GR.–Irresponsible growth of the human population and fossil-fuel propelled global warming endanger all life on Earth.
Joe Bish, Population Media Center.–“The author of the following essay is Kristin Lord, president and CEO of IREX, an international education and development nongovernmental organization. Ms. Lord also serves as a co-chair of the Alliance for International Youth Development.
“This essay was originally published behind a pay-wall in Foreign Policy, but the following version was re-printed in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Lord takes on the nearly incomprehensible growth in youth population around the world. The writing is mostly thought experiment, with some disconcerting facts thrown in for effect. For example, she notes that:
- In Afghanistan, Angola, Chad, East Timor, Niger, Somalia and Uganda, more than two-thirds of the population is under the age of 25.
- Every month until 2030, one million Indians will turn 18 years old.
- In the Middle East, a region of some 400 million people, nearly 65 percent of the population is younger than 30.
“Pointing out the obvious challenges these sorts of demographics present for global stability, Lord concludes the first half of her work by suggesting it is “easy to conjure a dystopic future, a Hollywood caricature of lawless developing countries dominated by gangs of young men brandishing firearms.” I suppose if reading the current international news is synonymous with conjuring the future she has a point. Otherwise, as Lord goes on with her ruminations, she attempts to inject some positive “spin” to the situation, though she is eventually forced to end on a inconclusive note.
Here come the young: the next world population boom
“As tweets and headlines skip from crisis to crisis, the largest youth population in human history is coming of age in a steady, unstoppable wave.” –Kristin Lord.
Find out why the world is unprepared. Continue reading: A World Unprepared: Waves of Youth in Fragile and Unstable States
