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How much land does it take to hold 6 billion people? To give you an idea, consider the small nation of Japan. It has about 143,000 square miles of area. One square mile has 5280 * 5280 = 27.9 million square feet. Japan has a total of about 4 trillion square feet, enough to give each person of the earth 670 square feet. If we housed people in families of four in simple two-level buildings (8 people per building, one family of four per level), each building could be on a lot of over 5300 square feet. (Of course, I've ignored that fact that many parts of Japan would be unsuitable for dwelling places, and I've neglected the land needed for roads, parks, schools, etc.) In a land area as small as Japan, the entire population of the earth could be housed on lots of 5300 square feet, with 8 people per lot. That's smaller than the typical American lot of about 8000 square feet, but it's not unbearably small.If we insisted on American standards, with only 4 people per lot of at least 8,000 square feet, then Gale Lyle Pooley shows that an area the size of Texas plus Nevada would be adequate (op. cit., p. 93). That would make those two states less attractive, perhaps, but it would leave the rest of the world for food production, animal reserves, nature movies, Woodstock festivals, or whatever. In terms of the real resources of this planet, we are not overpopulated.

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Patlal said:

iwasaClown said:

Have you guys ever roadtripped across any country?
There's plently of room, this is B.S., move out of the city, people.

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I dont think space is the issue here. It more the fresh water... then again lets boil ocean water right? Food is no issue, ever since we managed to invent nitrogen fertilizers we can grow food for like 15 billion. As for the pollution, someone will come up with that brialliant idea.

Wait a minute.... Is there a problem????

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Jonathan Wright and David Richards have created a machine that's similar to Whisson's, except that it resembles a collapsible pull-behind camper more than it favors a windmill. This invention -- which its creators call AquaMagic -- pulls air directly from the area surrounding it. Inside the machine, the air is cooled via a refrigerated coil. The air condenses, and the water is collected, purified, and released through a spigot.

The AquaMagic machine -- which currently cost about $28,000 per unit -- can produce up to 120 gallons of purified water in 24 hours, and since it's small it can be toted to disaster sites and Sub-Saharan Africa alike. But it also has one drawback: To produce this much water, AquaMagic requires about 12 gallons of diesel fuel. It's here that the Whisson Windmill (which runs about $43,000 per unit) has a clear advantage over AquaMagic: It's totally green. It runs exclusively on wind power, requiring no fossil fuel. Even the condenser runs off the power generated by the windmill's turbines.

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aiyobro said:

Dear Science.

They should start cuttin the clits off in those african countries like they used to, it'd make the world a heck of a lot safer.

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blujay said:

Patlal said:

iwasaClown said:

Have you guys ever roadtripped across any country?
There's plently of room, this is B.S., move out of the city, people.

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I dont think space is the issue here. It more the fresh water... then again lets boil ocean water right? Food is no issue, ever since we managed to invent nitrogen fertilizers we can grow food for like 15 billion. As for the pollution, someone will come up with that brialliant idea.

Wait a minute.... Is there a problem????

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As someone who works on a farm, take that statement, put it in your butt, and leave.

The amount of produce we can churn out will not meet global requirements if we continue to harbour massive urban populations. Have you driven across the country? Notice what most of it already is? Farmland...

You're right about the water thing though, it's the first limiting factor I think.

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