imagine yourself on an island..say 50 square miles....you have fish, coconuts, a small population of birds, some fruit trees...perhaps a few 'small' game animals...you are doing just fine...then there is a nearby shipwreck, and 50 families (say, 200 people) splash ashore to 'share' with you...well, each family gets a square mile of space..maybe...(mountains, gullies, beach DO cut this down..)...and no rescue in sight. They start reproducing...just how many people can comfortably live there? 400?..1000?...who knows? Does it depend on how far you have to go out to catch fish? On the fresh water supply? On sanitary conditions? On how much shelter you can build from the fruit trees?..(no wait, we have to EAT those fruits)...on peoples different ideas of 'personal space'? On seasonal changes?..............

You KNOW the island can't support 1,000,000 people...how bout 100,000?...ummmmm...not with no outside support for medicines, building supplies., etc....10,000?...Would YOU wanta live there? ........This is called "carrying capacity"...never an exact figure, but a way to describe limits, such as how many lab rats can live in a cage. (even with food and water available they do NOT have fun past a certain point)

so, my friends...the earth is only a BIG island with special properties. How many can it hold? No simple answer, it is true...**IF** we had perfect distribution of resources and the BEST possible recycling it is one #....if we are less than perfect it is another. And when you toss in that variable called "quality of life", it is still a 3rd #. It is projected that we may have about 12 billion by 2050. I, for one, am glad I shall not see that...I HATE it that my son might. My own opinion as to what is a reasonable number so that science and resources might have a chance to keep them all fed and sort of comfortable??.............we passed it in about 1947...2 to 2 1/2 billion.

Argue all you want, but YOU better be right about the # you choose...and no amount of religious quoting of the biblical passage "be fruitful and multiply" or economic analysis that claims that "growth" is necessary for a society, is going to help when you are struggling for a meal in the same way they are in Somalia. There are uses for 'empty space' and we need park lands and jungle. And I do not think I would like 'Soylent Green'.

The thing about 'carrying capacity' is that the upper limits MUST be approached slowly and VERY carefully!....If you guess wrong, it is not easy to back off.......so far, we are not doing that........