Rampant population growth coupled with increasing longevity, begs the question whether unchecked growth is still possible given the human’s voracious appetite for resources. Has a pivotal moment been attained when the rate of consumption, wasteful use of resources and the befouling of the environment in concert with population growth culminates in dire consequences for humanity?
Just take your utility bill and consider what 200 000 more people will mean in terms of just two resources: water and electricity.
Main picture: A lignite power plant contaminates the air with its emissions
In the McCleland household for one month it states that we consumed 3767 litres of water per day. That equates to 1255 litres per water per person per day. When confronted with this indisputable information, most people will be in denial as to their personal consumption. When asked to guess what their usage is, they will estimate it to be below 100 litres per day. 
Ironically, this is merely the tip of the iceberg. In the manufacture of all the goods and services that they consume, the total resource consumption is probably a factor of 100. This number will strain credulity. Their steadfast conviction will be that somebody else is responsible for that level of usage. These comments might give pause to some but to most it will merely be a number.
Let us focus on the electricity consumption. At 26kwh per day, that equates to 8 kwh per person.
The unpalatable reality is that again, this figure is a tiny fraction of the total electricity consumption required to maintain one’s standard of living. Tellingly nobody is able to personally accept responsibility for such vast amounts of electricity. Would the labelling of all products with the electricity and water consumption required to manufacture them give people pause before the discard an item?
An Indonesian surfer Dede Surinaya rides a wave of filth and trash (Java, Indonesia).
Most would offer an indifferent response to the fact that aluminium consumed 40 litres of water in its manufacture. Just consider that for a moment: 40 litres of water is required to manufacture an item that would be consumed nonchalantly in 5 to 10 minutes and ten discarded. It is not better if it were in a plastic bottle as that would have required 95 litres of water to manufacture. Would knowing these facts change one’s consumption patterns?
A massive waterfall from melting pack ice. These masses are the only meltwater on earth and the undeniable proof of how swiftly climate change is advancing.
My BMW parked outside required approximately one tonne of steel to manufacture. At 237 000 litres of water per tonne of steel and used 7600 litres to produce the tyres, it is a heck of a lot of water.
To the last drop: an oilfield in California and its merciless overexploitation by humans
Just some quick facts as food for thought:
Humans today extract and use around 50% more natural resources than only 30 years ago, at about 60 billion tonnes of raw materials a year.
This is equivalent to the weight of around 41,000 Empire State Buildings.
This polar bear starved to death in Svalvard, Norway. Disappearing ice caps are robbing polar bears of both their living space and food
People in rich countries consume up to 10 times more natural resources than those in the poorest countries.
On average, an inhabitant of North America consumes around 90 kilograms (kg) of resources each day. In Europe, consumption is around 45 kg per day, whereas in Africa people consume only around 10 kg per day.
While the entire world watched the events of Fukushima, a massive heat and power station was burning just a few miles away. All attempts to extinguish it were in vain
With almost 3 tonnes per capita per year, Europe is the continent with the highest net-imports of resources
A landfill for worn-out tires in the desert of Nevada
The world economy today uses around 30% fewer resources to produce one Euro or Dollar of GDP than 30 years ago; however, overall resource use is still increasing.
Resource efficiency has improved steadily in Europe and globally. However, as we consume growing amounts of products and services, this positive trend is more than outweighed by the overall growth of our economies
The blunder of the Brazilian rain forest is being repeated here in Canada
In order to create a more sustainable and equitable world, regions with high levels of per-capita resource use, such as Europe, will need to sharply decrease their resource use in absolute terms
The view over the overdeveloped metropole of Mexico City (with more than 20 million inhabitants).
An elephant killed by poachers left to rot
The rainforest in flames – goats used to graze here
Trails of excessive air traffic over London
A massive truck delivers a load of oil sands for processing. Oil sand is considered the energy source of the future
A simple herd farmer cannot withstand the stink of the Yellow River in Inner Mongolia
A waste incineration plant and its surroundings in Bangladesh
A fire storm plows through Colorado – increased incidences of wild fires is a result of climate change
The scars left behind from the mining of oil sands in the Canadian province of Alberta
In Oregon, this thousand year old forest fell victim to the chainsaw for a new dam
The area around Almeria in Spain is littered with greenhouses as far as the eye can see – simply for a richly filled dinner table
Poachers pose proudly display the coat of a Siberian tiger
The Mir Mine in Russia, the largest diamond mine in the world
A dead albatross shows what happens when we litter. A living dumpster
And yet another megatropolis – a bird’s eye view of New Delhi (over 22 million inhabitants)
Paradise almost lost – the Maldives, a popular vacation spot that is threatened by rising sea levels
The beginning of Black Friday at an electronics store in Boise, Idaho
Tons of broken electronics end up in developing countries and are stripped for precious metals by using deadly substances
So how much resources will those 200 000 babies today consume when they grow up?
“When the Last Tree Is Cut Down, the Last Fish Eaten, and the Last Stream Poisoned, You Will Realize That You Cannot Eat Money.”
This prophecy is becoming a more and more brutal reality. But, even today, not every person is aware of the horrific effects our lifestyles have on nature. So share these evocative pictures with everyone.
Hi Dean
A subject close to my heart. Regretfully, we are in the minority. When will it end, we do not know.
I have again listened to a beautiful and thought provoking song in afrikaans based on the old “bobbejaan klim die berg” In the new version, called “Die laaste brandwag”, The Last Look Out by Andries Bezuidenhout the singer mentions the following narrative by the baboon.
Loose translation, We are wary of leopards and eagles but the cruelist killer walks on two legs, with our genes lies in bed at night in the spoon position. No more wild fruits, only barbed wire fencing separating us from the orchards, rivers are dry and now in piping. With an empty stomach and the poisoned earth burning my feet.You have ignored my call (hulpkreet) for help. The Earth accusing the human race.
Your photos reminded me of a lady that complained about the noise that the Bullfrogs make in their new upmarket estate!
I agree with an article I read the other day, “if we do not help nature, nature will help it self” we are seeing it in global warming. Seeing is believing, having grown up in Gauteng I recall the very cold winters, frost on the grass wherever you looked and everything was brown. Now the lawns are still green, our roses that need pruning are full of leaves and some are still sprouting flowers.
Thank you for the food for thought!
This has undoubtedly been the warmest winter that I have known in Gauteng over the 35 years that I have lived here. Normally we would have experienced frost on numerous occasions but now it has not really been cold.