century aware of this threat, hoping that it will not be used, that it will be well guarded against accidental use, and that it will mean death for everybody, if it is used. However, although the cold war dangers seemed to have subsided, there are still enough bombs to destroy our planet many times over.

Also, more and more nations are learning to manufacture them, and other groups are scrambling to either buy them, or buy the parts to manufacture them . It is not reassuring that desperate and angry people may eventually get hold of them.

Adding to that ever-present threat, humanity must now be aware of, and deal with many other slow-growing, cancer like looming catastrophes which are threatening the very existence of humanity on this planet

These are: deforestation, no more fish in the sea, water and food shortages, pollution, climate change, mountains of waste, choking traffic, unemployment, poverty, starvation, illegal migration, re-surging piracy, terrorism, unmanageable national debts,… and more.

Moreover, it is alarming to note that after 30 years of concerted efforts by governments, environmentalists and other concerned people, none of the calamities listed shows any significant improvement; on the contrary, they are all accelerating out of control.

Considering the logical consequences, doomsday seem a not too far off certainty. But not wanting to give up, my faint hope for the survival of my family is based on the recognition that the root cause and the common denominator of all the listed calamities can be traced to OVERPOPULATION. It can, therefore be said that the listed looming catastrophes are only ” SYMPTOMS” OF THE REAL ILLNESS namely OVERPOPULATION.

“No longer young” people like me can testify from living experience that in the 60,s when the world population was 3.4 billion people, all the deadly calamities listed above could realistically be classified as “manageable problems”.

Consequently, even if there may be other contributing issues, doubling the world population to 7 billion in 40 years has to be the main cause of all the troubles facing humanity!

Perhaps POPULATION EXPLOSION is the wrong name to use for this seemingly slow process that led to the current OVERPOPULATION CRISIS, but we need to understand that this slow-growing cancer is just as disastrous and lethal for humanity as the atom bomb.

Since the start of the 20th century and perhaps as a result of the many people killed in the wars, the number of people born all over the world by far exceeded the number required to replace the dying. This rapid population growth led to economic growth, wealth generation, and unprecedented comfortable levels of standard of living, the world was having a good time.

But without any global population strategy or guidance, while people were living perfectly ordinary productive and increasingly prosperous lives, the number of people on earth was growing beyond the ability of the earth to support humans as it had always done before.

Few people noticed the early population explosion, until the end of the 20th century, when many sounded alarm bells. However, for trivial reasons, totally unworthy of the gravity of the situation, the world was not prepared to listen, or even debate the issue. Even now, that the well reported damage to our life support systems may have surpassed tipping points of no reversibility, the world continue to ignore overpopulation, and attempts to cure individual symptoms like CO2 emissions, with spectacular failures like Copenhagen.

For endangering the lives of billions of people, in addition to reckless lack of wisdom and deep-rooted stupidity, there can only be suspicions of less than valid reasons; such as: Fear of unemployment and civil unrest by governments, fear of controversial issues and vested interests by the media, and big business wanting more and more people as purchasing fodder.

But there can no longer be ANY REASON for supporting the 1967 agreement, added to the U.N. universal declaration of human rights, which gives families the right to have unlimited numbers of children, regardless of their ability to support them.

For a rigorous analysis of this agreement see “THE TRAGEDY OF THE COMMONS” by Garrett Hardin at this link: http:/bit.ly/c7jSKO

As the planet continues to be abused by people who reproduce like perpetual cluster bombs, and that grow at the rate of 200.000 per day, or 75 millions per year, governments and media must now acknowledge overpopulation, and regulate or enforce sustainable lifestyles.

The future has always been unpredictable, but we face grim prospect in the 21st century, as we hold onto our lifestyle and refuse to change anything, we are likely to either be vaporised by atom bombs, or fight and kill each other like rats in an overcrowded cage.

But in the unlikely scenario that we combine intelligence, wisdom, and sacrifice to do the necessary changes, we might survive and even restore some of the things worth living for.

-33.923776 18.423345