population

The statistics on world population were particularly striking to me. The fact that all the people in the world could fit into the state of Rhode Island and that if every person on earth had the average American home we could all fit into Texas were particularly striking. These facts seem to point out the fundamental reason that population is a problem for the world, sprawl. While food production is one of the fundamental problems, it would appear that since we can all fit into Texas, there would be enough land left over to farm and that food wouldn't be an issue. Ultimately, it is the distribution of food that is the problem. The fact that people are so spread out and not concentrated in single areas of continents or even states, causes big problems. The result of this sprawl is that each individual community needs more infrastructure to provide the things they need and want. This means that it takes large amounts of energy to get people what they need. Looking at distribution in this way reveals that the people living in cities are actually more efficient. In cities, the necessities of life are available to a much larger number of people than they are in suburbs and small communities. In addition, these people are often taking up less space because cities are built vertically rather than horizontally like suburbs. While there are many environmental problems associated with living in cities, ultimately, getting the people in cities the things they need to survive is more efficient that getting it to other people around the country or even state. In addition, thinking in terms of international trade, the distribution network and inefficiencies get far worse. In an ideal world, populations of entire regions would live in one concentrated area to maintain a high level of efficiency. Ultimately, as humans we need to stop trying to get away form one another and find a place amongst the community.