« on: August 05, 2009, 09:43:26 AM »
But if you do make sure that they are Chinese. Also, don't be fat and don't divorce! Be kind to Mother Gaea!
This is an excerpt from Yahoo News, all emphasis is my own:
Save the Planet: Have Fewer Kids
livescience.com – Mon Aug 3, 12:18 pm ET
For people who are looking for ways to reduce their "carbon footprint," here's one radical idea that could have a big long-term impact, some scientists say: Have fewer kids.
A study by statisticians at Oregon State University concluded that in the United States, the carbon legacy and greenhouse gas impact of an extra child is almost 20 times more important than some of the other environment-friendly practices people might employ during their entire lives - things like driving a high mileage car, recycling, or using energy-efficient appliances and light bulbs.
"In discussions about climate change, we tend to focus on the carbon emissions of an individual over his or her lifetime," said study team member Paul Murtaugh. "Those are important issues and it's essential that they should be considered. But an added challenge facing us is continuing population growth and increasing global consumption of resources."
Reproductive choices haven't gained as much attention in the consideration of human impact to the Earth, Murtaugh said. When an individual produces a child - and that child potentially produces more descendants in the future - the effect on the environment can be many times the impact produced by a person during their lifetime.
A child's impact
Under current conditions in the United States, for instance, each child ultimately adds about 9,441 metric tons of carbon dioxide to the carbon legacy of an average parent - about 5.7 times the lifetime emissions for which, on average, a person is responsible.
The impact doesn't only come through increased emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases - larger populations also generate more waste and tax water supplies.
Other offbeat environmental impacts have been in the news recently:
* One 2007 study found that divorce squanders resources, because people who once shared resources such as energy now use twice as much under two roofs.
* The current obesity epidemic may also be hurting the climate, because food production is a major contributor to global warming.
The impact of having children differs between countries. While some developing nations have much higher populations and rates of population growth than the United States, their overall impact on the global carbon equation is often reduced by shorter life spans and less consumption. The long-term impact of a child born to a family in China is less than one-fifth the impact of a child born in the United States, the study found.
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More on this urgent news, here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20090803/sc_livescience/savetheplanethavefewerkids
« Last Edit: August 05, 2009, 09:44:40 AM by Tarheel »
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