Geoengineering Y/N

[Venom]

less people would mean less minds to solve the world's problems.

I'm a big believer in quality over quantity.

And I think 8 billion humans is more than enough potential brainpower to solve the world's problems?

 

[macdoc]

Number of humans is surprisingly small against the scale of the planet

here is all 7 billion of us stacked in the Grand Canyon.

good read
https://io9.gizmodo.com/what-if-you-piled-every-human-on-earth-into-the-grand-c-1569491954?IR=T

We have the technology now to support sustainably...we just need the political will and that is severely in short supply.

 

[GlennB]

Meaningless....the question is what is the productivity per sq meter.

Well, that's superficially true but the calculations are heavy.

Productivity of city farms vs. country farms, factoring in the benefits/debits of transport, the +/- of natural vs. artificial light, fertiliser and waste water disposal. The cost of labour for workers who have to live in a city?

Then factor in the extremely high land values in major cities and the staggering rental/sale prices you can get for residential properties in places like London, NY and elsewhere. I seriously doubt that 'growing greens' in a Tokyo or LA new build high-rise is economically viable.

It's dabbling around the fringes. On a good day in ideal circumstances it might just work for minor produce, but it isn't even a useful contribution in the grand scheme of things. Wheat, maize, rice, potatoes and the rest are the key, and you won't grow useful amounts in a city.

 

[Roboramma]

Meaningless....the question is what is the productivity per sq meter.

It's certainly one of the factors involved. The cost of the entire operation needs to include the cost of the land, the cost of construction of the buildings, and the running costs.

I was simply pointing out that rjh01 was ignoring some of those factors and so his analysis was missing something.

 

[Venom]

Number of humans is surprisingly small against the scale of the planet

here is all 7 billion of us stacked in the Grand Canyon.
[qimg]https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--3qZ17JI1--/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/omjhx4iif1k5ylph9cwr.png[/qimg]

good read
https://io9.gizmodo.com/what-if-you-piled-every-human-on-earth-into-the-grand-c-1569491954?IR=T

We have the technology now to support sustainably...we just need the political will and that is severely in short supply.

Well, sure, but 2 billion of us and counting want to live like America and Europe. Per capita demand is pretty alarming don't you think.

 

[The Great Zaganza]

I'm a big believer in quality over quantity.

And I think 8 billion humans is more than enough potential brainpower to solve the world's problems?

...given the opportunity of education.

 

[macdoc]

Well, sure, but 2 billion of us and counting want to live like America and Europe. Per capita demand is pretty alarming don't you think.

No....we have the technology to do it sustainably...it's a matter of the political will to do so.

 

[The Great Zaganza]

For me, the starkest example of how counter-intuitive the rise in demand is, is in the case of energy consumption: with all our computers, TVs, Gadgets, constant light etc. etc., per capita energy consumption in the developed world has been stagnant or decreasing over the last 50 years. The reason is the massive gains in efficiency, and the result is an energy sector loath to invest in power infrastructure in a market that is shrinking.