The eco-weenies think that there are way to many people on the earth. Among other things, they say we are running out of space – why else do our land use planners keep speaking "smart growth" which invariably means:
- Setting up regulations so as to not allow folk to live how and where they want (as if the planners know better) – eliminate "suburban sprawl"
- Almost always working for either the status quo or herding folks towards more dense living situations (so as to be more eco-friendly: it’s GOOD for us!)
Anyways, Professor Don Boudreux (Ph.D, economics) of George Mason University has this little tidbit:
Actually, it’s coincidental that you mention overcrowding. Just this morning my friend Barry Connor sent me the following e-mail: “If all [7 billion] people on earth were given an area of 3.5 sq. ft. (18″ x 28″), they all could stand in the City of Jacksonville, Florida. This calculation is accurate. Check it out. Literally, we have barely scratched the surface of the earth.”
True, 3.5 square feet per person ain’t much room, but Jacksonville is only a tiny fraction of all land in the U.S. – and its size is a rounding error in relation to the amount of land in the earth’s temperate zones.
Do you have contrary evidence or arguments that the earth is, in fact, overcrowded?
(H/T: Cafe Hayek)
