GETTY Dr Travis Rieder claims reducing the number of babies born each year could save the world

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Dr Travis Rieder, a moral philosophy professor and bioethicist at Johns Hopkins University, claims reducing the number of babies born each year could save the world. Economists have long used four factors to determine just how much carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere. Known as the Kaya identity it involves how carbon-heavy fuels are, how much energy the economy needs to produce GDP, GDP per capita and population.

Contributing a child to the world makes climate change worse Dr Travis Rieder

Dr Rieder warns if people refuse to make adjustments to their carbon footprint then everybody will need to think about having smaller families to save the planet. He said: “There are 19 million adoptable orphans, and there's catastrophic climate change on the horizon. "Contributing a child to the world both makes climate change worse and, if we don't get our act together, it might actually not be all that great for the child either.”

GETTY Dr Rieder said population control has been overlooked for years during climate change discussions

GETTY The professor said larger families need to face up to their responsibility to the planet

GETTY It’s estimated 350,000 babies are born worldwide every day

Dr Rieder, whose book on the subject is due to be published later this year, said population control has been overlooked for years during climate change discussions. He said: “Well, the argument goes like this: Okay, humans have shown me that they're just not willing to give up their toys. “And so we need another option on the table. You want to continue to live in your 10,000-square-foot house? You know, fly private jets around, and that kind of thing? Well, that would mean a lot fewer people on the Earth. “Population is a central part of the equation for total emissions, but that gets kind of looked over because people don't like to talk about it.

“Total emissions is per-capita emissions times population, minus technological advances. “We've been trying to get you to give up your toys—to change per-capita emissions. “So if you're really going to continue to show reluctance, well, here's the other option: We'll start putting pressure on families. “If that pressure's really, really, really undesirable, then, well, maybe people decide to start doing the other thing.”

GETTY Dr Rieder said contributing a child to the world contributes to climate change

GETTY The world is on course to warm up by four degrees Celsius by the end of the century

It’s estimated 350,000 babies are born worldwide every day, outnumbering the number of deaths and contributing to the speed of climate change. Dr Rieder, a father-of-one, has faced a major backlash over his argument but insists “most people don’t find it undesirable”. He said: “Demographic trends the world over show when you give women choice, you educate them, you give them power in the household, and you start to fight back against patriarchal society, then fertility rates go down.” Climatologists have warned without drastic change the world is on course to warm up by four degrees Celsius by the end of the century.

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