Sure, the human population is no longer growing exponentially.
Which is to say it isn't "booming".
But mean resource use and pollution per capita is still growing.
Indeed total resource is huge and massively destructive but that use isn't even happening in any uniform per capita basis but rather some individuals, processes and organizations consume far more than others. Bitcoin for example, air conditioning Dubai for example, etc, etc.
I didn't argue that resource use and pollution per capita is uniform. It's obviously not.
But damn, just look at the aggregate indicators. CO2 emissions are still growing exponentially. Ecological degradation is increasing exponentially. We're starting to see widespread firestorms across the northern hemisphere.
I agree we in a horrible, crisis situation. I simply believe pointing to overpopulation as a primary cause is wrong headed. The world's nations could stop a country's worth of energy use tomorrow by banning bitcoin as just a single example. There are other, harder examples but the (awful) problem of stopping runaway really doesn't seem related to a "booming" human population - the quote I originally took issue with.
The causes are co-option and destruction of ecosystems, and various sorts of pollution. I do agree that it's inaccurate to focus on overpopulation. Still, some impacts, such as ecosystem co-option for agriculture, and harvesting wood for fuel, are substantial even without industrial development.
Also, expecting industrial development to moderate growth rates in rapidly growing populations is iffy. Time lags could push systems into regimes with positive feedback. Ultimately, though, human populations will crash, and stuff will head back toward equilibrium.
The only possible solution is policy changes that force a significant decrease in resource usage among a wide swath of the developed and less-developed population. That solution would be necessary regardless of the level of population increase we're going to see. The population increase is going to correct itself. The resource usage so far does not seem like it's going.
And certainly, populations in less developed areas have done and can quite a bit of damage - but that damage can only be corrected by state policies to prevent poor resource usage.
Also, expecting industrial development to moderate growth rates in rapidly growing populations is iffy.
This has occurred in a fairly predictable rate over the majority of the world's area. India, the Mid-East and Africa are basically the primary areas of growing population in the world.
Which is to say it isn't "booming".
But mean resource use and pollution per capita is still growing.
Indeed total resource is huge and massively destructive but that use isn't even happening in any uniform per capita basis but rather some individuals, processes and organizations consume far more than others. Bitcoin for example, air conditioning Dubai for example, etc, etc.