We've Got the Whole World in Our Hands

by Rachel Craddock

I’m in an ecology class here that is focusing on human impact on the earth and what that means for our future… and for our present. It’s been eyeopening and also rather terrifying for me at times to realize that we are quickly backing ourselves into a corner on our own planet because of over-consumption and overproduction. I've been saying to myself for the past couple weeks that I think everyone should be required to take a class like this, and now it’s time for me to post a blog, so I thought I would take this opportunity to share some of what I've been learning.

First, a couple definitions:

Ecology: the study of the relationship between organisms and their environment. (Dr. Hatcher taught us that the word ecology comes from the Greek oikos, “the family household,” and logy, “the study of”).

Carrying capacity: the number of individuals of a single species that can be maintained over time in an area without harming the habitat.

Several scientists and otherwise knowledgeable people have estimated the earth’s carrying capacity, but we have managed to outgrow every single one. The UN’s current predictions are that by 2050 our 7 billion+ population will hit 9.3 billion, and assuming this happens, living conditions are going to have to change. Why? Because we are burning through our resources at an unbelievable and unsustainable rate.

Especially us.
As in US.
The United States.

We make up only 5% of the world population, but we consume 40% of world’s resources.

Meanwhile, around the world, 1 in 8 live in a slum, 1 billion are chronically hungry, and 8 million die from famine each year.

According to the UN, in 2050 1 in 3 will live in a slum; there will be 2 billion more mouths to feed; and to meet projected demand, farmers will need to double crop production (which means we’re going to have to produce more food in the next 40 years than we have in the last 10,000)—but most of the earth's best farmland (~3.7 acres) is already "in production." 

Here's a video that explains a lot better than I can what's going on: 

The need to change the way we live is real, and it’s urgent. People keep having babies without the ability to care for them properly and people keep demanding more, more, more… and we are running out of and/or destroying the room we have left. Can we stop this before we find out what our carrying capacity is? How can we find more sustainable ways of doing things? How can we get everyone to change?

I have to admit that I don’t know.

I've been wrestling with this all semester long, feeling afraid, angry, and somewhat helpless. But I do know one small way to help is education, so I’m doing my part in that right now in posting this.

I've grown up hearing that God has called us to be stewards of this earth, but it’s never really sunk in until now. And now that I know what I know, I can’t pretend that I never heard it. I've got to do something, and I've got to encourage my brothers and sisters in Christ to do the same. We cannot use our religion to placate us. We cannot blindly believe that we can continue living the way we have been and not have an effect on our environment because God is in control… yes, He is in control, and we thank Him for that!, but do remember that God didn't tell us He was going to be the steward of the earth—He told us we were going to be. So let’s start taking that responsibility, opening our eyes, and realizing that what we do affects everything and everyone around us. Let’s find some ways to fix this.