There are not enough resources to support the world’s population
We have reached a stage where the amount of resources needed to sustain our population exceeds what is available
Many years ago, as a second year medical student, I attended a lecture on human population by my tutor at Cambridge, Colin Bertram. He argued as a biologist that relentless population increase by any species is always ultimately unsustainable; numbers increase to the limits of the carrying capacity of their environment and when they overshoot this, their numbers always collapse. If we allow unremitting population growth to continue we humans cannot escape the same fate; however cleverly we might adapt to all the different environments on earth, we only have one finite planet to live on and 70 per cent of it is salt water, and half of the remainder is desert, mountain, icecap or fast-disappearing forest.
Dr Bertram’s lecture startled me and established the direction of my medical career. I felt some guilt that doctors had inadvertently caused the population problem through vastly better death control while birth rates remained high. I decided that, as an about-to-be doctor, I should try to restore balance, and what more appropriate medical specialty could there be than family planning? So I arranged higher training in gynaecology (specialising in hormonal and intrauterine contraception) and also in surgery (hence my career total of 5000 vasectomies and ongoing research into a new male pill).
Brexit and the Transnational Triumph of Ignorance
partly an expression of nationalism that has become so strong a tendency in the politics of so many nations that it can be considered the prime defining characteristic of the current era. It also was an expression of xenophobia that is shaping much of the politics of the very European continent from which the Brexiteers want to separate themselves and has become a major part of the U.S. presidential campaign
The ‘Leave’ Camp Won. That Doesn’t Mean Brexit Will Happen.Referendums aren’t binding. Just ask the Greeks, who voted to reject EU austerity measures and then saw their government cave anyway.
Elegy For the Arctic
Greenpeace has released a haunting video of renowned Italian pianist and composer Ludovico Einaudi performing before Norway's Wahlenbergbreen glacier, cracking and groaning even as he plays.
Private Home Prices On Downward Trend For 11 Consecutive Quarters
Prices of private homes in Singapore have fallen 11 quarters in a row, based on flash estimates released this morning by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).
The overall decrease of 0.4% in the second quarter for 2016 (2Q16) was led by a 1.3% decline in landed property prices, and 0.7% drop in prices for non-landed private properties located in the Outside Central Region (OCR).
Prices of non-landed private residential properties in the Core Central Region (CCR) rose by 0.2% in 2Q16. This region includes areas in Districts 9, 10 and 11, Sentosa and Downtown Core Planning Area.
Prices of non-landed private homes in the Rest of Central Region (RCR) which include areas likeQueenstown, Bishan, Geylang and Toa Payoh saw a rise of 0.3%.
The local private residential prices have posed the longest period of decline in almost two decades. Market sentiments on the overall residential property market outlook is expected to remain weak, given the existing property cooling measures and uncertain economic outlook.
More details on the housing data for 2Q16 will be updated by URA 4 weeks later.
