Quote:Our real concerns are exceeding the carrying capacity of our planet due to exponential population growth, nuclear winter due to global nuclear war, global warming and mass extinction due to acting like assholes and abusing our rain forests, estuaries and waters.According to Edward O. Wilson, there is now a trend toward smaller families. As women gain more freedom both socially and economically, they tend toward smaller families. If this trend continues, the global population will peak and level out in the neigbhorhood of 10.7 billion somewhere around 2050. Some think that the fertility rate may fall even more quickly, in which case we might find that level around 9-10 billion.World production of grain is theoretically enough to feed 10 billion people if they are mostly vegetarian. However, if the population eats much more beef as in the US, that grain production is only enough to feed about 2.5 billion. It takes a lot more grain to feed people if they insist on converting it to beef first. Unfortunately, as other areas of the world experience greater economic development, what do you suppose they want to do?Karen